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After the Battle of Badr, Mecca became a pressure cooker for the remaining Muslims. Heavily pregnant and fleeing for her life, the Prophet's eldest daughter, Zaynab, attempted a covert escape to Medina.

She didn't make it far. The ruling Quraysh tribe intercepted her, led by a man named Habbar ibn al-Aswad. In a brutal move to stop her, Habbar attacked her camel, throwing Zaynab from the mount and sending her crashing onto a sharp rock.

The fall caused a severe miscarriage. Zaynab survived the initial fall, but her health was permanently shattered. Later, she succumbed to the lingering injuries from that day.

Naturally, Habbar became one of the most wanted men in Arabia. It is reported that Al-Zubayr Ibn Al-Awam said

>By Allah, I used to search for him and ask about him, and Allah knows that if I had caught him before he came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, I would have killed him.”

When the Muslims eventually conquered Mecca years later, Habbar fled. He knew what he did, and he knew what the punishment would be. He tried to escape to Persia, but realizing he had nowhere left to run, he made a wild, desperate gamble. He decided to go straight to the Prophet in Medina.

Picture the scene: The Prophet is sitting with his companions, men who would have gladly taken Habbar's head at a moment's notice. Suddenly, Habbar walks into the mosque. The room goes dead silent.

Narrated by Jubayr ibn Mut'im:

>“I was sitting with the Prophet ﷺ among his companions in his mosque after his return from Al-Ji‘ranah, when Habbār ibn al-Aswad appeared.
When the people saw him, they said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, Habbār ibn al-Aswad!’
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: ‘I have already seen him.’”

>Some of the people wanted to get up and go toward him, but the Messenger of Allah ﷺ signaled to them: ‘Remain seated.’
Then Habbār stood before him and said:

>‘Peace be upon you, O Messenger of Allah. I testify that there is no god except Allah and that you are the Messenger of Allah. I had fled from you throughout the lands and intended to join the Ajam, but then I remembered your kindness, your virtue, your goodness, and your pardon toward those who behaved ignorantly toward you.

>We, O Messenger of Allah, were people of polytheism, and Allah guided us through you and saved us through you from destruction. So forgive my ignorance and what used to reach you about me, for I admit my wrongdoing and confess my sin. I was once involved in insulting and harming you, and I was abandoned. But Allah has now given me insight and guided me to Islam.’

Al-Zubayr said:

>‘I kept looking at the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and he lowered his head while Habbār was apologizing. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ kept saying:

>“I have forgiven you, and Islam wipes away whatever came before it.”

Habbar ibn al-Aswad is mentioned later during the reign of caliph Umar as well. But this time as a Muslim.

>Malik related to me from Nafi from Sulayman ibn Yasar that Habbar ibn al-Aswad arrived on the day of sacrifice while Umar ibn al-Khattab was sacrificing his animal and said, "Amir al-muminin, we made a mistake in our reckoning and we thought that today was the day of Arafa." Umar said, "Go to Makka, you and whoever else is with you, and do tawaf(....)