Abu
Sufyan Ibn al Harith was the cousin of
the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and his brother in breast-milk; he used to like the Prophet
ﷺ before Islam, but once he ﷺ received revelation, Abu Sufyan expressed
enmity towards the Prophet ﷺ and composed poetry to defame him.
Thus, Hassaan Ibn Thabet asked for permission to answer back.
Then Abu Sufyan embraced Islam in the year of the conquest of Makkah:
At the year of the conquest of Makkah, Abu Sufyan bin Al-Harith, his son and Abdullah bin Abi Umayyah bin Al-Mughirah, his cousin and son-in-law met the Messenger of Allah ﷺ at Al-Abwa’ and they sought to enter to him, but they were not given permission, so Umm Salamah spoke to him about them, and she said,
“Oh, Messenger of God, your cousins and your son-in-law are not the most wretched of people with you.” (she wants him to forgive their enmity and insults)
He ﷺ said,
“I have no need for them. As for my cousin, he insulted my honor. As for my cousin and son-in-law, he is the one who said in Mecca what he said”
فَقَالَ: لَا حَاجَةَ لِي فِيهِمَا، أَمَّا ابْنُ عَمِّي فَهَتَكَ عِرْضِي، وَأَمَّا ابْنُ عَمَّتِي وَصِهْرِي فَهُوَ الَّذِي، قَالَ لِي بِمَكَّةَ مَا قَالَ .
He referred to the fact that Abu Sufyan used to frequently annoy the Messenger of God and slander him by his poets, even though before the prophetic mission he was from the most beloved of people to him. Hassaan bin Thabit then asked the permission of the Prophet (ﷺ) to respond and lampoon (i.e. compose satirical poetry defaming) the Abu Sufyan and infidels. Aisha said: he, Hassaan, used to defend the Prophet (with his poetry) (Bukhari 3531 - Muslim 2489a)
Abdullah bin Abi Umayyah, was the one who asked the prophet earlier in Mecca to punish them or do extraordinary miracles to believe.
