Ṣafwān ibn Umayyah

Ṣafwān ibn Umayyah was one of the leaders of Quraysh. He fled, because he thought that he had done so much against Islam that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) would kill him. ʿUmayr ibn Wahb was his close friend in the Jāhiliyyah — and ʿUmayr ibn Wahb was spoken of before: ʿUmayr ibn Wahb is the man whom Ṣafwān sent to assassinate the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), and when he arrived in Madīnah, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) told him about his plan to come and assassinate him. So he was shocked that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) knew the details of this plan, and he ended up becoming Muslim. So now ʿUmayr ibn Wahb, when he heard about Ṣafwān running away, followed him. Ṣafwān went to Jeddah to take a boat and go to Yemen.

So ʿUmayr ibn Wahb told him: I have come to you from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). Because ʿUmayr ibn Wahb had spoken to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allah, Ṣafwān is the leader of his people; give him immunity. So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: I will give him immunity. ʿUmayr ibn Wahb said: give me a sign, a token. So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) gave him his turban, as a sign that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was giving Ṣafwān immunity. ʿUmayr took the turban of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and went to meet Ṣafwān.

Ṣafwān told him: stay away from me. ʿUmayr said: I have come to you from the most merciful, the most compassionate and the most forgiving of men; and his kingdom is yours, and his possessions are yours, and his honour is yours. He was telling him that he was his relative, and whatever good happened to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was good that was happening to him; and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) has given you immunity. He said: you are lying to me. He said: this is a sign; this is the turban of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). So Ṣafwān came back with ʿUmayr ibn Wahb, and he went to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and said: this man claims that you forgive me and give me immunity. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: yes. Ṣafwān said: give me two months to think about it before becoming Muslim. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) told him: I give you four months. Ṣafwān eventually became Muslim.