Abu Sufyan ibn Harb RA's Overnight Camp and Conversion at Marr al-Zahran

The Muslim army's final camp before the Conquest of Makkah was at Marr al-Zahran, now known as Wadi Fatima. There the ten thousand men lit their campfires. Al-Abbas RA, the Prophet ﷺ's uncle and a new Muslim, feared that the Quraysh would be destroyed if Makkah were taken by force. He asked permission to go and persuade them to submit. The Prophet ﷺ gave him his own mule, Duldul, to ride.

That night al-Abbas came across three leaders of the Quraysh and Khuza'a, who had been coming out each night to look for the Muslim army. Among them was Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, the last senior chief left in Makkah. Al-Abbas told him to come along and promised to ask the Prophet ﷺ to forgive and protect him. He brought Abu Sufyan into the camp on the Prophet ﷺ's mule.

Umar ibn al-Khattab RA saw them and followed them to the Prophet ﷺ's tent. He asked for Abu Sufyan to be executed, while al-Abbas insisted that Abu Sufyan was under his protection. The Prophet ﷺ told al-Abbas to keep Abu Sufyan in his tent overnight and bring him back in the morning. The next morning Abu Sufyan, after much hesitation, accepted Islam.

The Prophet ﷺ then announced that whoever entered the Haram, stayed in his own house, or entered the house of Abu Sufyan would be safe. He also had al-Abbas show Abu Sufyan the army marching past, tribe by tribe, and Abu Sufyan was astonished at its size.