She went after him

When Makkah fell there was a general amnesty, and a very short list of people it did not cover. Ikrimah was on the list, and he knew it. He went for the coast to find a boat.

His wife, Umm Hakim, accepted Islam. Then she asked for an amnesty for her husband, and was given it.

So she went after him. Not a messenger — she went, and caught him at the water's edge, and told him she had come from the best of people and had brought safety for him.

The reports have him not believing her at first. She persuaded him, and they turned round.

What happened on the way back is the part that gets left out. The sources record her travelling with him while he was still not a Muslim, and record the journey plainly, without tidying it.

When he reached Madinah the Prophet ﷺ is reported to have stood up to greet him. And to have told those present not to abuse Abu Jahl in front of his son — because insulting a dead man does not reach him and does reach the living.

Ikrimah accepted Islam there.

He had fought them at Badr, where his father was killed; at Uhud, where he commanded; and at every opportunity in between. Within a few years he was dead in Syria fighting on the other side.