The Islam of Amr ibn al-As, Khalid ibn al-Walid and Outhman ibn Talha

Their arrival came at the beginning of the eighth year. The Waqidi reports, through his shaykh Abd al-Hamid ibn Ja’far, that Amr ibn al-As related from his own mouth: "I long remained aloof from Islam, obstinate. I attended Badr with the polytheists and escaped; then Ouhoud and escaped; then the Trench and escaped. I said to myself: how many times more! By Allah, Mohamed will surely prevail over Quraysh. So I joined my wealth at al-Waht, and cut down my contact with the people. When Houdaybiya came, and the Messenger of Allah departed on a treaty, and Quraysh returned to Mecca, I kept saying: Mohamed will enter Mecca before long with his companions: Mecca and Ta’if are no longer a refuge, and nothing is better than going out. I was still far from Islam, saying: even if all Quraysh converted I would not convert.

I came to Mecca, gathered men of my people who followed my counsel and heard me, and advanced me in their undertakings, and said: how do you regard me among you? They said: you are our counselor and our support, our blessing. I said: you know that, by Allah, I see the affair of Mohamed becoming an affair towering over all; and I have a view. They said: what is it? I said: let us join the Negus and stay with him: if Mohamed prevails we shall be with the Negus, and to be under the Negus is dearer to us than to be under Mohamed; and if Quraysh prevail, we are those they know. They said: that is the view. I said: then gather what we shall give him as a gift. The best of gifts from our land was leather, so we gathered much of it and went out until we came to the Negus. We were with him when Amr ibn Oumayya ad-Damri arrived:

the Messenger of Allah had sent him with a letter in which he sought in marriage Oum Habiba bint Abi Soufyan. He entered upon the Negus and then went out. I said to my companions: this is Amr ibn Oumayya: if I entered upon the Negus and asked him for him and he gave him to me, I would strike off his neck, and by doing so I would delight Quraysh, and I should be quit of them for having killed the messenger of Mohamed. I entered upon the Negus and prostrated to him as I was accustomed. He said: welcome, my friend! Have you brought me something from your land? I said: yes, O king, I have brought you much leather. I presented it: it pleased him, he distributed part of it among his patricians, ordered the rest stored and kept. When I saw his good humour I said: O king, I saw a man come out from you, the envoy of an enemy who has fought us, killed our nobles and best men:

give him to me, that I may kill him. He grew angry at that, raised his hand and struck my nose such a blow that I thought it broken: blood streamed from my nostrils, and I caught it with my garments, feeling such humiliation that had the earth split open I would have entered it. Then I fled from him. Then I said: O king, had I thought you disliked what I said, I would not have asked. He said, having felt shame: O Amr, you ask me to give you the envoy of him to whom comes the great Inspiration that came to Moussa and that came to Issa, to kill him?! Amr said: Allah turned my heart from what I was upon, and I said to myself: this man knows the truth, Arabs and non-Arabs, and you oppose it?! Then I said: do you bear witness to this, O king? He said: yes, I bear witness to it before Allah, O Amr. So obey me and follow him:

for by Allah he is upon the truth, and he shall prevail over whoever contradicts him, as Moussa prevailed over Pharaon and his host. I said: will you pledge me allegiance to him upon Islam? He said: yes. He stretched out his hand and pledged me allegiance to Islam; then he called for a basin, washed the blood from me and clothed me, for my garments were filled with blood, and I cast them off. I went out to my companions, who rejoiced at seeing me clothed in the garment of the Negus, and said: did you attain your aim? I said to them: I disliked addressing him at first, and I shall return to him. They said: your view is good. So I left them as one intent upon a need, and went to the place of the ships: I found a vessel loaded about to be pushed off. I boarded with them, and they sailed until they reached ach-Chou’ayba.

I went out of the ship with provisions, bought a camel, and set out for Medina, passing by Marr adh-Dhahran, and went on until, at al-Hada, behold, two men had outstripped me by little, seeking a camp, one entering under the tent and the other holding the two mounts. I looked, and it was Khalid ibn al-Walid. I said: where are you going? He said: to Mohamed: the people have entered Islam, and none remains who has any relish left; by Allah, were I to stay, they would seize our necks as the lizard is seized in its hole. I said: and I, by Allah, had resolved upon Mohamed, and upon Islam. Then Outhman ibn Talha came out and greeted me warmly; we alighted all together at that camp, then travelled on until we came to Medina. Never shall I forget the word of a man we met at the well of Abi Inaba, crying: O Rabah! O Rabah! O Rabah! We drew good omen from his word and rejoiced; then he looked at us and I heard him say:

Mecca has given its bravest after these two! I thought he meant me and Khalid ibn al-Walid, and he hurried off toward the mosque: I thought he was giving the Messenger of Allah glad tidings of our coming, and so it was. We watered at the harra, put on our best garments, and when the asr was called we went until we caught sight of him: his face was radiant, and the Muslims around him rejoiced at our Islam. Khalid ibn al-Walid advanced and pledged allegiance; then Outhman ibn Talha advanced and pledged; then I advanced. By Allah, no sooner had I sat before him than I could not raise my eyes to him, out of shame toward him. I pledged him allegiance upon the forgiveness of my past sin, not upon what was to come. He said: "Islam wipes out what was before it, and the emigration wipes out what was before it."

By Allah, never did the Messenger of Allah prefer me, or Khalid ibn al-Walid, over any of his companions in a matter that weighed on us since we accepted Islam: we held with Abou Bakr that very station, and with Oumar that very standing, and Oumar was to Khalid as a chiding father." The Waqidi reports likewise, through Yazid ibn Abi Habib, from Rachid, freedman of Habib, from his master Habib, from Amr ibn al-As; and Mohamed ibn Ishaq relates it so. The Waqidi’s shaykh asked Yazid ibn Abi Habib to date the arrival of Amr and Khalid: he said only: before the conquest. And the Waqidi’s father informed him that Amr, Khalid and Outhman ibn Talha arrived at the crescent of Safar of the year eight. In the Sahih of Mouslim will come, at the death of Amr, what bears witness to this account and to the excellence of his companionship of the Messenger of Allah all his life.

As for the Islam of Khalid ibn al-Walid, the Waqidi reports, through Yahya ibn al-Moughira ibn Abd ar-Rahman, from his father, that Khalid said: "When Allah willed of me the good He willed, He cast Islam into my heart and my right guidance came to me. I said: I have witnessed all these battlefields against Mohamed, and there is no battlefield at which I witnessed him but that I turned away feeling myself a man who amounted to nothing, and that Mohamed would prevail. When the Messenger of Allah went out to Houdaybiya I went out with horsemen of the polytheists, and I met the Messenger of Allah and his companions at Ousfan: I stood before him and defied him. He prayed the dhouhr with his companions before us, and we considered falling upon them, but no resolve was made, and among us were men of excellence.

Allah made known to him the thought within us, and he prayed with his companions the asr as the prayer of fear; and that struck us down. I said: the man is guarded! So I withdrew from them, leaving the track of our horsemen and taking the right side. When he made peace with Quraysh at Houdaybiya, and Quraysh granted him generously, I said to myself: what remains?

Where is the way? To the Negus? Mohamed has already followed him, and his companions are with him in safety: shall I go out to Héraclius? Abandon my religion for Christianity or Judaism, or dwell subject among the Persians, or remain in my land among those who remain?

While I was in that state, the Messenger of Allah entered Mecca in the Umra of Fulfilment, and I hid and did not witness his entry. My brother al-Walid ibn al-Walid had entered with the Prophet in the Umra of Fulfilment, sought me and did not find me, and wrote me a letter, wherein was: In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate. As to what follows: never have I seen your reason depart from Islam as it departs, you who have reason! Has anyone ever been ignorant of Islam?

The Messenger of Allah asked me about you and said: where is Khalid? I said: Allah will bring him. He said: "None is more ignorant of Islam than he. Had he set his intelligence and discernment with the Muslims it would have been better for him, and we would have preferred him over others.

So retrieve, my brother, what has escaped you: for good stations have escaped you." When his letter came to me I stirred to go out; it increased my longing for Islam, and the Messenger of Allah’s asking after me delighted me. I saw in sleep as if I were in a strait, barren land, and went out to a green and spacious land, and I said: this is a vision. When I came to Medina I said: I shall relate it to Abou Bakr.

He said: your going out, whereby Allah guided you to Islam, and the straitness you were in was association. When I resolved to go out to the Messenger of Allah I said: whom shall I take as companion? I met Safwan ibn Oumayya and said: O Abou Wahb, do you not see what we are in? We are but a people whose head is sought, and Mohamed has prevailed over Arabs and non-Arabs:

if we were to go to Mohamed and follow him, the honour of Mohamed would be our honour. He refused with the strongest disdain and said: were none left but I, I would never follow him. So we parted, and I said: this is a man whose brother and father were killed at Badr. I met Ikrima ibn Abi Jahl and said to him what I had said to Safwan ibn Oumayya, and he answered me as Safwan answered.

I said: conceal it for me. He said: I shall not mention it. I went to my dwelling, ordered my mount saddled, and went out until I met Outhman ibn Talha. I said: here is a friend of mine: were I to mention it to him, I would hope.

Then I recalled those of his forefathers who were killed, and disliked reminding him. Then I said: what is it to me, I am departing this very hour. I mentioned to him how the matter had gone, and said: we are as a fox in its burrow: were a bucket of water poured in, it would come out. I said to him the like of what I had said to my companion, and he hastened to accept, saying: this very morning I had resolved to go, and here is my mount tethered by the fetlock.

He and I made a pact: if he outstripped me he would wait, and if I outstripped him I would wait for him. We travelled at first light, and before dawn broke we met at Yajaj; we went on until we reached al-Hada, and found Amr ibn al-As there. He said: welcome to the people! We said: and to you.

He said: where do you travel? We said: and what brought you out? He said: and what brought you out? We said:

entering into Islam and following Mohamed. He said: that is what set me forth! So we travelled all together until we entered Medina, and watered our mounts on the ridge of the harra. The Messenger of Allah was informed of us and rejoiced at us.

I put on my best garments and made for the Messenger of Allah; my brother met me and said: hasten, for the Messenger of Allah has been told of you and rejoices at your coming, and he is awaiting you. We quickened our pace; I caught sight of him, and he kept smiling at me until I stood before him. I greeted him, saluting his prophethood, and he returned my greeting with a bright face. I said: I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah, and that you are the Messenger of Allah.

He said: "Come." Then the Messenger of Allah said: "Praise belongs to Allah who guided you! I always saw in you an intellect, and hoped it would lead you to nothing but good." I said: O Messenger of Allah, you have seen how I bore witness against you in those battlefields, opposing the truth: so pray Allah to forgive me.

The Messenger of Allah said: "Islam wipes out what was before it." I said: on that, O Messenger of Allah. He said: "O Allah, forgive Khalid ibn al-Walid all that he committed of barring the way upon Your path." Khalid said: Outhman and Amr then advanced and pledged allegiance to the Messenger of Allah.

Our coming was in Safar of the year eight. And by Allah, the Messenger of Allah never preferred over me, in what weighed on me, anyone of his companions.