Mustadrak al-Hakim — Hadith 7427

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Rifa'ah bin Rafi' (may Allah be pleased with him), who took part in the Battle of Badr with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), that he and his maternal cousin Mu'adh bin Afra' reached Makkah. When they came down from the mountain pass, they saw a man under a tree (this was before the six Ansar came to Makkah). Rifa'ah said: When we saw him, we said to each other: Let us go to this man and leave our mounts with him in trust until we have performed Tawaf of the House. Then we greeted him with the greeting of Jahiliyyah, and he returned our greeting with the greeting of the people of Islam. We had heard about the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) (but did not recognise him), so we felt somewhat strange about it. We asked: Who are you? He said: "Dismount from your mounts." We dismounted, and then we asked: Where is the man who makes the claim (of prophethood) and says what he says? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I am he." I said: Then present (your religion) to me. So he presented Islam to us and said: "Who created the heavens, the earth and the mountains?" We said: Allah created them. He said: "Then who created you?" We said: Allah. He said: "Then who made these idols that you worship?" We said: We did. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Then is the Creator more deserving of worship, or the created? You are more deserving that these idols worship you, since you made them, whereas Allah is more deserving that you worship Him than something you made yourselves. I call to the worship of Allah, to bearing witness that there is no god but Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah, as well as to maintaining ties of kinship and to abandoning transgression against people out of anger." We said: By Allah! Even if what you call to were false, it would still be among the loftiest of matters and the finest of morals. Now look after our mounts until we have been to the House. Mu'adh bin Afra' stayed sitting with him (peace and blessings be upon him). Rafi' said: I came to the House, performed Tawaf, and took out seven arrows (for drawing lots), and I assigned one of them to him (peace and blessings be upon him). Then I stood facing the House and said: O Allah! If what Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) calls to is true, then let his arrow come out seven times. I drew the lots and that arrow came out all seven times. Then I cried out: I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. The people gathered around me and began saying: He is mad; this man has abandoned his religion. I said: Rather, I am a believer. Then I came back to the upper part of Makkah. When Mu'adh saw me, he said: Rafi' has come back with a face different from the one with which he left (a radiant face). I came to him (peace and blessings be upon him) and believed, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) taught us Surah Yusuf and "Read in the name of your Lord who created" [Surah al-Alaq: 1]. Then we set off back to Madinah. When we reached al-Aqiq, Mu'adh said: I have never come to my family suddenly at night, so spend the night here with us until morning. I said: Should I spend the night (outside) while I have this goodness and blessing with me? I will never do that. And whenever Rafi' returned from a journey, he would present (the religion) to his people.
This hadith has a sahih (authentic) chain of narration, but Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim did not record it.