Seeds of faith sprout outside Makkah

Although the vast majority of Makkan pagans rejected the Prophet , a few people outside Makkah embraced Islam. Some of them are mentioned below:

Suwayd bin Samit:

A poet from Yathrib (the modern day Madinah), Suwayd came to Makkah to perform pilgrimage. When the Prophet invited him to Islam, Suwayd recited some of his own verses to the Prophet . In response, the Prophet recited some verses of the Qur’an. Declaring, “I have never heard such sublime words,” Suwayd embraced Islam. He was killed in the fighting between the Aus and the Khazraj.

Ayas bin Mu’adh:

He was also from Yathrib, and came to Makkah from the tribe of Aus and came to Makkah seeking assistance against the revival of the Khazraj tribe. The Prophet invited Ayas to Islam and recited some Qur’anic verses for him. When Ayas heard the Prophet recite, he told the other delegation members, “By God, this is better than what we have come here for.” His fellow tribesman Abul Husayr threw pebbles in Ayas’s face and snapped, “Leave it! We have come here with a different purpose.” The chastened Ayas fell silent. Upon his return to Yathrib, Ayas fell seriously ill. His praise and glorification of Allah just before he died left little doubt about his conversion to Islam.

Abu Dhar Ghifari:

He had heard about the Prophet Muhammad through Suwayd bin Samit and Ayas bin Mu’adh and was interested in knowing more. He sent his brother to Makkah to find out more about the Prophet’s character, but upon his brother’s return from Makkah, Abu Dhar was not satisfied with his brother’s account of the Prophet’s message. Accordingly, he decided to go to Makkah himself. Abu Dhar reached Makkah, but fearing for his life, he did not ask about the Prophet. At last, Ali took him to the Prophet who then described the tenets of Islam to him. Convinced at what he heard, Abu Dhar became Muslim.

His heart now full of courage and faith, Abu Dhar went to the Ka’bah to announce that he had embraced Islam. The Quraysh responded by beating him, and only the intervension of Abbas , the Prophet’s uncle, saved him from being killed. The next day Abu Dhar repeated his announcement at the Ka’bah, and once again Abbas had to rescue him from the Quraysh. Abu Dhar then returned to his tribe, Banu Ghifar, and left them only when he migrated to Madinah with other Muslims.