THE TERMS OF the peace agreement between the Muslims and the Quraysh signed at al-Ḥudaybiyah included the provision that the Prophet would be allowed to visit Makkah with his companions for worship at the Kaʿbah a year later. As already learnt, the Prophet travelled towards Makkah with 1,400 of his companions with the sole intention of offering an ʿUmrah, or mini-pilgrimage. The Quraysh did not allow them to proceed and the peace agreement was eventually negotiated because the Prophet did not wish to start a new battle with the Quraysh. As a result, the Muslims in Madinah enjoyed several months of a calm which was not interrupted except by a few limited and confined clashes with certain Arabian tribes who tried to create trouble or to threaten trade routes and travellers. The Prophet also made approaches to several Arab tribes, outlining to them the message of Islam and calling on them to become Muslims. Many people so addressed with the message of Islam did accept it and the Muslims were becoming stronger every day.
When a year was over, and it was again the month of Dhul-Qaʿadah, the Prophet started preparing for his ʿUmrah which history books describe as “the compensatory ʿUmrah” or “the post-dispute ʿUmrah.’ He instructed his companions to get ready, and said that no one who was with him at al-Ḥudaybiyah was to stay behind. So the same people who took the first journey, with the exception of those who had died or been killed in battle, joined the Prophet again, along with several hundred others who did not make the first trip. In all, some 2,000 men, in addition to a good number of women and children, went with the Prophet on this ʿUmrah. The Prophet asked his companion Abū Dharr al-Ghifārī to deputize for him in Madinah and took with him sixty camels to sacrifice after his ʿUmrah. He went into the state of consecration, or iḥrām, which is obligatory for all pilgrims, at the doorstep of his mosque in Madinah. As he and his companions moved along, they were repeating phrases asserting their submission to God and the fact that they were undertaking that trip in response to His call.
The terms of the peace agreement stipulated that the Muslims were allowed to carry only their swords in their sheaths, but the Prophet feared that the Quraysh might violate their obligations. Hence he took with him more armaments, including shields, spears and protective headgear. He also took with him 100 horses and instructed Bashīr ibn Saʿd to look after the arms and Muhammad ibn Maslamah to look after the horses. When he had travelled only 11 kilometres from Madinah, he ordered that the horses and the arms should be at the head of his procession.
Muhammad ibn Maslamah went ahead with his horses until he arrived at a place called Marr al-Ẓahrān, which was only about one day’s travel, on camel’s back, from Makkah. He found there a few men from the Quraysh who questioned him about his mission and why he had so many horses with him. His answer was: “God’s Messenger (peace be upon him) will encamp here tomorrow, God willing.” They also noticed that Bashīr ibn Saʿd had a large quantity of arms with him. They went quickly to Makkah to tell the Quraysh of what they had seen. A feeling of worry and panic overtook the Quraysh, who started asking: “We have certainly honoured our promises. Why should Muhammad and his companions come to invade us?”
The Quraysh then sent Mikraz ibn Ḥafṣ at the head of a delegation to the Prophet. They said to him: “Muhammad, we have never known you to break a promise ever since you were a young child. Do you wish to enter your home town with all your arms when you have promised that you will come only with the armament of a peaceful traveller: swords in their sheaths?” The Prophet said: “I am not going to carry the arms into the city.” Mikraz ibn Ḥafṣ then replied: “This is more like what we have known of your faithfulness.” He went back speedily to Makkah to tell its people that Muhammad was honouring his pledges. The Quraysh were then reassured and allowed the Muslims to pass.
The Quraysh’s Reception
There are different reports about the attitude of the people of Makkah to the entry of the Prophet and his companions to do their ʿUmrah. Some reports suggest that the Quraysh left Makkah and went into the surrounding mountains, because they did not wish to look at the Muslims as they came in to worship. Other reports suggest that the people of the Quraysh moved into close positions on the mountains to have a good view of the Muslims.
Yet other reports suggest that the Quraysh people, or a large number of them, gathered at a place called Dār al-Nadwah, which served as their parliament, to look at the Muslims as they went into the city. There are still more reports which suggest that they sat much closer, within the precincts of the Ḥaram. Again, some reports suggest that only a few of the nobility of Makkah did not wish to look at the Muslims as they came in, because the sight of them infuriated them, since they realized that the very fact that the Muslims were able to come to Makkah enhanced their position in Arabia.
Perhaps all these reports carry some of the truth, and different people in Makkah did indeed do different things. The fact remains that most of the Quraysh people were eager to see the Prophet and his companions coming in, especially because a rumour was spread in the city that Muhammad and his companions were greatly weakened physically by an epidemic which spread in Madinah. Some of them were told that the Muslims could hardly walk because of their illness. That would have been a pleasing sight to the people of Makkah. Whatever the reason, the Prophet’s entry into Makkah, only seven years after he was forced to leave it under the cover of darkness, was a great event which few people would have liked to miss. When they saw it, they started thinking and wondering.
The Prophet Enters Makkah
It was an awe-inspiring scene. The Prophet rode his she-camel, al-Qaṣwā’, surrounded by a number of his companions who were watching all directions, lest any one of the unbelievers should try to attack or harm the Prophet. The whole of the procession shouted phrases asserting their submission to God. ʿAbdullāh ibn Rawāḥah, a companion of the Prophet from the Anṣār, held the rein of the Prophet’s she-camel and chanted a few lines of poetry which he had composed. When the Prophet was very close to the Ḥaram (the grand mosque at the centre of which is the Kaʿbah), he told ʿAbdullāh ibn Rawāḥah to repeat these phrases: Lā ilāha illa Allah waḥdah, Ṣadaqa waʿdah, wa naṣara ʿabdah, wa aʿazza jundah, wa hazam al-aḥzāba waḥdah. This translates as follows: “There is no deity but God alone. He has fulfilled His promise, given victory to His servant, and dignity to His soldiers, and He has alone defeated the confederates.” This was a reference to the defeat suffered by the Quraysh and the other tribes and the Jews allied with it when they attempted to invade Madinah in order to annihilate the Muslims. ʿAbdullāh ibn Rawāḥah repeated these phrases and all the Muslims repeated them after him, providing an atmosphere of great strength and enthusiasm.
The Prophet was aware of the rumours which the Quraysh spread about the physical weakness of his companions. He therefore instructed his companions not to show any sign of weakness. Since they were all in their iḥrām garments, which consisted of two large pieces of cloth, one wrapped round their waists and covering the lower part of their bodies, the other thrown over their shoulders, he instructed them to bare their right shoulders and to do part of their ṭawāf jogging. He went into the mosque and touched the black stone with the piece of stick which he carried. He said to his companions: “May God have mercy on everyone who shows them that he is strong.” He started jogging round the Kaʿbah and his companions did likewise for the first three rounds. They continued the rest of their seven rounds walking. The unbelievers were amazed when they saw that the epidemic did not affect the strength of the Muslims. Some of them said to the others: “Are you sure that these people have been weakened by fever? They are jumping and running like deers.”
When the Prophet completed his ṭawāf, he went to do his saʿī which is a walk between the two mounts of al-Ṣafā and al-Marwah. He did the saʿī on the back of his she-camel. When he had finished his seven rounds, he stopped and said: “This is the place to slaughter your sacrificial animals, and all Makkah is such a place.” He started slaughtering his animals, 60 camels, and everyone who was with him on the first trip and was present at al-Ḥudaybiyah also sacrificed a camel. Camels were not plentiful and the Prophet allowed those who could not buy or get a camel to slaughter a cow. Afterwards, the Prophet and his companions shaved their heads and released themselves from the state of consecration.
Demonstrating Devotion, Power and Equality
The Prophet had left the horses and the arms at a place close to Makkah called Ya’jaj. He left 200 of his companions there as guards. All this he did as a precaution against any possible treacherous attack the Quraysh might contemplate. When he and those of his companions who joined him in his ʿUmrah had completed their rituals, he sent 200 of them to Ya’jaj to replace those who stayed there. When they arrived, they relieved their fellow guards, who went straight to Makkah to fulfil the duties of their ʿUmrah.
The Prophet remained in the Kaʿbah until it was time for midday prayers, ẓuhr, when he ordered his companion, Bilāl, who was in charge of calling for prayers, to go on top of the Kaʿbah to make the call, i.e. adhān. Bilāl stood over the top of the Kaʿbah, and with his fine melodious voice he shouted: “God is most supreme. I bear witness that there is no deity but God. I declare that Muhammad is God’s Messenger. Come to prayer. Come to a certain success. God is most supreme.” These are the words which Muslims have always used to call people to come to prayers, but those words sounded very offensive in the ears of the Quraysh leaders. Many of them expressed their profound dismay. Suhayl ibn ʿAmr and a few of his friends covered their faces when they heard Bilāl calling to prayers as a gesture expressing their anger.
What made Bilāl’s action even more offensive to the people of Makkah was the fact that he used to be a slave owned by Umayyah ibn Khalaf, who was later killed at the Battle of Badr. In the Makkan idolatrous society, which was extremely class-conscious, the fact that a former slave could rise on top of the Kaʿbah, where the Quraysh put their idols, was something they could not accept. ʿIkrimah ibn Abī Jahl said: “God has certainly been kind to my father by causing him to die before he could hear this slave saying such words.” Ṣafwān ibn Umayyah ibn Khalaf said: “God be praised for taking my father away before he could see this.” Khālid ibn Usayd echoed his words and said: “I thank God that my father died before he could see this day, with the son of Bilāl’s mother barking on top of the Kaʿbah.”
Those people were the young generation of Makkah chiefs, whose fathers were mostly killed in the battles with the Muslims. Bilāl’s action, however, was a manifestation of the strength of Islam which emphasizes equality between all people.
The Prophet and his companions stayed three days in Makkah, according to the terms of the peace agreement. They moved about the city without fear. This in itself was a great act of public relations on the part of the Muslims. The people of Makkah were able to see how close-knit the Muslim community was. They realized that the Muslims harboured the most brotherly feelings towards one another. Every one of them loved every other Muslim. Their dedication to the cause of Islam was clearly visible in the way they talked to one another, in their high respect for the Prophet, in the total absence of any division between them. The people of Makkah could not suppress their feeling of admiration and envy as they realized that the Prophet was able to achieve that great degree of unity among the Muslim community despite the fact that his followers belonged to many tribes which had been, until recently, at war with one another. They also realized that the predominant feelings within the Muslim community were those of mutual sympathy and solidarity. Its objectives were noble and its dedication was complete. Its submission to God was undoubted. The chiefs of Makkah were worried that their own people might start to have second thoughts about Islam, as they realized how profound its effect was on the people of Madinah and on Muslims generally. They therefore sent Suhayl ibn ʿAmr and Ḥuwayṭib ibn ʿAbd al-ʿUzzā, when the three days were over, to tell the Prophet: “Your time is up and you have to leave.”
The Prophet was aware that his stay in Makkah was very effective in making its people relent and modify their hostile attitude towards Islam. He tried to soften their hearts further. He said to the two Makkan envoys: “What harm would it cause you if you were to let me have my wedding in your place? We will organize a banquet for you.”
Another Marriage
The Prophet was about to marry a woman from Makkah called Maymūnah bint al-Ḥārith. She was a woman of noble descent, and her sister was married to his uncle, al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib. The Makkan envoys were quick to realize the danger to their religion which this proposal of the Prophet implied. They felt that if Muhammad had a chance to have his wedding in their own grounds and to talk to the people in the friendly atmosphere of a wedding and a banquet, their cause would lose its grip on the hearts of those very Makkan people. They realized that their own religion could not stand up to the logic of Islam. People were bound to be favourably influenced by the strength of the Prophet’s personality and his argument. The barriers which they erected to prevent people from going over to him would thus start to collapse. They realized that Muhammad’s visit to Makkah was changing the atmosphere which had prevailed between the two camps, but they could not realize that many of the people of Makkah had already softened to the cause of Islam. They nevertheless refused his offer outright. They said: “We have no need for food. You are required to leave. We appeal to you by God, and by the covenant which exists between you and us, to leave our land immediately. Your three days are up.”
Their rough attitude angered Saʿd ibn ʿUbādah, the chief of the Anṣār. In his fury, he went up to Suhayl ibn ʿAmr and said: “Liar! This is not your land, nor was it your father’s. He will not depart from here unless he wishes to do so of his own free will.” The Prophet smiled and said to his companion: “Saʿd, do not be so severe to those people who have visited us in our camp.”
Thus a situation which could have been explosive was rendered harmless. The Prophet ordered his companions to prepare to depart, and they moved on to Saref, some 14 kilometres away from Makkah, where they encamped, and the Prophet had his wedding to Maymūnah.1
This ʿUmrah of the Prophet marked a turning point in the relations between the people of Makkah and Islam. This was soon to be reflected in the attitude of the Quraysh towards the Prophet and Islam generally. The sort of hostility which dictated the attitudes of the Quraysh people was never to return. Moreover, many individuals started to think about adopting Islam. They were drawn from all classes of the Makkan society.
A Family Dispute
As the Muslims were preparing to leave, a daughter of Ḥamzah ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, an uncle of the Prophet and a great soldier of Islam who was killed at the Battle of Uḥud, followed the Prophet and called out to him: “Uncle, Uncle.” ʿAlī, the Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law, took her by the hand and said to his wife, Fāṭimah, the Prophet’s daughter: “Take your cousin with you.” Three of the Prophet’s companions wanted the girl to join them. ʿAlī, his brother Jaʿafar and Zayd ibn Ḥārithah argued with each other over who had the strongest claim to keep her. ʿAlī said: “I took her first, and she is my cousin.” Jaʿafar said: “She is also my cousin and I am married to her mother’s sister.” Zayd said: “Her father was my brother.” This was a reference to the fact that the Prophet made Ḥamzah and Zayd brothers when he established the bond of brotherhood among the Muslims, making every couple of them brothers.
The Prophet judged in this dispute and said to the three men: “You Zayd, are the servant of God and of His Messenger. [Zayd, as already mentioned, was a slave given as a present to the Prophet before Islam, but the Prophet granted him his freedom and he had stayed with the Prophet ever since.] And you, Jaʿafar, look like me and your manners are similar to mine. And you, ʿAlī, belong to me and I belong to you. Jaʿafar, however, has the best claim to her because he is married to her aunt. Let me point out that no woman can be married to the husband of her paternal or maternal aunt.”
Jaʿafar was so pleased that he stood up and hopped round the Prophet on one foot. When the Prophet asked him why he was doing that, he said that he learnt this practice in Abyssinia, where he lived for over 14 years after his emigration there in compliance with the Prophet’s orders. If Negus, the ruler of Abyssinia, judged in favour of someone, that person would stand up and hop round the place where the ruler was sitting. The Prophet later married Ḥamzah’s daughter to Salamah, the son of one of his wives.2
Setting Minds Thinking
By now, over two years had passed since the Expedition of the Moat, with little or no fighting taking place between the Muslims and the Quraysh. Now a formal peace existed between the two sides. The Muslims made use of this new atmosphere by concentrating on their efforts to convey the message of Islam far and wide. As a result, Islam made great inroads in Arabia, winning over the hearts of many people of all tribes. The Quraysh, however, remained hostile. Their enmity to Islam, which extended over a period of 20 years, was not to give way easily to the pressure the Muslims were now exerting. The people of Makkah viewed themselves as the hard core of resistance to the new call of Islam. Even the most intelligent of its leaders were determined not to reconcile themselves to Islam, whatever the circumstances. Nevertheless, this was not easy. Intelligent people cannot always turn a blind eye to the forces of reality. They may try for a while, but eventually they have to give in. The history of two such people of the nobility of the Quraysh is sufficient to appreciate what sort of momentum the cause of Islam was acquiring. It shows how the great structure of idolatry in Arabia was crumbling from within.
ʿAmr’s Story
ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ was a very shrewd person. He had been the Quraysh’s envoy to Negus, the ruler of Abyssinia, to demand the extradition of those Muslims from the Quraysh who sought refuge in that country. This was in the fifth year of Islam, some 15 years earlier than the events which are about to be related.
This is ʿAmr’s own account of these events:
I was strongly hostile to Islam. I took part in the Battles of Badr, Uḥud and the Moat, fighting alongside the idolaters, and I was able to survive. Now I started thinking that Muhammad would eventually triumph over the Quraysh. I, therefore, went to my place at al-Ruhṭ where I lived in semi-seclusion. After al-Ḥudaybiyah when the Prophet returned home, having signed his peace agreement with the Quraysh, the Quraysh went back to Makkah. I started thinking on these lines: “Muhammad will enter Makkah with his companions next year. Makkah is certainly not a place to be in. Nor is Ṭā’if. The best thing to do is to go away.” I was still very hostile to Islam and I felt that even if every man in the Quraysh would embrace Islam, I would not.
I went to Makkah, where I spoke to a group of my people who valued my opinion and consulted me on every serious matter. When I asked them about their opinion of me, they said: “You are our wise man and spokesman. You have a noble soul and a blessed purpose.” I told them that I thought Muhammad was on the crest of a wave. He was bound to overcome whatever resisted him. I then explained that I felt it was wiser to seek refuge in Abyssinia, where we could join Negus. If Muhammad did overcome his enemies, we would be safe with Negus with whom we would be better placed than if we were to succumb to Muhammad. If the Quraysh turned out to be the winners, they would know that we were on their side. They all agreed with me and we started preparing for our departure. I suggested to them to put together a valuable gift which Negus would like. The gift he liked best from our part of the world was hide. We, therefore, took with us a large quantity of hide and travelled until we reached Abyssinia.
When we were in the court of Negus, ʿAmr ibn Umayyah al-Ḍamrī, the envoy sent by Muhammad, arrived with a message. [Reports vary as to the exact nature of that message. One report suggests that it was the Prophet’s proposal to Umm Ḥabībah bint Abī Sufyān, which is probably not accurate because that marriage took place earlier. Another report suggests that the message was a request by the Prophet for the return of his cousin, Jaʿafar, and the rest of the Muslims who emigrated to Abyssinia. It is perhaps more correct to assume that the message was the Prophet’s call on the Negus to adopt Islam, which has already been related.]
When I saw ʿAmr ibn Umayyah go in for his audience with Negus and leave soon afterwards, I said to my people: “This is ʿAmr ibn Umayyah. If I can persuade Negus to give him up to me, I will kill him to give the Quraysh infinite pleasure.”
When I was admitted into the presence of Negus, I prostrated myself to him as I used to do. He said to me: “Welcome, my friend. Have you brought me any gifts from your part of the world?” I said: “Yes, I have brought you a gift of hide.” I presented my gift and he was very pleased with it. He gave some of it to his bishops and patriarchs and ordered that the rest should be kept and recorded. When I saw that he was very pleased with my gift, I said to him: “Your Majesty, I have seen a man coming out of your court. He is the envoy of our enemy, who has killed a number of our chiefs and noblemen. May I request that you give him up to me so that I can kill him?”
He was very angry with me for what I said. He hit me with his hand on my nose and I felt as if my nose was broken. I was bleeding heavily through the nose and tried to wipe the blood with my clothes. I was so humiliated that I wished the earth would open up and swallow me because I was so afraid of him. I then said to him: “Your Majesty, had I known that you would dislike what I said I would not have made that request.” He felt a little ashamed and said to me: “ʿAmr, you are asking me to give up to you the envoy of a man who receives the archangel who used to come to Moses and Jesus so that you can kill him?” When I heard his words, I felt a great change overcoming me. I thought that Negus, the Arabs and the non-Arabs, recognized the truth while I was deliberately turning away from it. I said to him: “Do you testify to that, Your Majesty?” He said: “Yes, I bear witness to that in front of God. ʿAmr, do as I say and follow him, for his cause is that of the truth, and he will win over all those who oppose him, in the same way as Moses won against Pharaoh and his soldiers.” I said to Negus: “Do you accept on his behalf my pledge to follow Islam?” He answered in the affirmative and put out his hands and I gave him my pledge to be a Muslim.
He then called for a bowl of water to be brought for me to wash. He also gave me new clothes, because my own clothes were full of blood. When I went out, my friends were very pleased to see me wearing new clothes given me by Negus. They asked me whether he had granted my request, and I said that I did not feel the occasion was suitable for such a request, since I was speaking to him for the first time. They agreed with me and I pretended that I was going out for some private purpose and left them there. I went straight to the port area, where I found a ship ready to sail. I went on board and sailed to a place called al-Shuʿbah, where I disembarked. I bought a camel and travelled on towards Madinah. I passed through Marr al-Ẓahrān and went on until I arrived at al-Haddah. I saw two men who had arrived there a short while earlier, trying to find a place to encamp. One of them was inside the tent, while the other was holding the reins of their two camels. Presently, I recognized Khālid ibn al-Walīd. When I asked him where he was going, he answered: “To Muhammad. All people of any significance have become Muslims. If we were to remain non-Muslims, he would catch us by the neck in the same way as the hyena is caught in its cave.” I told him that I also was going to Muhammad and wanted to be a Muslim. ʿUthmān ibn Ṭalḥah came out of the tent and welcomed me. We stayed there together that night.
We travelled on together until we arrived at Madinah. I will never forget a man saying as we drew near: “Yā Rabāḥ”, or ‘What a profitable morning!’ He repeated that three times. We were very pleased when we heard him saying that. As he looked at us, he said: “Makkah has given up the reign after these two have come to join us.” I thought he was referring to me and Khālid ibn al-Walīd. He went quickly towards the mosque. I thought that he went to give the Prophet the news of our arrival. I was proved right.
We stopped for a short while at the old volcanic area outside Madinah, where we put on our best clothes. When the mid-afternoon prayer, ʿaṣr, was called for, we went on until we arrived at the mosque to meet the Prophet. His face was beaming with pleasure and all the Muslims were pleased when they learnt that we had adopted Islam. Khālid ibn al-Walīd went first to give his pledge of loyalty to the Prophet. He was followed by ʿUthmān ibn Ṭalḥah. I was third. When I sat down opposite him I could not lift my face up to him because I was feeling very shy. I gave him my pledge of loyalty, provided that God would forgive me all my sins which I had committed in the past. I did not remember to include what I might do in future. The Prophet said to me: “When you embrace Islam, all your past sins are forgiven. When you emigrate for the cause of God, your emigration ensures also the forgiveness of your past sins.”
After we embraced Islam, the Prophet placed me and Khālid ibn al-Walīd at the top of his advisers in any serious matter confronting him. We enjoyed the same positions with Abū Bakr. I continued to enjoy that position during the reign of ʿUmar, but ʿUmar had perhaps some reservations with respect to Khālid.3
This is the account of one of the great servants of Islam who was later to command Muslim armies which liberated both Palestine and Egypt. He also ruled over Egypt for a long time.
Khālid’s Story
The other case is that of Khālid ibn al-Walīd, the commander of a division of the Quraysh’s army at the Battle of Uḥud. It was he who managed to attack the Muslims from behind and turn their victory into a military defeat. He was a young man of great promise. Indeed, he was to become one of the most distinguished commanders the world had ever known.
Khālid reports in detail how he began to think about Islam and the process of his conversion. He says that at first he started to reflect on his past attitude towards Islam:
I fought all those battles against Muhammad. Every time I felt that all my efforts were to no avail. I was certain that Muhammad would eventually be the winner. When the Prophet came and encamped at al-Ḥudaybiyah, I commanded a detachment of horsemen from among the idolaters until we met the Prophet and his companions at ʿAsafān. I drew close to him to provoke him. He and his companions prayed ẓuhr in front of us. We thought of attacking them, but we refrained. He must have realized what we were thinking of when the next prayer, ʿaṣr, was due. He therefore, led his companions in what is known as ‘the prayers of fear’. That affected us profoundly and we realized that he was immune from our attack. We therefore drew back.
When the terms of the peace agreement of al-Ḥudaybiyah were eventually negotiated and the Prophet and his companions went home, I started thinking about what might come next and what was in store for us. I thought hard: Where should I go? Should I join Negus? But then I remembered that he had already become a follower of Muhammad and that Muhammad’s companions were safe under his protection. Should I go and join Heracules? That would have made me a Christian or a Jewish convert. That prospect did not appeal to me. Should I emigrate or should I stay where I was, waiting for something to happen?4
This state of confusion was not to be easily resolved for Khālid. He did not wish to emigrate where he would have had to prove his worth. If he stayed in Makkah, on the other hand, he knew for certain that the eventual triumph of Islam was only a matter of time. His confusion, however, clouded his vision and he could not see that the right course of action was to look at Islam objectively. Weeks and months passed and he could not make up his mind. When a year had passed, and Muhammad and his companions came to Makkah for their compensatory ʿUmrah, Khālid did not wish to look at the Muslims coming into Makkah. He went into the mountains and stayed until the Prophet and his companions departed.
When he went back home, he found a letter left him by his brother, al-Walīd ibn al-Walīd, who had been a Muslim for some time. Al-Walīd was in the Prophet’s company when he came to Makkah for his compensatory ʿUmrah. After completing the duties of the ʿUmrah, al-Walīd tried to find his brother Khālid. When he could not find him, he realized that Khālid was trying to run away from Islam. Al-Walīd, however, knew that his brother was a man endowed with great intelligence. He felt that a brotherly word might not go amiss. Hence, he wrote him the following letter:
In the name of God, the Merciful, the Beneficent. I am infinitely amazed at the fact that you continue to turn away from Islam when you are as intelligent as I know you to be. No one can be so blind to the truth of Islam. God’s Messenger asked me about you, and said: “Where is Khālid?” I said to him: “God will bring him to us.” He said: “A man of his calibre cannot remain ignorant of Islam. If he would use his intelligence and his experience for the Muslims against the idolaters, he would benefit from it a great deal. We would certainly give him precedence over others.” It is high time, brother, for you to make amends for the great benefits you have missed.5
Clear Vision
When Khālid read his brother’s letter, he felt as if a curtain which had blurred his vision for a long time was removed. He was pleased at the fact that the Prophet himself enquired about him. He felt a strong desire to become a Muslim. That night he dreamt that he was in a narrow strip of land in a barren desert and he was walking on and on until he came into an open, green, limitless field. It did not take him long to make up his mind that the right course for him was to become a Muslim. He decided to join the Prophet at Madinah.
He felt, however, that he needed to have a companion to go with him. He looked for a young man from the nobility of Makkah and the first one he approached was Ṣafwān ibn Umayyah. Ṣafwān’s father and brother were killed at the Battle of Badr. His uncle was killed at Uḥud. Ṣafwān belonged to that generation of Quraysh leaders who viewed their conflict with Islam in clear-cut terms. He had resolved not to compromise with Muhammad and he was in no mood to do so when Khālid approached him. Nevertheless, Khālid said to him: “Do you not see that Muhammad is gaining the upper hand against both the Arabs and the non-Arabs? It is certainly expedient for us to join him and share in whatever success he may achieve.”
Ṣafwān took a very extreme attitude and said to Khālid: “If all the Arabs followed Muhammad and I was the only one left, I would never join him.”
When Khālid heard this reply he thought that Ṣafwān was a man who nursed his grudges and he remembered that his father and brother were killed at Badr. He, therefore, tried to look for someone else. By chance, he met ʿIkrimah ibn Abī Jahl, whose father had always been the most determined enemy of Islam, until he was killed at Badr. ʿIkrimah’s reply to Khālid’s approach was in terms similar to those of Ṣafwān. Khālid, however, asked him not to mention his approach to anyone and ʿIkrimah promised him that.
Khālid then met ʿUthmān ibn Ṭalḥah, a close friend of his. He thought of probing the matter with him, then he remembered that ʿUthmān’s father, uncle and his four brothers were all killed at the Battle of Uḥud. Khālid hesitated, expecting a reply similar to those of Ṣafwān and ʿIkrimah. Eventually, he probed ʿUthmān, speaking first about the fact that the Muslims continued to gain strength. He then said; “I compare our position to that of a fox in a hole. If you pour a bucket of water down into the hole, you can be certain that the fox will come out.” Then Khālid proposed to ʿUthmān that they should join the Prophet in Madinah. ʿUthmān responded positively. The two agreed to start their journey after midnight, and each to travel on his own and meet at the break of day at Ya’jaj. They then continued their journey together until they arrived at al-Haddah, where they met ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ. He said to them: “Welcome. Where are you heading?” Realizing that they all had the same purpose, the three of them travelled together until they arrived on the outskirts of Madinah, where they stopped to change their clothes. Khālid’s report is as follows:
God’s Messenger was informed of our arrival, and he was pleased. I put on one of my best suits and went ahead to meet the Prophet. On the way I was met by my brother, who said to me: “Be quick. God’s Messenger has been informed of your arrival and he is pleased. He is waiting for you.” We then moved faster until we saw him at a distance, smiling. He wore his smile until I reached him and greeted him as God’s Prophet and Messenger. He replied to my greeting with a face beaming with pleasure. I said: “I declare that there is no deity but God, and that you are God’s Messenger.” He said: “Come forward.” When I drew nearer, he said to me: “I praise God for guiding you to Islam. I have always been aware that you are endowed with great intelligence and I have always hoped that your intelligence will lead you only to what is right and beneficial.” I said to him: “Messenger of God, I am thinking of those battles at which I was fighting against the side of the truth. I request you to pray God for me to forgive me.” He said: “When you embrace Islam, all your past sins are forgiven.” I said: “Messenger of God, is that a condition?” He said: “My Lord, forgive Khālid ibn al-Walīd every effort he exerted to turn people away from Your path.” ʿUthmān and ʿAmr then pledged their allegiance to the Prophet. By God, ever since our arrival in the month of Ṣafar in the eighth year of the Prophet’s emigration, the Prophet consulted me about every serious matter which cropped up, ahead of all his other companions.
Khālid mentioned his dream to Abū Bakr, the Prophet’s first companion. Abū Bakr told him that the narrowness and barrenness of the land in which he saw himself represented the false beliefs he had shared with his people, who were idolatrous. That he came out of it later into an open, fertile land represented the fact that God had guided him to Islam.6
Khālid ibn al-Walīd and ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ were to play great roles in the history of Islam. The Prophet assigned to Khālid the command of one army after another and gave him the title “Sword of Islam”. He was to fight numerous battles for the cause of Islam and he achieved a resounding success in almost every battle he fought.7
NOTES
1. Ibn Hishām, al-Sīrah al-Nabawiyyah, Dār al-Qalam, Beirut, Vol. 4, pp. 12-14. Also, Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāyah wal-Nihāyah, Maktabat al-Maʿārif, Beirut, Vol. 1, pp. 226-233.
2. Ibn Kathīr, op.cit., p. 235.
3. Ibn Hishām, op.cit., Vol. 3, pp. 289-291. Also, al-Wāqidī, Kitāb al-Maghāzī, Oxford University Press, 1996, Vol. 1, pp. 741-749. Also, Ibn Kathīr, op.cit., pp. 141-142 and 236-238.
4. Al-Wāqidī, op.cit., pp. 745-746. Also, Ibn Kathīr, op.cit., pp. 238-240.
5. Al-Wāqidī, op.cit., pp. 746-747. Also, Ibn Kathīr, op.cit., p. 239.
6. Al-Wāqidī, op.cit., pp. 747-749. Also, Ibn Kathīr, op.cit., pp. 239-240.
7. Amīn Duwaydār, Ṣuwar Min Ḥayāt al-Rasūl, Dār al-Maʿārif, 4th edition, Cairo, p. 514.