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Days passed until A.H. 8 came. The Messenger and the Muslims went out for the conquest of
Makkah after the Quraish had violated its treaty with the Messenger of Allah.
The Muhaajiruun returned to their homes which earlier they had been expelled from by force. They
returned and with them the Ansaar, who had taken care of them in their city and preferred them over
themselves.
With its flags fluttering victoriously in the sky, Makkah opened all of its gates and the polytheists
were stopped in bewilderment. What would be their destiny and fate today, since they were the ones who
had done wrong to the Muslims previously by killing them, burning them, torturing them, and starving
them? The merciful Prophet (PBUH) did not want to leave them for long under the pressure of these
debilitating feelings. He received them and turned to them in a good and noble manner and said to them
with his merciful voice flowing tenderly and lovingly, "O people of Quraish, what do you think I will do
with you?"
At that time the enemy of Islam in the past, Suhail lbn `Amr, stepped forward and answered, ''We
think you will treat us well, O noble brother and son of a noble brother."
A smile formed from light appeared on the lips of the Beloved of Allah and he called to them, "Go,
you are free, liberated." These words did not come from the victorious, triumphant Messenger except to
change human beings with living feelings by melting them to obedience, humility, and repentance. At the
same moment, this situation, filled with nobility and glory, stimulated all of Suhail lbn `Amr's feelings,
so he surrendered to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. His Islam, at that time, was not the surrender of a
defeated man, resigned to fate. It was, as his future shall reveal in what follows, the surrender of a man
overwhelmed and fascinated by the majesty of Muhammad and the grandeur of the religion that
Muhammad demonstrated in his conduct in conformity with its teachings and instructions. These
teachings, as he saw them, conveyed extraordinary benevolence, friendship, and devotion.
Those who announced their Islam on the Day of the Conquest of Makkah were designated with the
name "At-Tulaqaa"' or those who were transferred by the forgiveness of the Prophet from polytheism to
Islam when he said to them, "Go, you are free." Consequently, some persons from among those Tulaqaa'
(or those who were liberated) were raised by their sincerity to a far distant horizon of sacrifice, worship,
and purity which placed them in the first rank of the Prophet's righteous and devoted Companions.
Among these was Suhail Ibn `Amr.
Islam molded and fashioned him afresh and refined all of his original skills and gifts and, what is
more, increased them and placed all of them at the service of truth, goodness, and faith. They described
him in these words: "The kind, generous, outstanding one. The one who performs prayer much and fasts
and gives in charity and reads the Qur'aan and crys out of fear of Allah."
That was the greatness of Suhail. For in spite of the fact that he accepted Islam on the Day of the
Conquest of Makkah, and not before that, we see him truthfully affirming his Islam and its certainty, to
the extent that he excelled in it with distinction, exerting himself with all his heart. He was transformed
into a worshiper, self-denying and abstenious, and into one who sacrifices and strives in the path of Allah
and Islam.
When the Messenger was transported to the company of the Most High, the news soon reached
Makkah. Suhail at that time was residing there, and the Muslims were overwhelmed by agitation and
perplexity, just as the Muslims were in Al-Madiinah. However, the confusion of Al-Madiinah was
dissipated by Abu Bakr at that time by his decisive words: "Whoever worships Muhammad, know that
Muhammad is dead; and whoever worships Allah, indeed Allah is living and never dies."
So we were amazed when we saw Suhail holding the same position in Makkah as Abu Bakr in Al-
Madiinah. He gathered all of the Muslims there, and he stood dazzling them with his salutorious words,
informing them that Muhammad was truly the Messenger of Allah and that he did not die until he had