and reported to Abu Dhar that the ‘said man’ enjoined good and forbade evil. Abu Dhar was not  satisfied and decided that he himself should go out and probe the real situation. After some  attempts to identify the person of the Prophet(Peace be upon him) , he managed to meet him  though not without some difficulties due to the antagonistic atmosphere within which the  proponents of the new faith were trying to work their way. No sooner than Abu Dhar was  exposed to the real nature of Islam, he embraced it. Despite the Prophet’s earnest plea not to  divulge his new move, Abu Dhar went directly to the Holy Sanctuary where he publicly declared  that he had testified to the Oneness of Allâh and Prophethood of Muhammad. The heathens all  around hurried and began beating him. He almost died when Al-‘Abbas intervened warning  against killing someone whose tribe was in full command of the strategic commercial caravan  routes leading to Makkah. Thevent recurred in the following morning with the same man to come  to the scene and rescue him.
4. Tufail bin ‘Amr Ad-Dausi. He was an honest poet and chief of Ad-Daus tribe inhabiting an area  close to Yemen in South Arabia. He arrived in Makkah in the eleventh year of Prophethood. Great  reception ceremonies were accorded to him on his advent. The Makkans soon started to inculcate  in his ears all sorts of antipathy against the Prophet (Peace be upon him) . They even alleged  that he had caused the most horrible societal schism, dividing all sorts of social life even the  family ties were subject to his schemes and plans of dissension. They even warned him against  speaking or even listening to him. The man overpowered by these pleas, complied by their  requests. He even stuffed his ears with a piece of cotton in order not to hear any word of his.
However, when this tribesman entered the mosque, he saw Muhammad (Peace be upon him)  observing his prayer and out of curiosity, he approached him for it was a Divine Will to hear the
Prophet’s sound and appealing words. The temptation to hear more was irresistible so he  followed the Prophet (Peace be upon him) into his house, briefed him on his advent and all the  story of the people of Quraish. The Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) recited some verses  of the Noble Qur’ân and the man managed to taste something exceptionally beautiful and discern  the truth latent within. He embraced Islam and testified that there was no god but Allâh and that
Muhammad was His Messenger. He then said that he was an influential man among his people  and that he would call them to profess Islam, yet he wanted the Prophet (Peace be upon him) to  equip him with a supportive sign that would ease his future task. It was in fact a Divinely  bestowed light in his whip. He called his father and wife to embrace Islam and they did respond.
His people lagged a little but he exhorted them fervently and was fully successful. He and  seventy or eighty of his followers emigrated to Madinah after the Trench Battle. He was a perfect  fighter in the cause of Allâh and was martyred in Al-Yamama events.
5. Dhumad Al-Azdi. He came from Azd Shanu’a in Yemen, specialist in incantation. He arrived in
Makkah to hear the fools there say that Muhammad (Peace be upon him) was out of his mind. He  decided to practise his craft on the Prophet (Peace be upon him) , who on seeing him said:
“Praise is to Allâh, we entertain His praise and seek His help. Whomsoever Allâh guides, none will  lead astray, and whomsoever Allâh leads astray, none will guide. I testify there is no god but
Allâh and Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.” Dhumad heard the words and requested  the Prophet (Peace be upon him) to echo them again, and he was granted his wish thrice. Here  he said: “I have heard the soothsayers, sorcerers and poets, but never have I experienced the  sweetness of your words.” He then gave a pledge of a sincere convert.
HOPE INSPIRING BREEZES FROM THE MADINESE:
It was during the pilgrimage season, in the eleventh year of Prophethood, that the Islamic Call found  the righteous seeds through which it would grow up to constitute tall trees whose leaves would foster  the new faith and shelter the new vulnerable converts from the blows of injustices and high-handness  of Quraish. It was the Prophet’s wise practice to meet the delegates of the Arabian tribes by night so  that the hostile Makkans would not debar him from achieving his objectives. In the company of his  two  truthful Companions ‘Ali and Abu Bakr, he had an interesting talk regarding Islamization with Bani
Dhuhal, but the latter suspended their conversion. In pursuit of the same objective, the Prophet and  his
Companions passed by ‘Aqabat Mina where they heard people talking. They went at their heels until  they encountered six men from Yathrib, all of whom from Khazraj tribe: As‘ad bin Zurarah, ‘Awf bin
Harith, Rafi‘ bin Malik, Qutbah bin ‘Amir, ‘Uqbah bin ‘Amir and Jabir bin ‘Abdullah. The last two being  from Aws and the former four from Khazraj.
The Madinese always heard the Jews say that a Prophet was about to rise, for the time for a new  dispensation had arrived. Him they would follow and then smite their enemies as the children of ‘Ad