The Universality of Dawah

Seerah as a Movement 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 than what you have come for?” He then went 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