Mut'im ibn Adi

Muṭʿim ibn ʿAdī was the senior-most man of Quraysh in the early Meccan period, the most respected, the most measured, the most given to seeking resolution. He was the man who had broken the deadlock when Quraysh was fighting over who would place the Black Stone back in the Kaʿbah: his proposal was 'Let the first man to enter through that door be the arbitrator', and the first man was the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم.

He never converted to Islam. When Quraysh confronted Abū Ṭālib over his protection of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, Muṭʿim was the one who stepped in to say: 'O Abū Ṭālib, your people have been as reasonable as expected. Choose one of their options.' That he, the most reserved and respected, took sides against Abū Ṭālib made the confrontation existential. Yet Abū Ṭālib still held firm.

Muṭʿim performed one of the greatest acts of honor in the Prophet's صلى الله عليه وسلم life: when the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم returned from Ṭāʾif, exhausted, bruised, and rejected, he could not re-enter Makkah without the protection of a clan chief. He asked several chiefs for protection; all refused. Muṭʿim ibn ʿAdī, a pagan who did not believe in the Prophet's صلى الله عليه وسلم message, granted him protection. He armed his sons and escorted the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم personally into the Masjid al-Ḥarām, announcing publicly that Muḥammad was under his protection. When Muṭʿim died, before the Battle of Badr, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: 'If Muṭʿim ibn ʿAdī were alive and had interceded for these prisoners [of Badr], I would have released all of them for his sake alone.'