where they sat, and some of those who had embraced Islam gathered around them.

Sa‘d ibn Mu‘adh said to Usayd ibn Hudayr, “Go to these two men who have come into our quarter to mislead our weaker folk, and rebuke them. As‘ad ibn Zurarah is my maternal cousin; were it not for that, I would have dealt with him myself.” Sa‘d ibn Mu‘adh and Usayd ibn Hudayr were the chiefs of their people, the Banu ‘Abd al-Ashhal, and both were still idolaters.

Usayd ibn Hudayr took up his spear and approached Mus‘ab and As‘ad, who were sitting in the garden. When As‘ad ibn Zurarah saw him, he said to Mus‘ab, “Here is the chief of his people coming to you, so be sincere to Allah in his case.” Mus‘ab replied, “If he sits down, I shall speak with him.”

Usayd came up to them, hurling insults, and said, “What has brought you here, to mislead our weaker folk? Keep away from us, if you value your lives.” Mus‘ab said to him, “Will you not sit and listen? If you approve of what you hear, accept it; and if you dislike it, we shall keep from you what you dislike.” He said, “You have been fair.” Then he planted his spear in the ground and sat down with them.

Mus‘ab spoke to him about Islam and recited the Quran to him. They said, “By Allah, we could see Islam in his face before he spoke of it, from its radiance and serenity.” Then he said, “How fine and beautiful these words are! What do you do when you wish to enter this religion?” They said to him, “You bathe, cleanse your garments, then make the true testimony of faith [and then pray two rak‘ahs. So he rose, bathed, cleansed his garments, and made the true testimony of faith] (1).” He then rose and prayed two rak‘ahs.

Then he said to them, “Behind me is a man: if he follows you, not one of his people will remain behind. I shall send him to you now—Sa‘d ibn Mu‘adh.” He then took up his spear and returned to Sa‘d and his people, who were seated in their assembly place. When Sa‘d ibn Mu‘adh saw him approaching, he said, “I swear by Allah that Usayd has returned to you with a face different from that with which he left you.”

When Usayd stood before the assembly, Sa‘d asked him, “What did you do?” He replied, “I spoke to the two men, and by Allah, I saw nothing objectionable in them. I forbade them, and they said, ‘Do whatever you wish.’ But I have been told that Banu Harithah have gone out to As‘ad ibn Zurarah to kill him, because they know he is your maternal cousin and wish to humiliate you.”

Sa‘d rose in anger, hastening to deal with what he had been told about Banu Harithah. He took up his spear and said, “By Allah, I do not think you have accomplished anything.” But when he saw the two men at ease, he realized that Usayd had only wanted him to hear from them. So he came up to them, hurling insults, and said to As‘ad ibn Zurarah, “Were it not for the kinship between you and me, you would not have presumed to do this to me: coming into our quarter with what we dislike.”

As‘ad said to Mus‘ab, “By Allah, the chief of his people has come to you. If he follows you, none of them will oppose you.” Mus‘ab said to him, “Will you not sit and listen? If you approve of something and desire it, accept it; but if you dislike it, we shall remove from you what you dislike.” Sa‘d said, “You have been fair.” Then he planted his spear in the ground and sat down.

Mus‘ab presented Islam to him and recited the Quran to him. They said: [65/b] “By Allah, we could see Islam in his face before he spoke of it, from its radiance and serenity.” Then he said to them, “What do you do when you embrace Islam and enter this religion?” They replied, “You bathe, cleanse your garments, then make the true testimony of faith, and then [pray] (3) two rak‘ahs.” So he rose, bathed, cleansed his garments, made the true testimony of faith, and prayed two rak‘ahs.

He then took up his spear and headed deliberately for the assembly place of his people, with Usayd ibn Hudayr accompanying him. When his people saw him approaching, they said, “We swear by Allah that Sa‘d has returned to you with a face different from that with which he left you.” When he stood before them, he said, “O Banu ‘Abd al-Ashhal, what do you know of my standing among you?” They said, “You are our chief, the soundest of us in judgment, and the most blessed of us in leadership.” He said, “Then it is forbidden to me to speak with your men and women until you believe in Allah and His Messenger.”

He said: By that evening, there was not a single man or woman in the dwellings of Banu ‘Abd al-Ashhal who was not a Muslim.

As‘ad ibn Zurarah and Mus‘ab returned to As‘ad ibn Zurarah’s home. Mus‘ab stayed with him, calling people to Islam, until no household of the Helpers remained without Muslim men and women—apart from the households of Banu Umayyah ibn Zayd, Khatmah, Wa’il, and Waqif. This was because Abu Qays ibn al-Aslat, the poet, was among them, and they listened to him and obeyed him. He held them back from Islam until the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, emigrated to Medina and the battles of Badr, Uhud, and the Trench had passed.

They said: Then Mus‘ab ibn ‘Umayr returned to Makkah, and seventy Muslim men of the Helpers went out with him among the pilgrims of their people who were associationists. When they arrived in Makkah, they arranged to meet the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, at al-‘Aqabah during the middle days of Tashriq. This was the Second Pledge of al-‘Aqabah.

Ka‘b ibn Malik, who had witnessed this, said: “When we had completed the pilgrimage, and it was the night on which we had arranged to meet the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, we informed ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Amr ibn Haram, the father of Jabir, of our plan. We had been concealing it from the associationists among our people who were with us. We spoke to him and said, ‘O Abu Jabir, you are a chief among our chiefs and a nobleman among our nobles. We do not want you to remain as you are, only to become fuel for the Fire tomorrow.’ We called him to Islam, and he embraced Islam. We informed him of the appointed meeting with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and he attended al-‘Aqabah with us and was one of the leaders.

“We spent that night with our people in our camps. When one-third of the night had passed, we slipped out secretly to meet the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, moving as stealthily as sandgrouse, until we gathered in the mountain pass by al-‘Aqabah. We were seventy men, accompanied by two women: Nusaybah bint Ka‘b, Umm ‘Umarah, one of the women of Banu al-Najjar; and Asma’ bint ‘Amr ibn ‘Adi, Umm Mani‘, one of the women of Banu Salamah.

“We gathered in the pass, awaiting the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, until he came to us with his uncle al-‘Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib. At that time, al-‘Abbas still followed the religion of his people, but he wished to be present for his nephew’s affair and to secure matters for him. When we had sat down, al-‘Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib was the first to speak. He said, ‘O company of Khazraj’—for the Arabs called this clan of the Helpers Khazraj, including both its Khazraj and Aws branches—‘you know Muhammad’s standing among us. We have protected him from our people who share our view, and he enjoys honour among his people and protection in his town. Yet he has refused everything except to leave for you and join you. So if you believe that you will fulfil what you have called him to and protect him from those who oppose him, then bear what you have undertaken. But if you believe that you will forsake him and abandon him after he comes out to join you, then leave him now, for he enjoys honour and protection where he is.’

He said: “We replied, ‘We have heard what you have said. Now speak, O Messenger of Allah, and stipulate for yourself and for your Lord whatever you wish.’

“The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, then spoke, recited the Quran, called to Allah, and encouraged us to embrace Islam. Then he said, ‘I pledge allegiance with you on the condition that you protect me as you protect [yourselves and your women] (4) and your children.’ Al-Bara’ ibn Ma‘rur then took his hand and said, ‘By Him who...’