Allah the Exalted then revealed: “O you who believe, when believing women come to you as emigrants, test them…,” until His words, “…and do not hold fast to the bonds of disbelieving women” (al-Mumtahanah 10).

On that very day ʿUmar divorced two wives of his who were still upon polytheism; one of them was later married by Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān, and the other by Ṣafwān ibn Umayyah.

The Prophet ﷺ returned to Madinah, whereupon Abū Baṣīr—a man of Quraysh who had embraced Islam—came to him. Quraysh sent two men in pursuit and said, “Honor the covenant you made with us.” The Prophet handed him over to the two men, who set out with him until they reached Dhul-Ḥulayfah. There they stopped to eat some of their dates.

Abū Baṣīr said to one of them, “By Allah, O so-and-so, I can see that your sword is a splendid one.” The man unsheathed it and replied, “Indeed, by Allah, it is excellent; I have tested it, and tested it, and tested it.” Abū Baṣīr said, “Let me have a look at it.” When he gave it to him, Abū Baṣīr struck him with it until he was lifeless. The other man fled until he reached Madinah, rushed into the mosque, and when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saw him he said, “This man has been seized by terror.”

The fugitive cried, “By Allah, my companion has been killed, and I too am as good as dead!”

Abū Baṣīr then arrived and said, “O Prophet of Allah, by Allah, Allah has fulfilled your obligation: you handed me back to them and He delivered me from them.” The Prophet ﷺ said, “Woe to his mother! A firebrand of war, if only he had helpers.” Realizing that he would be sent back again, Abū Baṣīr left and made his way to the seacoast.

Soon Abū Jandal ibn Suhayl ibn ʿAmr escaped from Quraysh and joined Abū Baṣīr. Thereafter every man of Quraysh who accepted Islam slipped away to Abū Baṣīr, until a band of them had gathered. By Allah, they never heard of a Quraysh caravan bound for Syria without intercepting it—killing its guards and seizing its goods.

Quraysh then sent to the Prophet ﷺ, beseeching him by Allah and by their kinship to take the men in, promising that anyone who came to him would be safe. The Prophet ﷺ therefore sent word to them, and Allah Most High revealed: “He is the One who restrained their hands from you and your hands from them in the valley of Makkah… up to the words, ‘the fervor of the Age of Ignorance’” (al-Fath 24–26).

Their “fervor” was that they would not acknowledge him as the Messenger of Allah, would not agree to “In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful,” and barred him and his Companions from the House.

This version of the events contains additions and valuable points not found in Ibn Isḥāq’s report from al-Zuhrī. A number of transmitters—among them Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah, Maʿmar, and Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq—narrated it from al-Zuhrī, from ʿUrwah, from Marwān and Miswar, recounting the story.

Al-Bukhārī also recorded it (1) at the beginning of the Book of Conditions, through Yaḥyā ibn Bukayr, from al-Layth ibn Saʿd, from ʿAqīl, from al-Zuhrī, from ʿUrwah, from Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam and Miswar ibn Makhramah, from the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, relating the incident. This is the more plausible chain, for Marwān and Miswar were young on the day of al-Ḥudaybiyyah and evidently received the account from the Companions—may Allah be pleased with them all.

Al-Bukhārī further said: Ḥasan ibn Isḥāq narrated to us, Muḥammad ibn Sābiq narrated to us, Mālik ibn Mighwal narrated to us—I heard Abū Ḥuṣayn say that Abū Wāʾil said: “When Sahl ibn Ḥunayf returned from Ṣiffīn, we went to question him. He said, ‘Distrust your own opinions! I recall the day of Abū Jandal: had I been able to oppose the decision of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, I would have done so. Allah and His Messenger know best, and we have not…’”