Hayatus Sahabah - The Lives of the Sahabah - Part 1 of 3

178 THE LIVES OF THE SAHABAH (Vol-I)
pleased because it was what he liked. I then said to him, '0 King! I happened to
see someone leaving your presence who is an envoy of our enemy. Hand him
over to me so that I may kill him because he has caused harm to our leaders and
nobles."'
Hadhrat Amr bin A1 Aas ?ifaw says, "Najaash) became extremely angry. He
extended his hand and hit his nose so hard that I thought he had broken it. Had
the ground opened up just then, I would have certainly dived into it out of fear. I
said to him, '0 King! 1 would have never mentioned this had I known that you
would dislike it.' He said, 'You are asking me to hand over to you the envoy of
that person who is visited by the great spirit (Hadhrat Jibra'eel @!&) who visited
Moosa so that you could kill him!?' I said, '0 King! Is he really?' Najaashi replied,
'Shame on you, 0 Amr! Listen to me. Follow him for I swear by Allaah that he is
certainly on the truth. He shall definitely conquer those who oppose him just as
Moosa the son of Imraan @&$ defeated Fir'oun and his armies."'
Hadhrat Amr bin Al Aas BW then asked Najaashi, "Will you accept my pledge
of allegiance on his behalf?" "Certainly," replied Najaashi. He then stretched out
his hands and Hadhrat Arnr bin Al Aas ?&@&% pledged his allegiance to Islaam.
Hadhrat Amr bin Al Aas S!3W then met with his companions with a changed
frame of mind and kept secret his conversion to Islaam. He later left to meet
Rasulullaah && and to accept Islaam at his hands and met Hadhrat Khaalid bin
Waleed who was travelling from Makkah. This occurred not long before the
conquest of Makkah.
Hadhrat Amr asked Hadhrat Khaalid ?&lGWj, "Where are you heading, 0
Abu Salmaan?" Hadhrat Khaalid BW replied, "By Allaah! Matters are now
crystal clear. The man is certainly a Nabi. By Allaah! I am going to accept Islaam.
Until when (will we continue avoiding the issue)?" Hadhrat Amr bin Al Aas Sw
said, "By Allaah! I have also come to accept Islaam." The two then arrived in
Madinah to meet Rasulullaah @?@. Hadhrat Khaalid ?&l,w went forward,
accepted Islaam and pledged his allegiance to Rasulullaah @$%. Hadhrat Amr bin
A1 Aas !&W then drew close to Rasulullaah @@ and said, "0 Rasulullaah @@!
May 1 pledge my allegiance to you on condition that all my past sins be forgiven.
1 am also unaware of what sins may occur in the future." Rasulullaah said to
him, "0 Amr! You may pledge your allegiance because Islaam surely obliterates
all past sins and Hijrah also obliterates all past sins." Hadhrat Amr bin Al Aas
B,Wj then pledged his allegiance to Rasulullaah @% and left. ( I)
In a more detailed and appealing narration of Bayhaqi reported from Waaqidi,
Hadhrat Amr bin Al Aas %WWj is stated to have said, "I travelled (from Abyssinia)
until I reached a place called Hada where I noticed two men not far ahead of me
who were pitching camp there. One of them was inside the tent while the other
was holding on to the conveyances. When I looked carefully, I saw that it was
Hadhrat Khaalid bin Waleed -. When I asked him where he was headed, he
(1) Ibn Is'haaq as quoted in A1 Bidaaya wan Nihaaya (Vo1.4 Pg.142). Ahmad and Tabraani have also
reported the Hadith in detail from Hadhrat Amr bin Al Aas WMi and Haythami (~01.9 ~g.351) has
mentioned that both chains of narrators are authentic.