Uqba ibn Amir RADramatizedWording is illustrative; the conversion itself and its setting are attested.
Life event
Embraced Islam at Aqaba, one of six men of the Khazraj to accept the call to tawhid.
While making his rounds at Mina, the Prophet ﷺ came across a small group of six men from the Khazraj tribe of Yathrib, a city of three main groups, the Arab tribes of al-Aws and al-Khazraj, and the Jewish tribes of al-Nadir, Qaynuqa, and Qurayza. The Khazraj and Aws were the only Arabs in the region with exposure to a monotheistic religion, through their Jewish neighbors, who had long boasted of an awaited prophet and taunted the Arabs that they would be crushed once he came. The Prophet ﷺ asked the six who they were; on learning they were of the Khazraj, neighbors of the Jews, he sat with them and explained tawhid, warned against shirk, and recited the Qur'an, giving them the same full attention and zeal he gave the largest tribes even though they were only six people without a tent. All six accepted Islam and returned to Yathrib, spreading word of the message, among them Uqba ibn Amir al-Juhani, Jabir ibn Abdillah, and As'ad ibn Zurarah.
This 10th-year encounter, with a small tribe the Prophet ﷺ barely recognized, planted the seed from which the whole Yathrib community would eventually convert and, within a few years, invite the Prophet ﷺ to emigrate: the turning point that led to the Hijrah. The Prophet ﷺ later related that he had seen in a dream he would emigrate to a land of greenery and palm trees, and had expected it to be Yemen, not knowing it would be Yathrib.
Other events recorded around the same time. Their order within the year is not established; use the storyline above for the sequence.
Embraced Islam at Aqaba, one of six men of the Khazraj to accept the call to tawhid.
Embraced Islam at Aqaba, one of six men of the Khazraj to accept the call to tawhid.
Embraced Islam at Aqaba, one of six men of the Khazraj to accept the call to tawhid.
Allah showed me in a dream that I would emigrate to another land with greenery and palm trees; and I thought it might be in Yemen.
A later reflection on this period, before it became clear the land was Yathrib.
“Although they used to pray for victory [by means of the Prophet] over the polytheists (the Arabs), when there came to them a Book from Allah which they recognized (the Quran), confirming the Scripture they had [in their hands], they rejected it.”
Cited to explain how the Jews of Yathrib, who had long anticipated a prophet, rejected him once he came from among the Arabs.
Cited regarding the Arabs never having received a prophet or a scripture before.
“Whoever is mindful of Allah, He will make a way out for them,”
Cited reflecting the unexpected growth of support that eventually came from Yathrib.
“and provide for them from sources they could never imagine.”
Cited reflecting the unexpected growth of support that eventually came from Yathrib.