Seerah of Prophet Muhammad 80 - The Conquest of Makkah Part 5 ~ Dr. Yasir Qadhi | 26th March 2014
Seerah of Prophet Muhammad 80 - The Conquest of Makkah Part 5 ~ Dr. Yasir Qadhi | 26th March 2014
As is typical with all the seerah, we have lots of narrations next but we need to piece the puzzle together. Last time we discussed all the people who were on the list to not be forgiven, and it's understood those stories happened over 2-3 weeks, but we discussed them together. And even of those on the list (up to 9), most were forgiven and only up to 4 were executed. And this is the general rule: Mercy and tolerance and compassion, but strictness must be shown to send fear and firmness that, "You can't cross the line."
The Voice of Bilal ibn Rabah RA
Let us return to the actual conquest. The Prophet PBUH gave the khutbah standing on the steps of the Ka'bah with the doors wide open behind him, and there is clear symbolism here. That now Islam is open to all and anyone can embrace Islam. There is the Prophet PBUH at the doors of the gate inviting the people to accept Islam. And he tells the people, "Go for you are free today." At this point in time he tells Bilal RA to stand on top of the Ka'bah and give the adhan. Allah honored Bilal RA to be the first ever muezzin in Makkah. And truly how amazing it is: The voice that used to cry out while being persecuted. The voice that used to testify, "There is only One" - that same voice would be chosen by Allah to now proclaim at the time of honor and power. He who remains firm during times of hardship and persecution, he will be honored at a time of ease and honor.
And truly it's an amazing honor: An Abyssinian slave with no lineage or background is chosen to go literally and metaphorically on the highest step and give the adhan. He is literally above the Quraysh and he's been chosen on behalf of the Prophet PBUH. And of course the adhan summarizes Islam. We also learn the truth of the Islamic principle, "al-jaza-u min jins al-amal (الجزاء من جنس العمل)." It's a theological rule that Allah and the Prophet PBUH have shown to be true. That is, you will be dealt with how you deserve to be dealt with. Good for good, and bad for bad. "Jaza" means "reward/punishment" - it will be the same characteristic as your actions. The one who persevered and whose voice declared the truth of Allah, now his voice is chosen to be the first ever muezzin to declare the truth of Allah.
When Bilal's voice is proclaiming the adhan Abu Sufyan is standing there with the elite of the Quraysh. Of them is al-Harith ibn Hisham and Itab ibn Asid. These are from the Banu Makhzum. And al-Harith ibn Hisham is full brother of Abu Jahal. And they are all elites. Itab says, "Allah has honored my father (Asid) for having him dead right now - he doesn't have to see the humiliation of how this black man has been chosen above us." This is pure Jahiliyyah. And al-Harith says, "Wallahi if I thought this man was on the truth I would follow him" so he's saying the Prophet PBUH is not truthful and he's mocking him. Abu Sufyan who IS a new Muslim, he says, "As for me, my tongue is sealed - if I were to say anything, even the rocks would inform the Prophet PBUH what I said." This shows us he's afraid but still not firm on Islam. One side of him is still sympathetic to what Itab said; another side knows the truth and is saying, "I can't say anything." Meaning, his heart is sympathetic - and this shows for some people Islam takes time. No doubt there was a lost sense of being in charge. This statement demonstrates Iman has not fully entered his heart but still he is a Muslim. It's bizarre he believes if he says something the Prophet PBUH will find out. So he believes the Prophet PBUH is a prophet - but still he isn't fully submissive. And we see this again and again; Islam is of levels. And Allah says this in Surah al-Hujurat:
قَالَتِ الْأَعْرَابُ آمَنَّا ۖ قُل لَّمْ تُؤْمِنُوا وَلَٰكِن قُولُوا أَسْلَمْنَا وَلَمَّا يَدْخُلِ الْإِيمَانُ فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ ۖ وَإِن تُطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ لَا يَلِتْكُم مِّنْ أَعْمَالِكُمْ شَيْئًا ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
"O Bedouins, you are not yet mu'mins (believers), you are Muslims (one who's accepted Islam). Iman has not yet entered your heart." [see Qur'an, 49:14] And wallahi we see this nowadays and we see this in the sahaba too. People convert for marriage, or less taxes etc.
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The Iman of Some of Those Who Converted After the Conquest
Later on the Prophet PBUH is exiting the Haram and passes by the same group. And he says, "I know exactly what the three of you said. As for you al-Harith you said such and such. As for you Itab, such and such. And as for you Abu Sufyan you said this." He narrated letter for letter and word for word the whole conversation. Right then and there al-Harith said, "Wallahi you must be a prophet for nobody was listening to our conversation." And he accepted on the spot. Itab accepted later on and Abu Sufyan is already a Muslim.
And al-Harith ibn Hisham, later on his Islam became very strong. And he narrated many hadith; one is a beautiful hadith in Bukhari, that after the Conquest of Makkah he asked the Prophet PBUH, "Tell me, how does the revelation (wahy) come to you?" And the Prophet PBUH said to him, "Sometimes the wahy comes to me like the ringing of a bell and it's very difficult. Sometimes Jibril AS comes to me in the form of a man and I understand what he says and it's easier for me." And subhan'Allah it's interesting al-Harith had the audacity to ask such a question that Abu Bakr, Umar and Ali would not dare ask. And it's true - somebody much closer to you would be too shy to ask such probing questions. That is why ibn Umar said, "We would love it when an intelligent Bedouin would come to Madinah so he would ask questions and we would listen." The sahaba had too much reverence and respect to the level of they could not question these things. The sahaba are sitting with their heads down. Not one word comes from their mouth - but al-Harith ibn Hisham is a brand new convert so he says, "Tell me everything. I want to know how does Jibril come to you."
One time the Prophet PBUH was in his tent and wahy began and the sahaba knew since the Prophet PBUH would lower his eyes, and sweat would appear. When that happened Umar called Harith and told him, "Look wahy is coming" so Harith saw the state of the Prophet PBUH. This is a privilege given to him because he is after all an elite of the Quraysh. And he died a shaheed fighting against the Romans in the Battle of Yarmouk. And Harith ibn Hisham is involved in that famous story during the Battle of Yarmouk, which was the major battle between the army of the Byzantine Empire and the Muslims as it paved the way into Syria. Major losses occurred but overall it was a victory for the Muslims.
It is narrated: In the Battle of Yarmouk, Harith Ibn Hisham, Ikrimah Ibn Abi Jahal and Ayyash ibn Abi Rabi'ah all fell to the ground severely wounded. Harith Ibn Hisham asked for water to drink. One of the soldiers brought water to him. When he saw that Ikrimah was looking at him, he said, "Take this water to Ikrimah." As Ikrimah received the water he saw that Ayyash was looking at him, and he declined the water, saying, "Give it to Ayyash." But Ayyash died before the water could reach him. At that the water-bearer ran to Ikrimah, but Ikrimah had also died. He ran over to Harith, but he had expired, too. Subhan'Allah we see the strength of their Iman even all three of the sahaba in this hadith converted after the Conquest.
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Things Have Come Full Circle
After the khutbah the Prophet PBUH made his way to Mount Safa and he took the oath of allegiance from all the people willing to embrace Islam. This is the primary visualization of ayah two of Surah al-Nasr [110]:
إِذَا جَاءَ نَصْرُ اللَّهِ وَالْفَتْحُ
1. When the victory of Allah has come and the conquest
وَرَأَيْتَ النَّاسَ يَدْخُلُونَ فِي دِينِ اللَّهِ أَفْوَاجًا
2. And you see the people entering into the religion of Allah in multitudes
فَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ وَاسْتَغْفِرْهُ ۚ إِنَّهُ كَانَ تَوَّابًا
3. Then exalt [Him] with praise of your Lord and ask forgiveness of Him. Indeed, He is ever Accepting of repentance.
That hundreds were around him waiting to give the bay'ah to the Prophet PBUH. And subhan'Allah how perfect it is that where the dawah began, it shall end as well. Things are coming full circle. The public dawah began on Mount Safa and it ends here. And our Prophet PBUH sits down where he once stood to pretty much finish the job that began over 20 years ago. And the bulk of the people of Makkah converted at this time. The fiqh benefits of the Conquest of Makkah will be discussed next lesson.
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"There Is No Hijrah After the Conquest"
One of the interesting tidbits is that a sahabi comes with his blood brother, and he says, "Ya Rasulullah, this is my blood brother. I want you to give him the blessings of Hijrah." Meaning here that whenever someone migrated the Prophet PBUH would give them the good tidings that, "You've done Hijrah and you shall be rewarded with Jannah etc." So this sahabi wanted his brother to get the same blessing - and this is Islam. But the Prophet PBUH said, and it's one of the most famous mutawatir hadith in Bukhari and Muslim, "There is no Hijrah after the Conquest (of Makkah)." This hadith is one of the most important fiqh benefits in the Conquest that was very relevant to them. For 7-8 years, Hijrah was fard ayn on every single Muslim - you HAD to make Hijrah to Madinah. When the Prophet PBUH conquered Makkah, that ruling was abrogated. There is no more Hijrah after the Conquest. That special Hijrah has been abrogated. You can have personal Hijrahs - but it's not THE Hijrah. That Hijrah for the ummah is gone and every Muslim need not make Hijrah. Then the Prophet PBUH said, "The only thing left is jihad and good intentions." That is, if he really wants to make it up, there is much opportunity to do so.
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Women's Oath of Allegiance & the Back-and-Forth With Hind bint Utbah
So the Prophet PBUH took the oath of allegiance from all the men. Then the women of the Quraysh were called and they were all gathered before the Prophet PBUH and the verse from Surah al-Mumtahanah will be told to them:
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ إِذَا جَاءَكَ الْمُؤْمِنَاتُ يُبَايِعْنَكَ عَلَىٰ أَن لَّا يُشْرِكْنَ بِاللَّهِ شَيْئًا وَلَا يَسْرِقْنَ وَلَا يَزْنِينَ وَلَا يَقْتُلْنَ أَوْلَادَهُنَّ وَلَا يَأْتِينَ بِبُهْتَانٍ يَفْتَرِينَهُ بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِنَّ وَأَرْجُلِهِنَّ وَلَا يَعْصِينَكَ فِي مَعْرُوفٍ ۙ فَبَايِعْهُنَّ وَاسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُنَّ اللَّهَ ۖ إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
"O Prophet, when the believing women come to you pledging to you that they will not associate anything with Allah, nor will they steal, nor will they commit unlawful sexual intercourse, nor will they kill their children, nor will they bring forth a slander they have invented between their arms and legs, nor will they disobey you in what is right - then accept their pledge and ask forgiveness for them of Allah. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful." [60:12]
Amongst them was Hind bint Utbah wearing the full veil so no one recognizes her - she was the one only a few weeks ago embarrassed Abu Sufyan, her husband, saying, "We must kill Muhammad, have you no honor etc." And of course Hind has a history which we all know - what she did with Hamzah at Uhud. Now, it's well known the face veil was something practiced by the women in the time of the Prophet PBUH. Whether it's fard or not is a different story: But the claim that the face veil is an invention is clearly baseless and wrong. The veil is clearly a part of Islamic tradition - some scholars say it's fard, others not. That's a different issue. Many progressives and extra-moderates say there is no place for the face veil, but this is not true as we see in the seerah.
So the women come in front of the Prophet PBUH, and he begins, "You shall give me the oath of allegiance: You shall not worship anyone besides Allah" (mentioned in the Quran). At this Hind says from the middle of the crowd, "You are asking of us something you didn't ask of the men." But this is wrong - she just assumed that this was a political alliance and conquest, not religious. She assumed that, "You are our ruler, but you won't tell us to give up our Gods." So then she got irritated and said, "You are demanding of us something you didn't demand of the men." Of course this is not true. But then she said, "Okay we shall give it to you." The very fact she is speaking show's her character: She won't remain silent. Nonetheless, the Prophet PBUH then says, "And you shall not steal." At this she says, "I used to take from the money of Abu Sufyan bit by bit without his knowing - I don't know if that's allowed or not." Meaning, "This new rule you are putting on me, I don't know if I can do it." And Abu Sufyan was there so to try to resolve this, he said, "All of that has happened in the past I've forgiven." Now this conversation gives away who the women in niqab is, and so the Prophet PBUH says, "Are you Hind?" Hind immediately says, "Yes I am, and forgive the past, may Allah forgive you." And the Prophet PBUH did not respond to her, but simply moved on. And this truly shows us it's easier to forgive a crime against you then a crime against a loved one. Especially when it's done to the dead body of your loved one. So the Prophet PBUH did not punish her, nor did he say, "You are forgiven." This is wallahi perfect. Same with Wahshi: He forgave, but he said, "Just avoid my presence." As for Hind, he just ignores her. This again shows us the perfection of the Prophet PBUH.
So he goes to the next condition, "And you shall not commit zina." Once again Hind says something, and note every single condition given she almost must say a comment. So she says, "Do you expect a free lady to commit zina?" Subhan'Allah this is interesting. It shows Arabian society, no matter how low it was, free decent ladies would never taint their family honor by this crime. It was only people of lewd and lower classes. For dignified, decent families, zina is unheard of. When this condition is put, she gets irritated, "You expect any of us to commit zina?!"
The scholars say crimes are of two types. One type are crimes that go against modesty and dignity even without Iman. Then there are other crimes. Zina is the worst crime that goes against modesty and haya (being shameless). Fifty years ago, fornication was truly unheard of by decent, dignified citizens. Only women of a lowly class did this. So when the Prophet PBUH puts this condition, immediately Hind gets irritated, "You expect us to commit zina?" And again the Prophet PBUH just ignored her. Then he said, "And don't kill your children." Here we see Hind's sharp tongue, "As for this one, wallahi we took care of them as babies, you killed them as adults at the Battle of Badr." This was so unexpected, that Umar RA began laughing so much he fell onto his back. It was such a witty and novel response the way she understood it that Umar broke down laughing.
After this the Prophet PBUH tells Umar to take the women's oath of allegiance. The Prophet PBUH never ever touched the hand of a woman not related to him.
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Tangent: Is It Allowed to Shake Non-Mahram's Hand?
And it's narrated mutawatir by Aisha RA that the Prophet PBUH himself did not take the oath from women. Later on a woman went to accept Islam, she put her hand out and the Prophet PBUH said, "I do not give the bay'ah by shaking hand. My speech is my bay'ah to you." And there is some controversy whether Umar RA took the oath with his hands or not. There are some reports that indicate he did this. It can also be said, this is what is understood in the authentic narration that the Prophet PBUH commanded Umar, "You take the oath." If it's only verbal then surely he's done it. If it's more than verbal, Umar is doing something he can't do. But the hadith that mention Umar touched the women are not authentic. Is it allowed to shake the non-mahram's hand? The bulk of the scholars say no. Many Shafi'i scholars say it is allowed with two conditions: There is no fitna or desire, and there is a need to do so - and they point to this incident to show this. And they say it's why Umar was chosen because he was the strictest in terms of Iman and he would never touch out of desire. There's no denying the best example is that of the Prophet PBUH who never touched any non-mahram women. And Aisha RA says, "Wallahi the Prophet PBUH never touched the hand of any women except if she was mahram."
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The Ansar Feel Left Out
The Prophet PBUH has given the oath of allegiance to the men and women of Quraysh. The Ansar begin to talk among themselves since they feel a bit neglected. After all the Prophet PBUH has returned back to his original home and they see all of his relatives accepting Islam. So the Ansar begin to grumble and mumble, and one of them says, "Now that he has returned here, softness have overtaken him for his people," meaning 'he has forgotten us.' And subhan'Allah the root of their pain is love for the Prophet PBUH. They feel jealous that the Prophet PBUH might forget about them. So more and more people begin to feel this way that the Prophet PBUH will now leave them.
At this, Jibril AS came down and told the Prophet PBUH what the Ansar are saying. And so when the Prophet PBUH finished with all of the bay'ah, men and women, he called the Ansar. And he says, "O group of Ansar, did you say 'the love of my family has overtaken me and I've become soft?'" He quoted them exactly and they confessed and said, "Yes we said this." It's amazing Jibril informed him, YET he still asks them. Why? Is he denying the truthfulness of Jibril AS? No. But it's etiquette and courtesy and mannerisms. How beautiful of a message for us - when we hear someone remark something about someone you know, we think the worst and that's it. Here the Prophet PBUH is being told by Allah through Jibril AS! Yet he still asks and they agreed since of course they would never lie.
At this, the Prophet PBUH said, "Who am I? I am a slave and prophet of Allah. I've emigrated to you, for you and with you." Meaning, "Don't doubt my promise" - recall the promise the Prophet PBUH made at Aqaba. The Ansar asked him point blank, "Will you leave us once the victory is yours?" And the Prophet PBUH said, "No. My blood is your blood; my life is your life," meaning, "I shall always be one of you." So the Prophet PBUH says to them, "Who do you think I am that I will break my promise to you?" And he says, "MY life is yours; my death is yours," meaning we are together in this. When he said this, the Ansar began to cry and begged for forgiveness and pleaded for acceptance for their questioning. And they said, "We only said this based on what we thought and saw." The Prophet PBUH said, "Allah and His Messenger believe you and we've accepted your excuse."
This is the primary narrative after the bay'ah, we don't know the exact order of events next.
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More Conversions
We know the Prophet PBUH stayed in Makkah for the next 19 days. In those 19 days many things happen so we will narrate bits and pieces. We will now concentrate on those people who did not accept Islam right now, but they accept Islam over the next 19 days. The bulk of the people gave the bay'ah but some very interesting characters delayed it. Of those people were:
1. Fudala ibn Umayr
1) One of the Quraysh who we don't know much about other than this story. His name was Fudala ibn Umayr. He seems to be a young man, and he's so angry at the defeat he decides to assassinate the Prophet PBUH. And this was a pure suicide mission because even if he is successful there's no way he will come out alive. So he hides the dagger and he says, "I'll do it when the Prophet PBUH is doing tawaf." Why? Because everyone gave the Prophet PBUH his own space when he did tawaf and the Prophet PBUH did countless tawaf. From this we learn the sunnah to do a lot of tawaf. He didn't do Umrah during the Conquest, but the Prophet PBUH did plenty tawaf. So in one of those tawaf Fudala sneaks up behind the Prophet PBUH and he thinks, "This is it I'll kill him now and whatever happens will happen." As soon as Fudala is about to pull out the dagger, the Prophet PBUH turns around. And the Prophet PBUH sees him and says, "Are you Fudala?" Fudala says, "Yes it is me." The Prophet PBUH says, "What were you thinking about doing?" So Fudala says, "Nothing I was just doing dhikr of Allah and tawaf." And so the Prophet PBUH laughed and he put his hand on the chest of Fudala and said 'astaghfirullah.' And Fudala says, "As soon as he placed his hand on my chest, no one was more beloved to me in the world than the Prophet PBUH." And Fudala accepted Islam and the entire plot is of course gone.
2. Safwan ibn Umayyah
2) Another two high profile converts were Safwan ibn Umayyah and Suhayl ibn Amr. As for Safwan, he is the son of Umayyah ibn Khalaf, the owner of Bilal RA. These are two leaders and elites of the Quraysh. So Safwan was of those who tried to fight back, but when it didn't work he fled. And he told his family, "I can't live anymore so I will drown myself in the ocean, you take care of yourself." So he basically said, "It's end of story I will commit suicide." So he fled from Makkah, made his way to Jeddah and then he planned to take a ship and drown himself. His cousin and best friend, Umayr ibn Wahab. After Badr, recall the story of Safwan and Umayr. They are cousins and best friends. And Umayr says, "Wallahi I would go kill the Prophet PBUH myself but I have a family, daughters etc." And Safwan says, "Don't worry, from now on your daughters are my daughters I'll give them everything - you just go take care of Muhammad." So both agree; Umayr goes to the Prophet PBUH, takes a poisonous dagger and he has it dangling in front of him. And the Prophet PBUH even says, "Why is a sword around your neck?" And Umayr says, "Oh this, of what use was the swords at Badr anyway, it's just hanging there." Then the Prophet PBUH said, "No. You are lying. Rather you and Safwan sat in the shade of the Ka'bah, and you said you will kill me, and he replied he will take care of your children etc." Word for word. And so Umayr immediately accepted Islam. Safwan was bragging in the meantime, "Just wait you will hear good news," and Umayr comes back and it turns out he is a Muslim.
So Umayr right now is a member of the Muslims coming from Madinah, and he's hunting, "Where is my cousin Safwan?" He finds out Safwan has fled and is threatening to commit suicide. So Umayr begs the Prophet PBUH, "Give Safwan protection," so the Prophet PBUH says, "Okay." Umayr says, "Give me something I can show him so he will believe me." So the Prophet PBUH gave Umayr the very turban he himself wore when he entered Makkah. So Umayr rushes to try to catch Safwan and he barely catches him in Jeddah before he boards the ship. And when Safwan sees him, he becomes angry, "You traitor and liar, and now you've come to kill me?" And Umayr says, "No I've not come to kill you; rather I've come from the best human being who has given you protection." Initially Safwan thinks he is lying and says, "You're a liar and traitor." Umayr persisted and said, "Ya Safwan I've come to you from the best of people.
He is your cousin, he is the most merciful, the most kind, his honor is your honor, his kingdom is your kingdom. And here is his turban, he's sent it to you promising you protection." And Safwan instantly recognizes the turban since he saw the Prophet PBUH wear it himself. And so Safwan reluctantly comes back, and the Prophet PBUH was just finishing Asr. Safwan turns to Umayr says, "How many times do you pray?" And Umayr says, "Five times a day." And Safwan says, "5 times a day?! And he leads you in salah five times?!" Then when the Prophet PBUH finished Asr, Safwan was still on his horse too scared to get down. And he shouts out, "Ya Muhammad, Umayr has come to me saying you've promised me protection - is this true?" And the Prophet PBUH said, "Come down." Safwan said, "No until you promise me and you tell me I have two months of protection." So the Prophet PBUH said, "We shall give you four months." But he still did not accept Islam.
Notice as well when Umayr is discussing with Safwan he says, "The Prophet PBUH is your cousin; his honor is yours etc." This is Jahiliyyah talk being done for the service of Islam. At the end of the day this lineage and blood doesn't matter in Islam, but it does to Safwan. So as long as what you are saying is the truth, then yes you can say it.
So Safwan was given four months. When the Prophet PBUH went to fight in Ta'if he asked Safwan to lend 100 coats of armor. Recall Safwan is one of the richest in Makkah; he's inherited the fortune of his father. And Safwan says, "Are you forcing me or asking?" The Prophet PBUH says, "Rather it's a guaranteed loan." From this much fiqh is derived: If you borrow something from someone, you are responsible for it. So Safwan gave it to him, and he participated in Hunayn, but not as a Muslim fighting in the army. A group of non-Muslim Makkans went to Hunayn and they played a minor role. After the Battle of Hunayn, when the Prophet PBUH was awarded the largest ghanima in the history of Islam, even more than Khaybar, and Safwan is staggered at the wealth, and he sees an entire valley of sheep and camels: The Prophet PBUH says, "You are amazed at this?" Safwan says, "Yes of course!" The Prophet PBUH says, "All of this is yours." This is a fortune. An entire valley of animals. And Safwan at that point in time says, "Such a gift can only come from the heart of a prophet." This is a gift that is not human. No regular human can give such a gift. At that point in time he said the shahada.
Ultimately, Safwan needed to be bribed. And only a rasul couldn't care less about money. Any one of us, if we have that wealth, we'll keep some for ourselves. But the Prophet PBUH just says, "Take it." And Safwan is so shocked he said, "The Prophet PBUH continued to give until he became the most beloved to me."
The most amazing thing is that these people are interacting with the best human being. And they've lived with him for 50 years, yet still they don't see he is true. Now imagine one of us we think after 5 minutes of dawah, "There's no hope for any of them." The Prophet PBUH himself to the very end: Ikrimah is about to drown and he gets convinced, Safwan gets a fortune and he gets a gift. This really shows us Islam to someone who's not born into it, is sometime very difficult to accept. If the Prophet PBUH could be refused so often, who do we think we are we can convert the masses? So Safwan eventually converted to Islam - he is an example of those whose hearts were captured by large amounts. And he became known later on as being a great worshiper of Allah. And he died a shaheed.
3. Suhayl ibn Amr
3) Yet another conversion story we'll discuss is another senior leader, Suhayl ibn Amr. He is of course the mastermind negotiator of Hudaybiyyah. The one whose son is Abu Jandal. Now Suhayl ibn Amr is similar in age to Umayyah ibn Khalaf - he is the elder guy. He is like Abu Sufyan. As for Safwan and Ikrimah, they are a generation younger. They are just the sons of the leaders. Suhayl ibn Amr is one of the true elites and leaders still alive right now of the senior age as the Prophet PBUH.
So when the sahaba conquered Makkah, Suhayl becomes terrified and locks himself in his house. And most of his sons had converted; a number of them were in the army of the conquest. And he tells his eldest son Abdullah to go and beg for forgiveness from the Prophet PBUH. Even though Suhayl's name was on the list for those who aren't forgiven. But Suhayl is terrified and he tells Abdullah, "I don't know anyone still alive who has done more wrong than me." This is an exaggeration but only by a bit. For of the senior leaders, he is surely one of the few still alive and he's done a lot against the Prophet PBUH. And he himself starts listing: "I was at Badr, then Uhud, then Khandaq, then I showed Muhammad harshness at Hudaybiyyah - now I don't know what he will do for me." You see that he feels guilty and remorseful.
So Abdullah goes to the Prophet PBUH and says, "My father is asking for protection" so the Prophet PBUH said, "Yes he is protected by the protection of Allah." His son rejoiced and raced back to tell his father the good news. To which, Suhayl said, "Truly this man has been righteous as a young boy and an adult." And what a beautiful phrase. He is testifying before Islam it was always known the Prophet PBUH was honest and righteous, and even now he is still righteous. And the Prophet PBUH told the sahaba, "When Suhayl comes, give him respect and do not stare at him in a mean way for he is a man of intelligence and honor, and he is too intelligent to be ignorant of Islam." Subhan'Allah the Prophet PBUH is telling the sahaba, "Don't even show anger in your facial expressions." And wallahi no one asked for forgiveness from the Prophet PBUH except he was forgiven - including Abdullah ibn Sa'd ibn Abi Sarh, the one who the Prophet PBUH himself wanted to execute but Allah willed otherwise. So Suhayl came to the Prophet PBUH, and after a conversation he did not accept Islam immediately, but eventually he accepted after the Battle of Ta'if and Conquest of Hunayn. And he lived a life of charity, sadaqa and zakat.
4. Abu Quhafa
4) The conversion of perhaps the oldest man in Makkah at the time, Abu Quhafa, the father of Abu Bakr. At this point in time, Abu Quhafa is completely blind and cannot walk except with difficulty. And he refused to convert to Islam throughout the entire dawah. He expressed his anger at Abu Bakr and he was among those who verbally spoke out against Islam. And since he was too old, he was unable to come to the actual gatherings and khutbahs of the Prophet PBUH. But when the Prophet PBUH was sitting and accepting allegiance, Asma bint Abi Bakr, brought her grandfather by her hand and led him to the Prophet PBUH. Abu Bakr was sitting with the Prophet PBUH and when Abu Quhafa came, the Prophet PBUH said to Abu Bakr, "Why didn't you leave the old man, we would have come to him in his own house." Subhan'Allah. It's an amazing phrase. And Abu Bakr said, "Wallahi it is more befitting he comes to you." We see the immense humility of the Prophet PBUH here. Indeed the Prophet PBUH said, "He is not of us who doesn't show respect to our elders, and mercy to our youngsters." So the Prophet PBUH is showing this respect to the oldest in Makkah. Also, why is Abu Quhafa being shown such respect? Because of Abu Bakr. Therefore you treat people based on their rank. There is nothing un-Islamic about this. When there is a noble person, his family you should treat different. The reason why the Prophet PBUH is saying, "You should have left him," is because of his son, Abu Bakr.
And the Prophet PBUH speaks with Abu Quhafa for a while, and eventually he accepts Islam. Abu Quhafa's beard and hair was pigeon white and the Prophet PBUH tells the women and family that, "When you go home, change this whiteness but avoid black." The fiqh is derived that those who have completely white hair should change their hair and beard color to something other than the natural color it was. This is the primary hadith used to show dying hair that is pure white is sunnah, but you should avoid black (or your natural color).
It's narrated when Abu Quhafa put his hand in the hand of the Prophet PBUH to take allegiance, Abu Bakr begins to cry. And the Prophet PBUH says, "Why are you crying, it's such a happy day - your father is accepting Islam." And Abu Bakr says, "Ya Rasulullah how I wish the hand I'm seeing now is the hand of Abu Talib," meaning everyone is accepting Islam. And even Abu Quhafa who never would accept Islam before is doing so - and Abu Quhafa is the age of Abu Talib, he's the only left of that elder generation. So memories are coming back associated with that generation. And all Abu Bakr can think of is, "I would give up everything to see the Islam of Abu Talib." And wallahi this type of love is beyond words. We cannot do justice to this scene. Abu Bakr is crying because he wants a pleasure to the Prophet PBUH, that is more pleasurable to him than the Islam of his own father. He feels almost selfish that, "My father is taking Islam, but your uncle didn't. I shouldn't be this happy, it should be your happiness."