The Future For Islam

"He replied, 'You have spoken fairly.' He then put down his spear and sat with
them. Mus'ab then spoke to him about Islam and recited the Qur'an to him.
"According to what is reported, they both said, 'By God, we recognized Islam
in his face, from its radiant calm, even before he spoke.'
"Usayd then said, 'How beautiful, how wonderful that is! What does one do
to enter this faith?'
"They told him, 'You wash, and clean yourself and your clothes. You then
give testimony to the truth and say prayers.'
"Usayd then arose, washed, cleaned his clothes and made testimony to the
truth. He then performed two prayer prostrations and told them, 'Behind me
there is a man who if he follows you, will not leave behind any one of his people.
I will send him to you now. He is Sa'd b. Mugdh.'
"He then took his spear and left for Sa'd and his people who were sitting in
their assembly. When Sa'd b. MuCadh saw him coming, he commented, 'I swear
by God, Usayd is coming back to you with an expression quite different from
when he left you.'
"When Usayd stopped at the assembly, Sag asked him, 'Well, what did you
do?' He replied, 'I spoke to both men and, I swear, I saw no harm in them. I
warned them and they replied, "We will do whatever you wish." And I was
informed that the Banii Haitha had gone off to kill As'ad b. Zuraa; that was
because they knew that he is your aunt's son and wanted to harm you.'
"Sa'd b. Mugdh arose angrily at this, anxious because of what they had said
about the Banii Haitha. He took the spear in his hand and said, 'I can see, by
God, that you have accomplished nothing!'
"Sa'd then left to go to the two men and when he saw them to be untroubled,
he realized that Usayd had merely wanted him to listen to them. He came to a
stop, in a rage, and said to As'ad b. Zur%ra, 'By God, Aba Umma, if we weren't
relatives, you wouldn't behave this way to me. Will you behave in our very
homes in ways that offend us?'
"As'ad had told Mus'ab, 'I swear, a leader has come to you who has such influ-
ence that if he follows you, no two others will hold back from you.'
"Mus'ab therefore told him, 'Would you sit and listen; if you hear what you
like, you can accept it; if you dislike it, we'll not bother you with it again.'
"Sa'd replied, 'You speak fair.' He then put down his spear and sat. Islam was
then explained to him, and the Qur'an was recited to him."
Musa b. 'Uqba recounted that it was the first part of snrar al-Zukhluf (XLIII)
that was recited to him.
"The account continued, 'And, I swear, we recognized Islam in his face even
before he spoke, from its radiant calm.'
"Sa'd then asked them, 'What does one do to accept Islam and enter this
religion?'
"They told him, 'You wash, and clean yourself and your clothes. Then you
give testimony to the truth and make two prayer prostrations.'