and their wealth. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said in an authentic hadith:

“Do not revile my Companions. By Him in Whose hand is my soul, if any one of you were to spend gold equal to Mount Uhud, it would not equal a double handful given by one of them, nor even half of it.”

He said this to Khālid ibn al-Walīd when he quarrelled with ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn ‘Awf, because ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn ‘Awf was among the earliest forerunners: those who spent and fought before the victory, meaning the victory at al-Hudaybiyah. Khālid, ‘Amr ibn al-‘Ās, and ‘Uthmān ibn Talhah embraced Islam during the truce after al-Hudaybiyah and before the conquest of Mecca. They were therefore among the later Emigrants, not the earliest Emigrants.

As for those who embraced Islam in the year of the conquest of Mecca, they were not Emigrants, for there is no emigration after the conquest. Rather, those inhabitants of Mecca who embraced Islam were called “the freed ones,” because the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, released them after overcoming them by force, just as a captive is released.

Those who pledged allegiance to him beneath the tree, together with those who had emigrated to Abyssinia, were the earliest forerunners among the Emigrants and the Helpers. In an authentic report, Jābir ibn ‘Abd Allāh, may Allah be pleased with them both, said:

“The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to us on the day of al-Hudaybiyah: ‘You are the best people on earth.’ There were 1,400 of us.”

For this reason, Satan did not hope to achieve among them the misguidance and deception he achieved among those who came after them. None of them would deliberately lie about the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, even if he had other deeds for which he might be reproached. Nor was there anyone among them who belonged to