Home > Sira > Quraysh’s hostility and the alienation of the Arabs: at-Tufayl ad-Dawsi
Quraysh’s hostility and the alienation of the Arabs: the account of at-Tufayl ibn Amr ad-Dawsi, the ears plugged with cotton, the light upon the whip’s tip, the conversion of Daws, the burned idol, his son’s dream and the invocation “O Allah, guide Daws”, from Ibn Ishaq, al-Boukhari, Mouslim and Ahmad.
Updated on 07 September 2026 at 11:07 PM
Muhammad ibn Ishaq mentioned, after the scroll was annulled, many accounts revealing Quraysh’s hostility toward the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and the alienation of the Arab notables and the visitors coming to Mecca for pilgrimage, lesser pilgrimage or otherwise, and the miracles Allah manifested at his hands: proof of his truthfulness in what he brought them of proofs and guidance, and of their lying when they accused him of excess, aggression, cunning and deceit, calling him madness, sorcery, divination and idle talk. Allah prevails over His affair.
He mentioned the account of at-Tufayl ibn Amr ad-Dawsi, in suspended form: he was an obeyed, honorable chief in Daws. Coming to Mecca, the nobles of Quraysh gathered to him, warned him against the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and forbade him to meet him or hear his speech. He said: “They kept at me until I resolved to hear nothing of him and speak not to him: I plugged my ears with cotton as I went to the mosque, fearing something of his speech might reach me unawares. I went to the mosque: there was the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) standing, praying by the Kaaba. I drew near him, and Allah willed that I hear some of his speech: I heard a fine discourse. I said to myself: by my mother! I am a discerning man, a poet: naught of the beautiful or the ugly escapes me; what prevents me from listening to what this man says? If what he brings is beautiful, I accept it; if ugly, I leave it.”
He waited until the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) had departed, then followed him to his house, entered upon him and said: “O Muhammad, my people said to me such and such; by Allah, they never ceased frightening me of your affair until I plugged my two ears with cotton so as not to hear your speech; then Allah willed that I hear your speech, and I heard a fine discourse: present to me your affair.” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) presented Islam to him and recited the Quran to him. He said: “By Allah, I never heard words more beautiful nor an order more just.” He embraced Islam and bore the true witness, then said: “O prophet of Allah, I am a man obeyed among my people: I return to them and call them to Islam. Invoke Allah that He make for me a sign to aid me with them in what I call them to.” He said: “O Allah, make for him a sign.”
He set out toward his people; upon reaching the slope overlooking the plain, a light struck between my two eyes, like a lamp. I said: “O Allah, upon other than my face: I fear they will think it a punishment struck upon my face for my defection from their religion.” It moved and came upon the tip of my whip. The settled folk saw it upon the tip of my whip, like a hanging lamp, as I descended toward them from the slope, until I had come to them. When I alighted, my father came to me, a very old man, and I said: “Away from me, O my father: I am not of you and you are not of me.” He said: “Why, my son?” I said: “I have embraced Islam and followed the religion of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).” He said: “My son, my religion is your religion.” I said: “Go then, wash yourself, purify your garments, then return to me that I teach you what I have learned.” He went, washed himself, purified his garments, returned: I presented Islam to him, and he embraced it.
Then my wife came to me, and I said: “Away from me: I am not of you and you are not of me.” She said: “Why, may my father and mother be ransomed?” I said: “Islam has parted you and me: I have followed the religion of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).” She said: “My religion is your religion.” I said: “Go to hina Dhi ash-Shara and purify yourself of it.” Dhi ash-Shara was an idol of Daws, and the sanctuary was the pasture kept for it, endowed with a stream of water descending from the mountain. She said: “May my father and mother be ransomed: do you fear for your little one anything from Dhi ash-Shara?” I said: “No: I answer for that.” She went, washed herself, then returned: I presented Islam to her, and she embraced it. I then called Daws to Islam, but they were slow to follow me. I came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in Mecca and said: “O Messenger of Allah, fornication has prevailed over me upon Daws: invoke Allah against them.” He said: “O Allah, guide Daws. Return to your people: call them and be gentle with them.”
I never ceased to be in the land of Daws, calling them to Islam, until the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) emigrated to Medina; Badr, Uhud and the Trench passed. Then I came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) with whoever of my people had embraced Islam, while he was at Khaybar: I settled in Medina with seventy or eighty households of Daws, and we joined the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) at Khaybar. He allotted us shares with the Muslims. I then remained with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) until Allah opened Mecca to him, and I said: “O Messenger of Allah, send me to Dhi al-Kaffayn, the idol of ’Amr ibn Houmama, that I burn it.” Ibn Ishaq said: he went out to it, at-Tufayl kindling fire upon it and saying:
“O Dhi al-Kaffayn, I am not among your worshippers : … our birth is older than thine ;”
“I have thrust the fire into your heart.”
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) then returned, and at-Tufayl remained with him in Medina until Allah took His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
When the Arabs apostatized, at-Tufayl went out with the Muslims: he marched with them until they finished with Toulayha and with all the land of Najd, then marched with the Muslims toward al-Yamama, with him his son Amr ibn at-Tufayl, who saw a dream while heading to al-Yamama. He said to his companions: “I saw a dream: interpret it for me. I saw that my head was shaved; that a bird came out of my mouth; that a woman met me and thrust me into her private parts; and I saw my son seeking me ardently, then I saw him held far from me.” They said: “In good.” He said: “As for me, by Allah, I have interpreted it.” They said: “How?” He said: “The shaving of the head is its laying down; the bird that came out of me is my soul; the woman who thrust me into her private parts is the earth that will be dug for me and wherein I shall disappear; and my son’s seeking me, then his being held far: I see him striving to meet what will befall me.” He was killed : may Allah have mercy on him : a martyr at al-Yamama; his son was gravely wounded, then recovered, then was killed the year of the Yarmouk, in the time of ’Oumar, a martyr (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Such is how Muhammad ibn Ishaq mentioned the account of at-Tufayl ibn Amr, in suspended form, without a chain.
Of his account there is a witness in the authentic hadith. Imam Ahmad related, from Waki’, from Soufyan, from Abu az-Zinad, from al-A’raj, from Abu Hurayra: when at-Tufayl and his companions came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), he said: “Daws has revolted.” He said: “O Allah, guide Daws, and bring them.” al-Boukhari related it, from Abu Nu’aym, from Soufyan ath-Thawri. Imam Ahmad related likewise, from Yazid, that Abu Hurayra informed that Muhammad ibn Amr related to him, from Abu Salama, from Abu Hurayra (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): at-Tufayl ibn Amr ad-Dawsi and his companions came and said: “O Messenger of Allah, Daws has disobeyed and refused: invoke Allah against her.” Abu Hurayra said: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) raised his hands, and I said: Daws is lost. He said: “O Allah, guide Daws, and bring them.” Its chain is good, and they did not compile it.
Imam Ahmad related, from Sulayman ibn Harb, from Hammad ibn Zayd, from Hajjaj as-Sawwaf, from Abu az-Zoubayr, from Jabir: at-Tufayl ibn Amr ad-Dawsi came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and said: “O Messenger of Allah, have you an impregnable fortress and protection?” He meant a fortress Daws had in jahiliyya. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) refused it him, Allah having stored it for the Ansar. When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) emigrated to Medina, at-Tufayl ibn Amr emigrated to him, and with him a man of his people. They stayed in Medina: the man fell ill, grew impatient, took an arrowhead and cut his arm’s vein; the blood did not stop until he died. at-Tufayl saw him in a dream in a beautiful form, covering his two hands. He said to him: “What did your Lord do with you?” He said: “He pardoned me for my emigration to His prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).” He said: “Why do I see you covering your two hands?” He said: “I was told: never shall be mended of you what you have spoiled.” at-Tufayl narrated that to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said: “O Allah, pardon him as well as his two hands.” Mouslim related it, from Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shayba and Ishaq ibn Ibrahim, both from Sulayman ibn Harb.
Should it be asked: what is the reconciliation between this hadith and what is established in the two Sahihs, through the chain of al-Hasan, from Jundub: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Among those before you was a man who was wounded: he grew impatient, took a knife, cut his hand, and the blood did not stop until he died. Allah said: My servant hastened himself to Me: I have forbidden him Paradise” : the answer holds in several points. The first: that one may have been a polytheist and this one a believer, this deed being an independent cause of his entering the Fire, apart from his association; he was warned of it that his community might take lesson. The second: that one knew the prohibition, this one did not, because of the newness of his entry into Islam. The third: that one did it deeming it lawful; this one did not deem it lawful, but erred. The fourth: that one intended by his deed to kill himself,
unlike this one: it is possible he did not intend suicide, but intended something else. The fifth: that one had few good deeds, which did not counterbalance his great sin, and he entered the Fire; this one had many good deeds which counterbalanced the sin: he entered not the Fire, but was pardoned for his emigration to his prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him); only the defect remained in his hand, the rest of his form being fine: he covered the defect, and when at-Tufayl saw him covering his hands, he asked him: what is the matter with you? He said: I was told: never shall be mended of you what you have spoiled. When at-Tufayl narrated it to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), he invoked for him and said: “O Allah, pardon him as well as his two hands,” that is: mend of it what was corrupted. Established is that Allah answered the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) for the companion of at-Tufayl ibn Amr.