Fath al-Rabbani

It is narrated from Habib bin Aws that Sayyiduna Amr bin al-As (may Allah be pleased with him) directly told me that when we returned from the Battle of the Confederates (Ahzab) and the trench, I gathered some Qurayshi people—those who understood my status and listened to my words attentively. I said to them: By Allah! You know that in my view, Muhammad’s call will surely prevail over all, and we do not like this. I have an opinion; now tell me, what do you think about it? They said: Yes, what is your opinion? I said: I think we should go to the Negus (Najashi) and stay there. If Muhammad prevails over our people, we will be with the Negus, and being under his rule is more preferable to us than being under Muhammad’s rule. And if our people prevail, we are well-known, and we will receive only good from them. The people said: Indeed, your opinion is appropriate. Then I said to them: Gather wealth to give him gifts; he liked leather from our region as a present. So we collected a lot of leather to give him and set out, and we reached him. By Allah! We were with him when Amr bin Umayyah al-Damri also arrived there. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had sent him to discuss the matter of Ja’far and his companions. He came to the Negus and then left. Now I said to my companions: This is Amr bin Umayyah al-Damri. If I go to the Negus and ask him to hand him over to me, he will do so, and I will kill him, and the Quraysh will acknowledge that I have fulfilled their right by killing Muhammad’s envoy. So I went to his court and, as I used to do before, performed a prostration of respect upon entering. He said: Welcome, friend! Have you brought any gifts for me from your homeland? I said: Yes, O King! I have brought a large quantity of leather for you. Then I presented it to him. He liked it very much and expressed that he needed it. After that, I said: O King! I saw a man here who has just left your presence; he is the envoy of our enemy. Hand him over to me so that I may kill him; he is the killer of our honored and best people. Upon hearing this, the Negus became enraged. He stretched out his hand and struck his own nose so hard that I feared he might have broken the bone of his nose. Out of fear, I felt that if the earth were to split open, I would enter it. Then I said: O King! By Allah, if I had known that this would displease you so much, I would never have made such a request. The Negus said: The angel who used to come to Musa (Moses), now comes to the man you speak of—should I hand over his envoy to you so that you may kill him? I said: O King! Is he really like that? He said: O Amr! Woe to you, obey me and follow him. By Allah, he is surely upon the truth, and he will certainly prevail over his opponents, just as Musa (Moses) prevailed over Pharaoh and his armies. I said: Take my pledge of allegiance for Islam on his behalf. The Negus said: Very well. So he extended his hand, and I pledged allegiance to him for Islam. Then I went back to my companions, while my opinion had completely changed from before, but I concealed my acceptance of Islam from them. Then I set out towards the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) to become Muslim. I met Khalid bin Walid, who was coming from Mecca; this was before the conquest of Mecca. I asked him: Abu Sulaiman! Where are you coming from? He said: By Allah! The path has become clear; Muhammad is surely a Prophet. By Allah, I am going to become Muslim. How long will I keep wandering here and there? I said: By Allah, I too have come only to accept Islam. We reached the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Khalid bin Walid went ahead. He accepted Islam and pledged allegiance. After him, I also approached and said: O Messenger of Allah! I pledge allegiance to you on the condition that all my previous sins are forgiven, and I forgot to mention the sins that might occur later. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: O Amr! Pledge allegiance; indeed, Islam wipes out all previous sins, and migration erases all previous sins. So I pledged allegiance to him and then returned. Ibn Ishaq says: A man whom I consider trustworthy told me that Sayyiduna Uthman bin Talha bin Abi Talha (may Allah be pleased with him) was also with both of them; when these two entered Islam, he also became Muslim with them.