In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Treasures of the Prophetic biography (Seerah).
A maternal aunt holds the status of a mother.
When the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, intended to depart from Makkah,
he was followed by the daughter of Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib,
the uncle of the Prophet, peace be upon him.
Her name was Umara.
She was calling out to him,
"O uncle! O uncle!"
Regarding her addressing the Prophet of Allah, peace be upon him,
as "O uncle,"
she was indeed his cousin,
but he was her uncle through fosterage.
This is because the Prophet, peace be upon him,
was nursed by Thuwayba, the freedwoman of Abu Lahab,
and she also nursed Hamza.
As for why she called him that,
it was due to the age difference between her and the Prophet, peace be upon him.
Hamza had migrated from Makkah,
leaving his daughter behind with her mother.
Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, took charge of her,
then disputed over her custody with Ja'far and Zayd ibn Haritha.
Each of them wanted to raise her.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, adjudicated between them
and said to Ali,
"You are of me and I am of you."
He said to Ja'far,
"You resemble my physical appearance and my character."
And he said to Zayd,
"You are our brother and our freedman."
However, the Prophet, peace be upon him,
awarded her custody to Ja'far ibn Abi Talib.
Ali had claimed her because he was her cousin,
and his wife, Fatima, was her cousin.
Zayd had claimed her
because the Prophet, peace be upon him, had established a bond of brotherhood
between him and Hamza in Madinah,
and they used to inherit from one another before the laws of inheritance were revealed.
As for Ja'far,
he was her cousin,
and his wife, Asma bint Umays, was her maternal aunt,
because her mother, Salma bint Umays, was Asma's sister.
The Messenger, peace be upon him, said,
"The maternal aunt holds the status of a mother."
This is because it is not permissible for a man
to be married to a woman and her maternal aunt at the same time.
Thus, he ruled in favor of Ja'far.
It was said to the Prophet, peace be upon him,
"Will you not marry her?"
Meaning the daughter of Hamza.
He replied, "No,
she is the daughter of my foster brother."
Treasures of the Seerah.
The marriage of the Prophet, peace be upon him,
to Maymuna, may Allah be pleased with her.
During this 'Umrah, the Prophet, peace be upon him, married
Maymuna bint al-Harith al-Amiriyya, may Allah be pleased with her.
She was the maternal aunt of Abdullah ibn Abbas
and Khalid ibn al-Walid.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, consummated the marriage with her at Sarif.
This is the correct account.
He did not marry her while in the state of ihram,
as is mentioned in some narrations.
Allah, Blessed and Exalted be He, decreed
that Maymuna, the Mother of the Believers, would die at Sarif,
in the very place where the Prophet, peace be upon him, had married her.
This 'Umrah was called the 'Umrah of Compensation (al-Qada'),
because it was a form of exchange,
meaning a reconciliation between Quraysh and the Prophet, peace be upon him.
When Quraysh agreed that the Prophet, peace be upon him, would come
the following year,
this 'Umrah came to be called the 'Umrah of Compensation.
It is also said it was so named
because it was a substitute or compensation for the 'Umrah of Hudaybiyya.
After this 'Umrah, two men embraced Islam,
who would later have a significant impact on Islam:
namely, Amr ibn al-As and Khalid ibn al-Walid.
Khalid ibn al-Walid, may Allah be pleased with him, said,
"When Allah intended for me the good that He intended,
He cast the love of Islam into my heart.
My sound judgment came to me,
and I said, 'I have witnessed all these battlefields against Muhammad,
and there is no battlefield I attended but that I left,
feeling in myself that I was placing myself in something futile,
and that Muhammad would eventually prevail.'
When the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, went out to Hudaybiyya,
I went out with the cavalry of the polytheists.
I met the Messenger of Allah and his Companions at Usfan,
and I stood opposite him and confronted him.
The Messenger, peace be upon him, prayed
with his Companions while we were safe from them.
I intended to attack him while he was in prayer,
but it was not destined for us.
There was goodness in that.
He became aware of what we were contemplating,
so he led his Companions in the prayer of fear (Salat al-Khawf).
That made a deep impression on me,
and I said, 'The man is protected.'
Then we parted ways, and he turned away from the path of our cavalry,
and I took the path to the right.
When he made peace with Quraysh at Hudaybiyya,
and Quraysh pushed him away,
I said to myself,
'What is left?
Where is the escape?
To the Negus?
He has followed Muhammad,
and his Companions are safe with him.
Or should I go to Heraclius?
And leave my religion for Christianity or Judaism?
And live with a non-Arab follower?
Or should I stay in my home?
Who would remain?
I was in that state
when the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, entered
for the 'Umrah of Compensation.
I was away,
so I did not witness his entry.
My brother, al-Walid ibn al-Walid,
had entered with the Prophet, peace be upon him,
during the 'Umrah of Compensation,
and he looked for me but did not find me.
So he wrote a letter to me.
In this letter, there was great good.
When I read the letter, it said:
'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
To proceed:
I have not seen anything more astonishing than your turning
away from Islam,
given your intellect—your intellect!
How could anyone be ignorant of Islam?
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, asked me,
saying,
"Where is Khalid?"
I replied,
"Allah will bring him."
He said,
"A man like Khalid cannot be ignorant of Islam.
If he had directed his strength and his efforts
with the Muslims against the polytheists,
it would have been better for him.
We would have prioritized him over others."
So, my brother, make up for what you have missed of it,
for you have missed many virtuous opportunities.'
Khalid said,
'When his letter reached me,
I became eager to leave,
and it increased my desire for Islam.
I was pleased by the words of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.
I saw in a dream
that I was in a narrow, barren land,
and I went out to a green and spacious land.
I said, "This is truly a vision."
I arrived in Madinah and said,
"I will mention this to Abu Bakr,"
meaning after he embraced Islam.
He said, "I mentioned it to him,
and he said,
"It is your exit, for Allah has guided you to Islam,
and the narrowness you were in was polytheism."
He said,
"When I resolved to go to the Prophet, peace be upon him,
I said, "Who shall accompany me to Muhammad?"
I met Safwan ibn Umayya
and said, "O Abu Wahb,
do you not see the situation we are in?
We are but a handful.
Muhammad has prevailed over the Arabs and non-Arabs.
If we were to go to Muhammad and follow him,
then the honor of Muhammad would be our honor."
He refused vehemently,
and said,
"If no one remained of Quraysh but me,
I would never follow him."
So we parted ways.
I said, "This is a man who has lost his kin
and seeks vengeance;
his father and brother were killed at Badr."
Khalid said,
"Then I met Ikrima ibn Abi Jahl,
and I said to him what I had said to Safwan.
He said to me what Safwan had said.
I said,
"Forget what I mentioned to you."
He said, "I will not mention it."
I then went to my house,
and ordered my mount to be brought to me.
Then I met Uthman ibn Talha,
and I said,
"This is a friend of mine,
and if I mentioned to him what I intend..."
Then I remembered those of his ancestors who were killed,
and I disliked mentioning it to him.
Then I said,
"What does it matter, as I am departing at this very hour?"
So I mentioned to him the state of affairs,
and I said,
"We are like a fox in a burrow;
If buckets of water were poured over it, it would be washed away.
I said to him exactly what I had said to my companion.
He responded quickly, saying:
"I set out today intending to depart."
"My mount is currently tethered at Yajaj."
So we agreed to meet at Yajaj.
"If he arrives before me, he shall wait."
"And if I arrive before him, I shall wait."
We traveled through the night, reaching the early hours of dawn.
Before the break of dawn,
we met at Yajaj.
We continued our journey until we reached al-Hadda.
There, we found ‘Amr ibn al-‘As.
He said, "Welcome to you both."
We replied, "And to you."
He asked,
"Where are you headed?"
We asked, "What has brought you here?"
He said,
"And what has brought you?"
We replied,
"To enter into Islam,"
"and to follow Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him."
He said,
"That is exactly what brought me here as well."
He said,
"So we traveled together,"
"until we arrived in Medina."
We tethered our mounts on the outskirts of the Harrah.
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was informed of our arrival.
He was pleased by our coming.
I put on my best clothes,
and then I headed toward the Messenger of Allah.
My brother met me,
and said, "Hurry,"
"for the Messenger of Allah,"
"has been informed of your arrival,"
"and he is pleased by your coming,"
"and he is waiting for you."
He said,
"So I quickened my pace."
I appeared before him,
and he did not cease smiling at me,
until I stood before him.
I greeted him with the greeting of Prophethood.
He returned my greeting with a cheerful face.
I said,
"I bear witness that there is no god but Allah,"
"and that you are the Messenger of Allah."
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said,
"Praise be to Allah who has guided you."
"I always saw that you possessed intelligence,"
"and I hoped it would lead you only to what is good."
I said, "O Messenger of Allah,"
"you have seen the positions I took against you,"
"stubbornly opposing the truth."
"So pray to Allah to forgive me for them."
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said,
"Islam wipes away what came before it."
I said, "O Messenger of Allah, on that condition."
He said,
"O Allah, forgive Khalid ibn al-Walid,"
"for every act of obstruction he committed against Your path."
Khalid said,
"Then ‘Umar and ‘Uthman stepped forward,"
"and pledged allegiance to the Messenger of Allah."
Our arrival was in Safar,
in the eighth year of the Hijrah.
Treasures of the Prophetic biography (Seerah).
The conversion of ‘Amr ibn al-‘As.
May Allah be pleased with him.
‘Amr ibn al-‘As said:
"When we returned from the Battle of the Trench,"
"I gathered some men of Quraysh,"
"and said,"
"By Allah, the affair of Muhammad,"
"is rising to an extraordinary height."
"By Allah, nothing can stand against him."
"I have formed an opinion."
They asked, "What is it?"
He said,
"That we join the Negus and remain under his protection."
"If our people prevail,"
"we are who we have always been to them,"
"and we shall return to them."
"But if Muhammad prevails,"
"then being under the authority of the Negus,"
"is more beloved to us than being under the authority of Muhammad."
They said, "You have spoken correctly."
I said,
"Then purchase gifts for him."
"The most prized gift from our land was leather,"
"meaning hides."
"We collected a large quantity of hides and went to him."
"We happened to find ‘Amr ibn Umayyah al-Damri with him,"
"whom the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, had sent,"
"regarding the matter of Ja‘far and his companions."
"When I saw him, I said,"
"I might kill him."
"Then I presented the gifts to the Negus."
The Negus said,
"Welcome to my friend."
‘Amr said,
"O King,"
"I have seen the messenger of Muhammad with you."
"He is a man who has killed our nobles and caused us harm."
"Hand him over to me so I may strike off his head."
The Negus became angry,
and struck his own nose so hard,
I thought he had broken it.
If the earth had split open for me, I would have entered it.
I said to the Negus,
"Had I known you would dislike this, I would not have asked."
He said to me,
"You ask me to hand over the messenger of a man,"
"to whom the Great Law (Namus) comes, just as it came to Moses,"
"so that you may kill him?"
I said,
"Is that truly the case?"
He said, "Yes."
Then the Negus said to ‘Amr ibn al-‘As,
"By Allah, I am a sincere advisor to you."
"Follow him."
"By Allah, he will surely prevail, just as Moses and his soldiers prevailed."
I said,
"O King,"
"will you accept my pledge of allegiance to him for Islam?"
He said, "Yes."
He extended his hand,
and I pledged allegiance to the Messenger of Allah for Islam.
I left him,
and went out to my companions,
my mind having changed.
They asked, "What news do you bring?"
I said, "Good."
When evening came,
I mounted my camel, departed, and left them behind.
By Allah, as I was traveling,
I met Khalid ibn al-Walid at al-Hadda,
along with ‘Uthman ibn Talhah.
I said,
"Where are you headed, O Abu Sulayman?"
He said,
"I am going, by Allah, to embrace Islam."
"By Allah, the path has become clear."
"The man is truly a Prophet; I have no doubt about it."
I said,
"And I, by Allah, as well."
So we arrived in Medina.
I said, "O Messenger of Allah,"
"I pledge allegiance to you on the condition that my past sins are forgiven."
He said to me,
"O ‘Amr,"
"pledge allegiance,"
"for Islam wipes away what came before it."
Treasures of the Prophetic biography (Seerah).