At a glance
- Roles
- Politician
- Era
- The Prophetic Era
- Region
- Arabia
- Identifiers
- Wikidata
- Review
- Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it
Life in time
In space
Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph
Peace-making and coexistenceConverts and those who leave
Place in the story
- OpponenttowardThe early Muslim community · 624 CE · 2 AH† – 630 CE · 9 AH†Historical
- Convert to Islam · 630 CE · 9 AH†Tradition
- Companion · 630 CE · 9 AH† – 639 CE · 18 AH†Tradition
Arabian polytheism (documented) · Sunni (transmitted)
Roles are dated and sourced; the museum describes the act and attributes the judgement.
Suhayl ibn Amr, the orator of Quraysh; taken at Badr and ransomed, he signed the Hudaybiyya truce with the Prophet ﷺ, entered Islam on the day of the conquest, and died in the plague of Amwas around 639 CE.
Suhayl ibn Amr was the orator of Quraysh — the tongue sent out to negotiate. Taken at Badr and ransomed, he stayed among Mecca's public chiefs; when the Prophet ﷺ came to perform umra in 628 Quraysh sent Suhayl to turn him back — he ended by signing the Hudaybiyya truce, arguing clause by clause. He entered Islam on the day of the conquest; the tradition preserves the Prophet's word on him that day — he is a man you will see in a place that will please you — read as fulfilled when Suhayl steadied Mecca's people with a sermon when the news of the Prophet's death came. He died in the plague of Amwas around 639 CE.
Storytellers (10–12) read the Explorers text, then cross to the Scholars text.
Suhayl ibn Amr was the orator of Quraysh — the tongue sent out to negotiate. Taken at Badr and ransomed, he stayed among Mecca's public chiefs: when the Prophet ﷺ came to perform umra in 628 Quraysh sent Suhayl to turn him back — he ended by signing the Hudaybiyya truce, arguing clause by clause. He entered Islam on the day of the conquest; the tradition preserves the Prophet's word on him that day — he is a man you will see in a place that will please you — read as fulfilled when Suhayl steadied Mecca's people with a sermon when the news of the Prophet's death came. He died in the plague of Amwas around 639 CE.
Brief
Suhayl ibn Amr was Quraysh's orator — the voice sent to negotiate. At Hudaybiyya he sat across from the Prophet ﷺ dictating terms; three years later he was a Muslim, and the tradition remembers him eulogizing the Prophet in Mecca.
Life
Captured at Badr and ransomed, Suhayl remained one of Mecca's public faces: when the Prophet came to make pilgrimage in 628, it was Suhayl whom Quraysh sent to turn him back — and who ended by signing the Treaty of Hudaybiyya, arguing the points clause by clause 1.
He converted at the conquest. The tradition records the Prophet saying of him that day: he is a man you will see stand in a station that will gladden you — read as fulfilled when Suhayl steadied Mecca with a speech at the news of the Prophet's death 2.
He died in the plague of Amwas, about 639 CE 2.
Legacy
The diplomat of the opposition became the orator of the transition — the story of the treaty man who stayed to give the funeral speech.
For young visitors
Suhayl was sent to argue with the Prophet — and later gave the speech that calmed Mecca when the Prophet died.
Your choice is kept in this browser only.
Connections
- Parent of
- Abu Jandal ibn Suhayl· Sahla bint Suhayl· Umm Kulthum bint Suhayl
- Sibling of
- Al-Sakran ibn Amr
- Participated in
- Suhayl ibn Amr's speech in Mecca at the Prophet's death· The Battle of Badr· The Treaty of Hudaybiyya· The affair of the Badr prisoners· The distribution of Hunayn spoils at al-Ji'rana
- Born in
- Mecca
- Died in
- Amwas (Emmaus)
- Member of
- Quraysh
- Signed
- The Treaty of Hudaybiyya
- Converted under
- Muhammad
People and things also explored
Umar ibn al-Khattab· Muhammad· Mecca· Mus'ab ibn Umayr· The Treaty of Hudaybiyya· al-Nadr ibn al-Harith· Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt· Abu Sufyan ibn Harb
Sources
- Ibn Ishaq / Guillaume, The Life of Muhammad (1955)
- Ibn Sa'd, Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir (Bewley translation, Ta-Ha)
- Watt, Muhammad at Medina (1956)
- al-Sira al-Nabawiyya — Ibn Hisham, al-Saqqa edition (1355/1936)
- al-Nuwayri, Nihayat al-Arab fi Funun al-Adab, vol. 3 (scan)
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Suhayl ibn Amr”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/suhayl-ibn-amr/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-26.