It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Quraysh said to the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): Pray to your Lord that He may turn the mountain of Safa into gold for us, and we will believe in you. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Will you really do so? They said: Yes. So when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed, Jibreel (peace be upon him) came to him and said: Indeed, your Lord sends you greetings of peace and says: If you wish, the mountain of Safa will be turned into gold for them, but whoever disbelieves after this sign, I will punish him with such a punishment as I have not given to anyone in the worlds. And if you wish, I will keep the doors of repentance and mercy open for them. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The door of repentance and mercy is better.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the chiefs of the Quraysh gathered in the Hatim and, swearing by their idols Lat, Uzza, Manat, Na’ila, and Isaf, made a pact among themselves that if they saw Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), they would attack him all at once and would not leave him until they had killed him. When Sayyida Fatima (may Allah be pleased with her) learned of this, she came weeping and said to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): These chiefs of Quraysh have made a pact that if they see you, they will attack you and kill you. Each one of them has recognized his share in your blood. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: My beloved daughter! Bring me water for ablution. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) performed ablution, then went to them in the Sacred Mosque. When they saw him, they said: Oh, here he comes! Then they lowered their gazes, their chins fell to their chests, and they sat there, terrified, unable to look at the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) or to move towards him. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) approached them until he stood over their heads. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) took a handful of earth and said: Faces have become ugly. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) threw that handful towards them. So, whichever man was struck by any of those pebbles, he was killed in a state of disbelief on the day of Badr.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) gathered the Banu Abdul Muttalib or invited them. Among them were such individuals that, due to their great appetite, they could eat a whole animal and drink a whole *farq* of water. But the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) prepared only one *mudd* of food for them. They ate until they were full, but the food remained as it was, as if no one had touched it. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) called for a small bowl, and everyone drank so much that they were satiated, but the drink remained as if it had not been touched. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: "O Banu Abdul Muttalib! I have been sent to you specifically and to people generally, and you have seen this sign as well. Now, who among you will pledge allegiance to me to become my brother and companion?" In response, no one stood up except me (Ali), even though I was the youngest among the people. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: "Sit down." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) presented this invitation three times, but only I would stand up, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) would say, "You sit down." The third time, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) placed his hand on my hand and took the pledge of allegiance from me.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, he says: I and the Noble Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, walked until we reached the Ka'bah. Then the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said to me: Sit down. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, climbed onto my shoulders, then I tried to stand up, but when the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, saw that I was weak, he got down from my shoulders and sat down himself, then said: Ali! Climb onto my shoulders. So I climbed onto the shoulders of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, then he stood up. It seemed to me that if I wished, I could touch the horizon of the sky. Then I climbed onto the structure of the House of Allah. There was a brass or copper idol on it. I tried from its right, left, front, and back, until I was able to topple it. At that, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: Throw it down. So I threw it down, and it broke just as glass breaks. Then I came down from there, and I and the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, began to walk quickly, until we stuck close to the houses. We were afraid that perhaps we might meet someone (and our secret would be revealed).

It is also narrated from Sayyiduna Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, who says: There were idols on the Ka'bah. First, I tried to lift the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, but I did not have enough strength. Then the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, lifted me up and I broke them. If I had wanted, I could have touched the sky.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), he says: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent us to Najashi. We were about eighty individuals, among them were Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud, Sayyiduna Ja'far, Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Arfatah, Sayyiduna Uthman bin Maz'un, and Sayyiduna Abu Musa. So these people reached the kingdom of Najashi. Meanwhile, the Quraysh sent Amr bin As and Amarah bin Walid with gifts. When these two individuals reached Najashi, they prostrated to him, and then quickly one sat on his right side and the other on his left side. Then both of them said: A group of our cousins has come to your land; they have turned away from us and our religion. The king said: Where are they now? They said: They are in your land, you should send a message to them. So he sent a message to them. Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) said to his companions: Today I will speak on your behalf. All agreed to his words. So he greeted Najashi and did not prostrate. The people said: What has happened to you, you are not prostrating to the king? He said: We only prostrate to Allah Almighty. He said: What is the matter? Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Indeed, Allah Almighty has sent a Messenger to us and has commanded us to prostrate only to Allah Almighty, and has also commanded us to perform prayer and give zakat. Amr bin As said: O King! These people oppose you regarding Isa bin Maryam. So the king said: What is your belief about Isa bin Maryam and his mother? The companions said: We say about them only what Allah Almighty has said; he is the Word of Allah and His Spirit, which He cast towards the chaste virgin, whom no man had touched and upon whom (before Isa, peace be upon him) there was no sign of any child. Hearing this statement, Najashi picked up a stick from the ground and said: O Abyssinians! Priests and monks! By Allah, what these Muslims have said does not exceed our belief even by the measure of this stick. O Muslims! Welcome to you and to the one from whom you have come. I bear witness that he is truly the Messenger of Allah; rather, he is the one whose mention we find in the Gospel, and he is the Messenger whose glad tidings Isa bin Maryam (peace be upon him) gave. You may live wherever you wish in my land. By Allah! If I were not involved in this kingdom, I would have gone to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), carried his shoes, and helped him perform ablution. Then Najashi ordered that the gifts of the Quraysh be returned to them. Then Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) returned from Abyssinia to Madinah Munawwarah and participated in the Battle of Badr. He also said that when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) learned of Najashi's death, he prayed for his forgiveness.

It is narrated from the wife of the Messenger, Sayyida Umm Salama (may Allah be pleased with her), she says: We arrived in the land of Abyssinia and found Najashi to be the best neighbor. We became secure in our religion and worshipped Allah Almighty. We were neither harmed nor did we hear anything unpleasant. When the Quraysh came to know of this, they consulted among themselves and decided to send two strong men to Najashi and to select gifts for Najashi that were considered the finest goods of Mecca, and the most favored thing from Mecca was sauce. So, they collected a large quantity of sauce and decided to send a gift to every prominent priest of Abyssinia. Then they sent Abdullah bin Abi Rabi’ah al-Makhzumi and Amr bin al-As bin Wa’il al-Sahmi with the gifts and explained everything to them. They said to these two men: Before speaking to Najashi, give each prominent priest his share, and then present the gifts to Najashi and demand from him that he hand over these people to you, and do not give him a chance to speak first.

Sayyida Umm Salama (may Allah be pleased with her) says: We set out and reached Najashi, and we were in the best house and in the neighborhood of the best neighbor. Meanwhile, the delegation of the Quraysh arrived. They did not leave any prominent priest before speaking to Najashi without presenting him his gift. Then they said to every prominent priest: Some foolish youths of our people have come to the land of King Najashi, abandoning their religion. They have not entered your religion, but have invented a new religion, which neither we know nor you know. The nobles of our people have sent us to this king so that he may return them to us. Therefore, when we speak to the king, you must advise him to hand them over to us and not give the king a chance to speak first. Surely, the people of their own nation can best see and know what they find blameworthy in them. The priests said: Absolutely right.

Afterwards, these two envoys of the Quraysh presented the gifts to Najashi, and he accepted them from them. Then they spoke and said: O King! Some foolish youths of ours have come to your land, abandoning their religion. They have not adopted your religion either, but have invented a new religion, which neither we know nor you. The nobles of their people, even their fathers, uncles, and other members of their tribes, have sent us to you so that you may return them to us. We can best see and know what we find blameworthy in them and for what reason we rebuke them.

The thing most disliked by Abdullah bin Abi Rabi’ah and Amr bin al-As was that Najashi should listen to the words of those Companions. Meanwhile, the priests around him said: O King! These people are telling the truth. Their own people can best see and know what they find blameworthy in them. Therefore, hand these people over to them so that these two men may take them back to their homeland and people.

Hearing this, Najashi became angry and said: By the Creator of creation! By Allah! I will not hand them over to them, nor is it likely that any trickery will be played with me in this matter. These people have chosen my neighborhood, have come to my country, and have preferred me over other kings. Therefore, I will call them and ask them about what these two men say. If the matter is as they say, I will hand them over and return them to their people. But if it is otherwise, I will protect them and prove myself a good neighbor to them.

Then Najashi sent a message to the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and called them. When his messenger came, they gathered together. Then some of them said to others: When you go to this man, what will you say? They said: By Allah! We will say only what we know and what our Prophet has commanded us. Whatever happens because of this, let it happen (we do not care).

When those Companions reached him and Najashi called the priests, they sat around him with their scriptures open. Najashi said: What is the reality of this religion because of which you have separated from your people and have not entered my religion, nor have you adopted the religion of any of the existing nations?

Sayyiduna Ja’far bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) spoke and said: O King! We were an ignorant people, worshipping idols, eating carrion, committing evil deeds, severing ties of kinship, mistreating neighbors, and the strong among us would oppress the weak. These were our conditions until Allah Almighty sent a Messenger to us from among ourselves. We knew his lineage, truthfulness, trustworthiness, and chastity. He invited us to Allah Almighty, that we should affirm His Oneness, worship Him, and abandon the stones and idols that we and our forefathers used to worship. This Prophet commanded us to speak the truth, fulfill trusts, maintain ties of kinship, treat neighbors well, and refrain from forbidden acts and murder. He (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade us from evil deeds, falsehood, consuming the wealth of orphans, and slandering chaste women. He (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded us to worship Allah Almighty, Who is One and Unique, not to associate anything with Him, to establish prayer, give zakat, and fast.

Thus, Sayyiduna Ja’far (may Allah be pleased with him) mentioned the matters of Islam before Najashi and then said: So we affirmed this Messenger, believed in him, followed the Shari’ah he brought, worshipped Allah Almighty, and did not associate anything with Him. Whatever the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) declared unlawful for us, we considered unlawful, and whatever he declared lawful, we considered lawful. For these reasons, our people wronged us, harmed us, and put us to trial regarding our religion so that they might turn us away from the worship of Allah Almighty to the worship of idols and make us consider lawful the evil things we used to consider lawful in the days of ignorance. When they oppressed us, wronged us, and made things difficult for us, and tried to come between us and our religion, we came to your country, preferred you over others, and were encouraged to live in your neighborhood. We hoped, O King, that we would not be wronged in your presence.

Najashi, after hearing this speech, said: Do you have any part of what your Prophet brought from Allah Almighty? Sayyiduna Ja’far (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Yes. Najashi said: Then recite it to me. Sayyiduna Ja’far (may Allah be pleased with him) recited the opening part of Surah Maryam. By Allah! Najashi began to weep until his beard became wet, and the priests also began to weep upon hearing this recitation, so much so that the scriptures before them became wet.

Then Najashi said: By Allah! Surely, the source of this speech and the speech brought by Musa (Moses) is the same. Both of you go away from here. By Allah! I will never hand these people over to you, nor can any trickery be played with me in this matter.

Sayyida Umm Salama (may Allah be pleased with her) says: When we left his presence, Amr bin al-As said: By Allah! Tomorrow I will tell Najashi and his people of a fault of theirs, and through it I will uproot their very foundation. Abdullah bin Abi Rabi’ah, who was the better of the two, said to him: Do not do this, after all, they are our relatives, even though they oppose us. But Amr bin al-As said: By Allah! I will surely tell them that these people say that ‘Isa bin Maryam (Jesus, son of Mary) is a servant. So, the next day he went to the king and said: O King! These people say a strange thing about ‘Isa bin Maryam. So, call them again and ask them about this matter.

So, to investigate this, he sent for them. This was the greatest calamity for us. The Companions gathered and began to say to each other: When he asks you, what will you say about ‘Isa (peace be upon him)? Some replied: By Allah! We will say only what Allah Almighty has said and what our Prophet’s Shari’ah has said. Whatever is to happen, let it happen.

When they entered, Najashi said: What do you say about ‘Isa bin Maryam? Sayyiduna Ja’far bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) said: We say about him only what our Prophet has taught us. We say that he is the servant of Allah, His Messenger, His spirit, and His word, which He cast into the chaste virgin Maryam.

Hearing this, Najashi struck his hand on the ground, picked up a stick from there, and said: What you have said about ‘Isa bin Maryam, his status is not even more than this stick. Hearing this comment from Najashi, the priests (angrily) began to speak, but Najashi said: Indeed, you may speak in anger. By Allah! O Companions! Go, you are safe in my land. Whoever abuses you will be punished. Whoever curses you will be punished. I do not like to harm any of you even if I were given a mountain of gold. In the Abyssinian language, a mountain is called“dabar.”Then Najashi said: Return the gifts of these two Qurayshi men to them. We have no need of them. By Allah! When Allah Almighty granted me my kingdom, He did not take a bribe from me, so why should I take a bribe in this matter? As long as people obey me, I will obey them.

Sayyida Umm Salama (may Allah be pleased with her) says: Now these two Qurayshis left, disgraced and dishonored, and the gifts they had brought were returned to them. We remained in Najashi’s territory as if we were in the best house with the best neighbor.

She says: We were still residing there when people began to challenge Najashi, seeking to snatch the kingdom from him. By Allah! At that time, the intense grief that befell us—we do not know if there could be any greater grief than that. We feared that a king might prevail over Najashi who would not recognize our right as Najashi did. Najashi also set out to face them, while the Nile was between the two sides. Seeing this situation, the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Who will go to the battlefield and inform us of the situation? Sayyiduna Zubair bin al-Awwam (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I will go. He was the youngest among them. So, the people filled a waterskin with air, tied it to his chest, and he began to swim on it until he crossed to the other side of the Nile where the two armies were to meet. He kept going until he reached them.

She says: We prayed to Allah Almighty that Najashi would prevail over his enemy and that Allah Almighty would keep him in his land, and so it happened that the matter of the Abyssinians was settled in favor of Najashi. Thus, we remained with him in the best manner until we returned to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in Mecca.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: O Allah! Grant dominance to Islam through the one who is more beloved to You between Abu Jahl and Umar bin Khattab. Thus, Sayyiduna Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) was more beloved to Allah Almighty.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), he says: Before accepting Islam, I used to pursue the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). One day, I found him in such a state that he reached the mosque before me. I stood behind him. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) began reciting Surah Al-Haqqah. I was greatly astonished at the composition and arrangement of the Holy Qur’an. I said: By Allah! According to what the Quraysh say, this seems to be poetry. While I was thinking this, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) recited this verse: {اِنَّہُ لَقَوْلُ رَسُوْلٍ کَرِیْمٍ وَمَا ھُوَ بِقَوْلِ شَاعِرٍ قَلِیْلًا مَاتُؤْمِنُوْنَ} … Indeed, it is the word of a noble messenger. It is not the word of a poet; little is it that you believe. I said: This Prophet is a soothsayer. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) recited these verses: {وَلَا بِقَوْلِ کَاھِنٍ قَلَیْلًا مَّا تَذَکَّرُوْنَ، تَنْزِیْلٌ مِّنْ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِیْنَ، وَلَوْ تَقَوَّلَ عَلَیْنَا بَعْضَ الْأَقَاوِیْلِ لَأَخَذْنَا مِنْہُ بِالْیَمِیْنِ ثُمَّ لَقَطَعْنَا مِنْہُ الْوَتِیْنَ، فَمَا مِنْکُمْ مِنْ أَحَدٍ عَنْہُ حَاجِزِیْنِ} … Nor is it the word of a soothsayer; little is it that you take heed. [It is] a revelation from the Lord of the worlds. And if he had made up about Us some [false] sayings, We would have seized him by the right hand; then We would have cut from him the aorta. And there is none of you who could prevent [Us] from him. And indeed, it is a reminder for the righteous. And We certainly know that among you are deniers. And indeed, it will be [a cause of] regret upon the disbelievers. And indeed, it is the certain truth. So exalt the name of your Lord, the Most Great. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: (So, upon hearing this part of the Qur’an) Islam settled in my heart.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Usama bin Zaid (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said on the occasion of (the Farewell Pilgrimage): Tomorrow, if Allah wills, we will camp in the valley of Banu Kinanah, that is, the valley of Muhassab, where the Quraysh had sworn an oath upon disbelief, and at this place, Banu Kinanah, together with the Quraysh, made an agreement in opposition to Banu Hashim that they would neither marry with them, nor buy or sell with them, nor give them shelter. After this, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: A disbeliever does not inherit from a Muslim, nor does a Muslim inherit from a disbeliever. Imam Zuhri says: "Kheef" refers to a valley.