Identity of the first male Muslim

There is some disagreement among Muslims, and among historians of Islam, as to the identity of the first male convert to Islam after Muhammad.

The second period of Ali's life began in 610 when he declared Islam at age 10 and ended with the Hijra of Muhammad to Medina in 622. When Muhammad reported that he had received a divine revelation, Ali, then only about ten years old, believed him and professed to Islam. According to Ibn Ishaq and some other authorities, Ali was the first male to embrace Islam.Tabari adds other traditions making the similar claim of being the first Muslim in relation to Zayd ibn Harithah or Abu Bakr. Some historians and scholars believe Ali's conversion is not worthy enough to consider him the first male Muslim because he was a child at the time.

One account in Tabari says that the first male convert was Zayd ibn Harithah, a freed slave who had become Muhammad's adopted son. It is known that Ali was indeed the first person to convert to Islam, however some dispute this arguing he was only 12 years old at the time he embraced Islam.

This conversion would have happened sometime between 610 CE, when Muhammad started sharing his experiences (visions of divine origin) with his immediate family, and 612 CE, when Muhammad first began preaching in public to his fellow citizens in Mecca, in what is now west-central Saudi Arabia.

Why is the question of priority important? After the Muslim conquests began, a Muslim's standing in the Islamic state depended on his services to the community, and especially on the length of time he had been a member of the community. Early converts (who had faced persecution with Muhammad) had a much higher status than later converts (who may have joined only after there were worldly reasons to do so). The first male convert may thus be presumed to have a special status.

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