At a glance
- Era
- The Prophetic Era
- Region
- Arabia
- Review
- Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it
Contested: This record includes matters on which scholars differ. The speaker's views are labelled as his, and other views are marked where no cited source yet exists.
In time
In space
Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph
Laws of war and peaceConverts and those who leave
Summary
The Prophet charged his commanders not to fight except those who fought them. He excepted a few named individuals whom he ordered killed, even if they clung to the curtains of the Ka'ba. These were for specific criminal offences, such as killing after treachery or grave harm. Some of them were killed, while others sought safe-conduct and the Prophet pardoned them. 1
Names and fates
The list in Ibn Hisham's Sira includes the following:
- Abdullah ibn Sa'd ibn Abi Sarh: a scribe of revelation who apostatised and fled to Mecca. He hid with his foster-brother Uthman ibn Affan, who brought him to seek safe-conduct. The Prophet pardoned him after a long silence, and he became a Muslim and his Islam was good. 2
- Abdullah ibn Khatal: apostatised, killed his Muslim servant, stole the alms, and kept two singing-girls to lampoon the Prophet. He was killed while clinging to the curtains of the Ka'ba. 3
- al-Huwayrith ibn Nuqayd: one who harmed the Prophet and goaded the camel of Fatima and Umm Kulthum during the Hijra. Ali ibn Abi Talib killed him. 3
- Miqyas ibn Subaba: having taken the blood-money for his brother, he killed his brother's killer and then apostatised as a polytheist. Numayla ibn Abdullah killed him in the market. 3
- Fartana and her companion (the two singing-girls of Ibn Khatal): one of them was killed, and the other fled, was granted safe-conduct, and became a Muslim. 3
- Sara, freedwoman of Banu Abd al-Muttalib: she was granted safe-conduct, then died in the caliphate of Umar after horses trampled her at al-Abtah. 3
- Ikrima ibn Abi Jahl (may God be pleased with him): fled to Yemen. His wife Umm Hakim bint al-Harith asked for safe-conduct for him and brought him back. He became a Muslim, and his Islam was good. 4
For young visitors
When the Muslims entered Mecca, the Prophet granted safe-conduct to all the people of the city, except a small number of individuals whom the accounts say committed murder and treachery. Yet whoever among them sought safe-conduct and repented, the Prophet pardoned and set free.
Opinions on the question
The question: Why were certain people proscribed on the day Mecca was taken, and who was pardoned?
First opinion · Sunni tradition (the museum's frame)Main reference
More opinions (1)
Academic viewSecondary opinion
Connections
- Had participant
- Abdullah ibn Khatal· Abdullah ibn Sa'd ibn Abi Sarh· al-Huwayrith ibn Nuqaydh· Fartana· Miqyas ibn Subaba· Muhammad· Sara, mawla of Banu Abd al-Muttalib· Ali ibn Abi Talib
- Occurred at
- Mecca
- Part of
- The Conquest of Mecca (Fath Makka)
People and things also explored
Quraysh· Mecca· Umm Hani gives protection to two men on the day of the conquest· Muwatta 416· Abu Sufyan's mission to Medina· The complaint of Ali's troops after Yemen and the Prophet's words: do not complain of Ali· The Prophet's sermon at the Kaaba and general amnesty· Abu Dharr al-Ghifari accepts Islam in Mecca through Ali
Sources
- al-Sira al-Nabawiyya — Ibn Hisham, al-Saqqa edition (1355/1936) , 4/51-53
- al-Sira al-Nabawiyya — Ibn Hisham, al-Saqqa edition (1355/1936) , 4/51-52
- al-Sira al-Nabawiyya — Ibn Hisham, al-Saqqa edition (1355/1936) , 4/52-53
- al-Sira al-Nabawiyya — Ibn Hisham, al-Saqqa edition (1355/1936) , 4/53
- Watt, Muhammad at Medina (1956)
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “The proscribed persons on the day of the Conquest”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/fath-mecca-proscribed-persons/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-21.