It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) never fought any people until he (peace and blessings be upon him) had (first) invited them (to Islam). This is a sahih hadith through the narration of Imam al-Thawri, but both of them did not report it, although Imam Muslim used Abu Najih (who is the father of Abdullah, and whose name is Yasar) as evidence; he is one of the Makkan freedmen (mawali). This same hadith is also narrated with these very words from Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him). Both of them (Imam Bukhari and Muslim) agreed on recording the hadith of Abdullah bin Awn in which (he says): I wrote to Nafi', the freedman of Ibn Umar, asking him about (giving) the invitation to Islam before fighting, and he wrote to me that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) raided Banu al-Mustaliq (the rest of the hadith), and in it is the mention that the invitation was given before fighting.