THE ISLAM OF ‘AMR IBN AL-‘AAS, KHAALID IBN AL-WALEED, AND ‘UTHMAAN IBN TALHAH (MAY ALLAH BE PLEASED WITH THEM).
Hijri date: 8
Khaalid bin Al-Waleed said, “When Allah, Exalted be He, willed the good for me, He allowed my heart to embrace Islam and gave me guidance. At that point of time, I said to myself, ‘I have witnessed all these occasions against Muhammad ﷺ. There is no occasion that I witness, but I return, and I perceive in myself that I am in nothing, while that Muhammad will prevail and be victorious. When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ set out to al-Hudaybiyah, I went out in a group of horsemen of the polytheists, and I stationed near his camp at ‘Usfaan. He prayed with his Companions the afternoon prayer in front of us. We intended to raid him, but we were not able to do so. He then performed the ‘Asr prayer, but it was performed in the form of the Prayer of Fear, with his Companions. That had a great impact on us, and I remarked, “The man is well fortified.” Thus, we parted. After the Messenger of Allah ﷺ made a pact with Quraysh at al-Hudaybiyah, he ﷺ entered Makkah on the occasion of ‘Umrah al-Qadaa’, and he inquired about me, but he did not find me. He wrote to me a letter in which it was written: “By the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. I wonder at nothing more than I wonder at your opinion of Islam and how your intellect did not lead you to Islam! How could a person be so ignorant about Islam?” Thereafter, he ﷺ asked about me, and he ﷺ was told, “Allah will bring him.” He ﷺ then remarked, “Anyone like him cannot be that ignorant about Islam. And if he were to put his vengeance with the Muslims against the polytheists, it would have been better for him; and we would have given him precedence (in commandeering) over others.” When his letter reached me, I became actively willing to set out [to him] and it increased me in interest towards Islam and his inquiry regarding me really delighted me. When I resolved to set out to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ I met with ‘Uthmaan bin Talhah. I presented Islam to him, and he hastily responded positively to it. He set out with me until we reached Al-Hadah, and we found ‘Amr ibn Al-Aas there. Upon seeing us, he said, “Welcome, people!” We replied, “It is great to meet you!” He asked, “What is your destination?” We replied, “[We are travelling] to enter into Islam and follow Muhammad ﷺ. He remarked, “And that is the exact reason that brought me here.” We accompanied each other until we arrived at al-Madeenah. I wore my best clothes, then I proceeded to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He was already informed about us, and he ﷺ was delighted by our arrival. He kept on smiling when he ﷺ saw me until I stood up in front of him. I greeted him with the address of [his prophethood], he ﷺ replied to my greeting with a smiling face. I professed, “I bear witness that there is no God but Allah and that you are the Messenger of Allah.” He replied, “All praises are due to Allah Who guided you, I saw that you had an intellect and I hoped that it does not submit you to anything but good.” I said, “O Messenger of Allah, you have seen what I used to be present in, meaning, on those occasions of war, against you; so, please supplicate to Allah that He forgives me those sins.” The Prophet ﷺ replied, “Islam abolishes all that was before it.”