Al-Wāqidī narrates—through Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh, from al-Zuhrī, from Ibn al-Musayyab—that ʿUyayna ibn Ḥiṣn was one of the principal leaders of the Confederates (al-Aḥzāb). The Prophet ﷺ therefore sent a message to him and to al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAwf saying, “Tell me: if I were to give the two of you one-third of Medina’s dates, would you withdraw together with your men?” They agreed. While the Prophet ﷺ was about to draft the treaty, Usayd ibn Ḥuḍayr arrived, and ʿUyayna was sitting in front of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ with his legs stretched out. Usayd exclaimed, “You sly jackal, pull in your legs! By Allah, were it not for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ I would have dyed you red with my spear!” He then turned to the Prophet ﷺ and said, “If this is a command from heaven, proceed; otherwise, by Allah, we will give them nothing but the sword. Since when have they tasted such concessions from us?” The two Saʿds said the same.
The Prophet ﷺ said, “Tear up the document,” so it was torn to pieces. ʿUyayna retorted, “By Allah, what you have just abandoned would have been better for you than the course you have chosen. You have no power against that people.” ʿAbbād ibn Bishr responded, “O ʿUyayna, do you threaten us with the sword? You will soon know which of us loses heart first. By Allah, were it not for the presence of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, you would never reach your folk.” The two envoys withdrew, saying to one another, “By Allah, we do not think we shall gain anything from them.”
Al-Wāqidī adds: When the Confederates scattered, ʿUyayna returned to his homeland, and he accepted Islam shortly before the Conquest.
Ibn Saʿd reports: ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad told us—on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Salīm, from al-Zubayr ibn Khabīb—that ʿUyayna ibn Ḥiṣn advanced toward Medina and was met by a party riding out of the city. He asked them about the situation, and they replied, “People now fall into three groups: a man who has accepted Islam and is with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ fighting the Arabs; a man who has not accepted Islam and therefore fights him; and a man who outwardly professes Islam and …”