Amr ibn Abasa al-Sulami

ʿAmr ibn ʿAbasa رضي الله عنه was a Yemeni man who rejected idol worship before Islām on his own, through the clarity of his own reasoning. When news reached him that someone in Makkah was preaching the same thing, that idols are false and only Allah deserves worship, he travelled to find this man.

He found the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم in the early days of his mission, operating privately. He asked him: 'What are you?' The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: 'I am a Prophet.' 'What is a Prophet?' 'One whom Allah has sent.' 'With what?' 'To uphold kinship. To be good to one another. To break all idols. And that only Allah be worshipped.' ʿAmr wanted to convert and stay. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم told him: 'You cannot. Don't you see my situation? I am hidden from my own people. You have no protection here. Go back to your people. And when you hear that I have been victorious, then come to me.'

ʿAmr returned to Yemen and waited. At least fifteen years passed. When he heard the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم had arrived in Madīnah, he journeyed there and walked into the Masjid. He said: 'Yā RasūlAllāh, do you recognize me?' The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: 'Yes, you are the one who came to me in Makkah.' He accepted Islām, became one of the Muhājirūn (migrants to Madīnah), and spent the rest of his life in the Prophet's صلى الله عليه وسلم company.