Ibn Awn (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates that I wrote a letter to Nafi‘ (may Allah have mercy on him) asking about inviting the polytheists before fighting them. He replied in writing: "This practice was at the beginning of Islam, and the Prophet of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) attacked Banu al-Mustaliq suddenly while they were unaware, and their cattle were grazing at the water. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) killed their fighting men, took captives from them, and on that same day acquired Lady Juwayriya bint al-Harith (may Allah be pleased with her)." This narration was related by Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him), who was part of that expedition.

Hazrat Abu Uthman Nahdi (may Allah have mercy on him) says: "Before fighting, we used to invite the polytheists (to Islam), and sometimes we would also leave off giving the invitation."

Hasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him) says: "There is no new invitation to Islam for the Romans, because they were invited a long time ago."

Hasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "They used to declare that there is no invitation remaining for the Romans."

Hazrat Abu Uthman Nahdi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "When we went out for jihad, sometimes we would give the invitation (to Islam) and sometimes we would leave it."