Suhayl ibn Amr

Orator of the Quraysh at Hudaybiyya

Suhayl ibn Amr was the famed orator of the Quraysh. When the Quraysh sent him to negotiate at Hudaybiyya, the Prophet ﷺ took a good omen from his name (suhayl, “ease”), saying the matter had now been made easy. Suhayl drove a hard bargain over the wording of the treaty and its terms — and would not even release his own son, Abu Jandal, who had fled to the Muslims. 1 Hayatus Sahaba · Vol 1 · pp. 171–172 — Kandhlawi — Suhayl negotiates at Hudaybiyya; the Prophet's good omen from his name; the hard terms.

From Foe to Devoted Muslim

At the conquest of Makkah, Suhayl shut himself away in fear, but his son secured him amnesty; the Prophet ﷺ granted it and forbade any to look on him harshly. Suhayl embraced Islam, and when he said, “We expect good from you,” the Prophet ﷺ answered with the words of Yusuf: “No blame shall be upon you today.” 2 Hayatus Sahaba · Vol 1 · pp. 193–194 — Kandhlawi — Suhayl granted amnesty at the conquest, embraces Islam; the Prophet answers with Yusuf's words.

The Speech That Steadied Makkah

When news of the Prophet’s ﷺ death reached Makkah and its people wavered, it was Suhayl who rose in the Sacred Mosque and, in a speech like Abu Bakr’s in Madinah, steadied the city in its faith — fulfilling the very hope the Prophet ﷺ had once voiced for him, that Allah might one day place him where he would do great good. 3 Hayatus Sahaba · Vol 2 · pp. 363–364 — Kandhlawi — Suhayl's speech steadies the Muslims of Makkah after the Prophet's death, fulfilling the Prophet's hope for him. He later went to Syria for jihad and died in the plague of Amwas.