Budayl ibn Warqa

Budayl ibn Warqā' was a chieftain of Banū Khuzāʿah, a major tribe near Makkah that was generally sympathetic to the Prophet ﷺ though not yet Muslim at the time of the Treaty of al-Ḥudaybiyyah (6 AH). When the Muslims camped at al-Ḥudaybiyyah for ʿUmrah, Budayl volunteered on his own initiative, as a neutral, respected third party neither of Quraysh nor of the Muslims, to warn the Prophet ﷺ that Quraysh had gathered armed men to bar him from Makkah. The Prophet ﷺ explained his peaceful intent and offered generous terms for negotiation, which Budayl carried back to Quraysh. Though the more foolish among Quraysh dismissed his report outright, wiser voices insisted he be heard, and Budayl accused Quraysh directly of acting hastily against a man who had come only to honor the sanctuary. Quraysh refused to budge, but Budayl's mission opened the door to the extended round of negotiations that followed. He embraced Islam sometime afterward and remained a committed Muslim, his underlying sympathies for the Prophet ﷺ evident even before his formal conversion.