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of Madinah who were embroiled in a conflict with the other main
tribe, the Aws. On hearing that they were in Makkah, the Prophet
went to see them and said: “Shall I tell you about something even
better thanwhat you have come for?”He thenwent on to explain to
them the meaning of belief in one God. There was a youth among
them called Ayaz ibn Mu’az, who told his people that what the
Prophet had told them was much better than what they had come
for. The delegation, however, did not agree. “Leave us alone,” they
said, “we are here on other business.” They returned to Madinah.
Soon afterwards the vicious and devastating battle of Bu’ath was
waged between the Aws and Khazraj.
According to Khubaib ibn Abdul Rahman, two people from
Madinah, Sa’ad ibn Zarara and Zakwan Ibn Qais, came to Makkah
and stayed with ‘Utba ibn Rabi’ya. When they heard about the
Prophet, they went to see him. The Prophet called on them both
to accept Islam and recited to them a passage of the Quran. They
accepted the Prophet’s invitation, and became Muslim. Rather
than return to the house of their host, ‘Utba, they went straight
back to Madinah after seeing the Prophet. They were the first to
communicate the message of Islam to the people of Madinah. This
was in the tenth year of the Prophet’s mission, three years before
the emigration to Madinah.
In the following year, six people from the Khazraj tribe came
to Makkah for Hajj. They became Muslim, swore allegiance to the
Prophet, and then returned to Madinah to propagate Islam there.
Then, in the twelfth year of the Prophet’s mission, twelve people
came to swear allegiance to the Prophet. The oath that they took,
at Aqaba near Madinah, is famous in Islamic history as the First
Oath of Aqaba. There followed another pact, in the same place,
the next year, in which 75 people participated.
Contrary to what happened in Madinah, the eminent people in
the city of Madinah accepted Islam at the very outset. According
to tribal custom, people in those days used to follow the religion of
their leaders. Islam, then, spread quickly in Madinah. Soon there
was not a single home into which Islam had not entered. It was
