The Conversion of Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahl

Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahl, the son of Islam's fiercest enemy, was among those excluded from the general amnesty at the conquest of Mecca. He fled toward Yemen and attempted to sail to Abyssinia, but a storm forced the ship back. His wife Umm Hakim bint al-Harith, who had already accepted Islam, went to the Prophet and secured his forgiveness. She then traveled to the coast and found Ikrimah about to board another ship. She convinced him to return, telling him: 'I have come to you from the most righteous of people, the most generous, the best. Do not destroy yourself.' Ikrimah returned to Medina. When the Prophet saw him approaching, he leaped up in joy (without his cloak, indicating his haste) and exclaimed: 'Welcome, O emigrating rider!' Ikrimah embraced Islam and said: 'O Messenger of Allah, teach me the best thing you know.' The Prophet taught him the shahada. Ikrimah pledged to spend double in the cause of Islam what he had spent fighting against it. He became a heroic warrior for Islam and was martyred at the Battle of Yarmouk in 13 AH.