—al-ʿAbbās then bound them with solemn oaths on behalf of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to honor the covenant, magnifying the significance of the bond that now linked them to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He also pointed out that the mother of ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib was Salmā bint ʿAmr ibn Zayd ibn ʿAdiyy ibn al-Najjār, and he narrated the incident in full.

ʿUrwah said: All those who attended al-ʿAqabah from the Anṣār were seventy men and one woman. Ibn Isḥāq said: They were seventy men and two women, one of whom was Umm ʿUmārah, together with her husband and their two sons.

Yūnus ibn Bukayr related from Ibn Isḥāq: Maʿbad ibn Kaʿb ibn Mālik ibn al-Qayn told me, from his brother ʿUbayd Allāh, from their father Kaʿb (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:

We set out for the pilgrimage during which we pledged allegiance to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ at al-ʿAqabah, travelling alongside the idolaters of our people. With us was al-Barrāʾ ibn Maʿrūr, our elder and leader. When we reached the open country of al-Bayḍāʾ he said, ‘My people, you know that I have come to a view, yet by Allah I do not know whether you will agree with me or not.’ We said, ‘What is it, Abū Bishr?’ He answered, ‘I intend to pray facing this House and will not turn my back to it.’ We replied, ‘By Allah, do not do that, for we have only heard that our Prophet ﷺ prays toward Syria.’ He said, ‘By Allah, I shall certainly face it.’

Thus, whenever the time for prayer arrived he would turn toward the Kaʿbah while we faced Syria. When we reached Mecca, al-Barrāʾ said to me, ‘My nephew, let us go to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ so I may ask him about what I have done, for I feel uneasy because you differed with me.’ We went out searching for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and met a man at al-Abṭaḥ. We said, ‘Would you direct us to Muhammad?’ He asked, ‘Would you recognize him if you saw him?’ We said, ‘No, by Allah.’ He then said, ‘Do you know al-ʿAbbās?’ We replied, ‘Yes, we know him—he used to come to us on business.’ He said, ‘When you enter the mosque, look for al-ʿAbbās; the man with him is Muhammad.’ So we entered.