Khalid ibn al-Walid RA's Mission to Najran and Its Mass Conversion

Toward the end of the 9th year of the Hijrah, the Prophet ﷺ sent a wave of sahaba out as governors and teachers of Islam, especially to the north and south of Arabia, among them Mu'adh ibn Jabal RA, sent to Yemen, and Abu Musa al-Ash'ari RA, sent to another Yemeni province. At the start of the 10th year, the Prophet ﷺ sent Khalid ibn al-Walid RA to the province of Najran, instructing him not to attack until he had given the people three days and the choice of (i) accepting Islam, (ii) paying jizya if they were Christian or Jewish, or (iii) leaving. Khalid RA sent out criers with this message, and the entire province of Najran accepted Islam without any fighting. Uncertain what to do next, Khalid RA wrote to the Prophet ﷺ reporting that the people had all become Muslim and asking for instructions; the Prophet ﷺ told him to send a delegation up to Madinah so that he could test them himself. When the delegation arrived, the Prophet ﷺ did not recognize them and remarked on their resemblance to the people of Hind. They identified themselves as being from Najran, and the Prophet ﷺ questioned them further (at times sharply, to test the genuineness of their faith) before asking what secret lay behind their being always victorious over those who attacked them; they answered that they never fought among themselves once a decision was made, and that they never wronged other people.