Today is the third and final installment of the section about the delegations. We could have done one more section, but as we can see, these are all small stories put together and each one might have one or two benefits, but if we were to do another episode on this, it would just be a list of tribal names. So today, we will mention some of the significant remaining ones and finish it off. But be aware that the books of seerah have mentioned a list of over 110 delegations, most of whom we know nothing about beyond their names. The more interesting ones, we have mentioned in previous episodes. Today, insha'Allah, we will finish up with another 6 or 7 delegations.
Banu Hanifa, the Tribe of Musaylimah:
Musaylimah the False Prophet
We begin with the more bizarre one — the delegation from Banu Hanifa. Their leader was Musaylimah al-Kadhdhab (مسيلمة الكذاب - Musaylimah the Liar). He was one of those whom the Prophet PBUH said in a hadith, "After my death, you shall see 30 dajjals that are liars"—and one of them is Musaylimah. His name is actually Maslamah ibn Habib (مسلمة بن حبيب). He was relatively old; maybe late 60s or early 70s. He was a Christian, and his tribe was a Christian tribe. In his younger years, he had gone to Jerusalem to study Christianity, so he had learned Latin. He also took on the culture of the Romans. So his people gave him a lot of respect and he continued to rise in power more and more, until when Islam came, he was someone who had the respect of his entire tribe and also the region of al-Yamama (اليمامة).
Musaylimah witnessed his tribe fracture due to the spread of Islam. A respected nobleman of his tribe, Thumamah ibn Uthal (the one who was tied to the masjid for three days [see episode 62]), embraced Islam along with his followers, while others clung to their previous beliefs. So Musaylimah said to his people, "If Muhammad gives me power after his death, then I shall follow him. And he must share with me in prophethood like Musa shared with his brother Harun." So he went to Madinah to negotiate with the Prophet PBUH.
The books of seerah mention that his followers brought him into the masjid, and they were shielding him with fancy cloth, i.e., they were decorating him like a king. (So already, Musaylimah is being treated with such reverence — we can imagine this got to his head over the course of his lifetime. After being respected for so long, he couldn't imagine becoming subservient to another person.) — So he said to the Prophet PBUH, "IF you make me in charge after you, and you share with me in your prophethood, THEN I will follow you."
The Prophet PBUH was amongst the sahaba and he had in his hand a tree branch. He said to Musaylimah, "Wallahi, if you asked me for this stick, I wouldn't even give this to you. And Allah SWT will deal with you and humiliate you. And I am certain that you are what Allah showed me (i.e., the fulfillment of the prophecy [dream] that Allah had warned me about)." Many years later, Ibn Abbas asked Abu Hurairah, "What was that dream the Prophet PBUH talked about?" Abu Hurairah said (hadith in Bukhari): I heard the Prophet PBUH say, "Once, when I was sleeping, I saw myself wearing two bracelets of gold (which of course is haram for men). And I felt disturbed by this. And it was inspired to me (in the dream) to blow on these bracelets. So I blew on them — and they broke off and went away from me. I interpret them to be two liars who will appear after me. And the first of them will be the one from the tribe of Anas (قبيلة عنس) (al-Aswad al-Ansi/الأسود العنسي), and the second will be Musaylimah from al-Yamama."
And Musaylimah's story is well known. After he returned to his community, he wrote a letter to the Prophet PBUH —and look at the arrogance— he said, "From Musaylimah the Messenger of Allah, to Muhammad the Messenger of Allah. Peace be on you. Know that I have been placed in this matter alongside you. The Quraysh have half of the matter, and I have the other half. But the Quraysh are a people who transgress (who go beyond the bounds)." Two people came to deliver this letter to the Prophet, and he PBUH asked them, "What do you say about Musaylimah?" They said, "We are upon what the letter says." The Prophet PBUH said, "Were it not for the fact that ambassadors/envoys are not harmed, I would have had the two of you executed." Why? Because this is kufr. (Side note: There are two types of kufr: [i] Normal kufr of being a kafir, then [ii] the kufr of ridda, i.e., going beyond the line such as falsely claiming to be a prophet.) This shows us many things. Of them is that, yes, there is a protocol that is obeyed in the world, and this protocol transcends any religion: To this day, every country gives diplomatic immunity to all of the ambassadorial staff who work on behalf of another country — it is in everyone's best interest. And this, by the way, shows us that there are laws that, yes, even though they don't emanate in the shariah, the shariah will approve of them.
Musaylimah, to the best of our knowledge, was the first human ever not only to declare himself [falsely] to be a prophet, but also to attempt to imitate the Quran. He had ridiculous statements that he considered to be the quran. And everything he narrates, he tries to copy the language of the Quran. One such example is when he tried to copy Surah al-Kawthar by changing certain words: "We have given you precious materials. So pray to your Lord and pray early especially. Verily, the one who hates you is a kafir." One of his most ridiculous ones narrated in all seerah books is: "O toad, daughter of two toads..."—talking about a toad/frog—"...go ahead and continue to purify what you are purifying..."—this was the belief/myth that they had, that toads somehow purify the water—"...neither do you make the water dirty, nor do you prevent the one who drinks to drink. Your head is in the water and your tail is in the mud." And he called this Surah al-Difda' (سورة الضفدع - Chapter of the Frog).
It's narrated that one of the Arabs who was passing by asked Musaylimah, "You too are a prophet? Do you have anything like the other prophet has?" Musaylimah said, "Yes, I have the quran. Listen to this"—and he recited his version of Surah al-Fil (سورة الفيل - Chapter of the Elephant): "The elephant. What is the elephant? And what would have you know what the elephant is? It has a scraggly tail and a very long trunk..." and so on. This Arab said, "Wallahi, you know that I know that you are a liar." This is a testimony of someone who at the time was not even a Muslim.
It's narrated that one of the Arabs who was passing by asked Musaylimah, "You too are a prophet? Do you have anything like the other prophet has?" Musaylimah said, "Yes, I have the quran. Listen to this"—and he recited his version of Surah al-Fil (سورة الفيل - Chapter of the Elephant): "The elephant. What is the elephant? And what would have you know what the elephant is? It has a scraggly tail and a very long trunk..." and so on. This Arab said, "Wallahi, you know that I know that you are a liar." This is a testimony of someone who at the time was not even a Muslim.
In any case, Musaylimah was eventually killed in the Wars of Ridda [12 AH] by none other than Wahshi, as Wahshi wanted to atone for killing Hamzah RA [see episode 48] — Wahshi took the same javelin he killed Hamzah with and executed Musaylimah al-Kadhdhab, Musaylimah the Liar. (Side note: The Banu Hanifa was the largest and the worst of the murtad tribes during this battle.)
So this is the story of the Banu Hanifa. Very interesting, bizarre story. And of course, Musaylimah was one of the first of many other false prophets. Notice up until the coming of the Prophet PBUH, the entire Arabian Peninsula had never heard of a figure who called himself a prophet. It was an unknown phenomenon; only the Judeo-Christian tradition had this. Remember when Heraclius was questioning Abu Sufyan, one of the questions he asked out of the list of 20 questions was, "Is this a common thing [amongst the Arabs] that someone claiming to be a prophet?" And Abu Sufyan said, "No." However, with the coming of the Prophet PBUH and his success, all the copycats came.
So this is the story of the Banu Hanifa. Very interesting, bizarre story. And of course, Musaylimah was one of the first of many other false prophets. Notice up until the coming of the Prophet PBUH, the entire Arabian Peninsula had never heard of a figure who called himself a prophet. It was an unknown phenomenon; only the Judeo-Christian tradition had this. Remember when Heraclius was questioning Abu Sufyan, one of the questions he asked out of the list of 20 questions was, "Is this a common thing [amongst the Arabs] that someone claiming to be a prophet?" And Abu Sufyan said, "No." However, with the coming of the Prophet PBUH and his success, all the copycats came.
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The Tribe of Jurash:
"Verily, Allah's Camel is Being Sacrificed at Jurash as We Speak"
There was another interesting story, and this was a miracle that happened.
The tribe of Azd (أزد), which is one of the large tribes of Yemen, came to Madinah and accepted Islam. And the Prophet PBUH put in charge of them a sahabi named al-Surad ibn Abdillah al-Azdi (صرد بن عبد الله الأزدي), and he PBUH gave him the task of conquering a neighboring tribe that was still pagan, which for simplicity sake we will call the tribe of Jurash (جرش). And it so happened that the tribe of Jurash sent two envoys to Madinah to gauge the pulse of the Prophet PBUH and see whether he would accept a truce. In the meantime when the envoys were on the way, the Prophet PBUH had already told the tribe of Azd to attack the tribe of Jurash. And the day that the two envoys arrived in Madinah, Surad the Muslim commander attacked the tribe of Jurash. Of course, the envoys didn't know this. Surad had put the tribe under siege, and the siege broke, and there was a clash, and he was winning over the tribe.
The Prophet PBUH asked the two envoys, "Which tribe are you from?" — because every day, different delegations were coming. They said, "From the tribe of Jurash." So the Prophet PBUH said, "Verily, Allah's camel is being sacrificed at Jurash as we speak," meaning the 'nahr' is taking place right now — but they didn't understand this reference. So Abu Bakr (or Uthman) told them, "Woe to you! Don't you realize the Prophet PBUH is informing you about the calamity that has befallen your people?[1] Your only hope is to beg him to ask Allah to save them." So they asked the Prophet PBUH to save the tribe, and the Prophet PBUH made du'a to guide the people of Jurash.
The two messengers were in confusion. They went back and eventually realized that the same day that they were in Madinah, the tribe of Azd had overcome the tribe of Jurash, and the Jurash were about to fall[2] (but Surad decided to forgive, and so there was no bloodshed in the end). When the two envoys told their tribe what had happened, they all took it as a miracle and embraced Islam and sent a delegation back, this time not to negotiate, but to accept Islam.
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The Tribe of Himyar:
"How Did the Beginning of Creation Come About?"
We also learn a number of tribes came very eager to learn Islam. They came solely to learn more about Islam, spend time memorizing the Quran, learn fiqh, and ask some very interesting questions. Perhaps the most interesting question ever asked was asked by the tribe of the Himyar from Yemen. It's a very famous hadith narrated in Bukhari and Muslim that has generated a lot of commentary in the books of theology. This is the hadith of Imran ibn Husayn (عمران بن حصين) who said, "When I was sitting in the masjid, a delegation came from Najd (i.e., the Banu Tamim, which is from up north), and they came announcing Islam, so the Prophet PBUH said, 'I give you good news [meaning of Jannah], O people of Tamim.'" The people from up north were considered to be crude and harsh Bedouins — this is where most of the Ahzab army came from (whereas the people within the Hejaz were more cultivated and civilized). So when the Prophet PBUH said, "Good news, rejoice!" they understood this to mean "you are giving us something good," i.e., money. Imran continued, "[So] they said to the Prophet PBUH, 'You are giving us good news, so give us then the money.' The Prophet PBUH was silent"—which shows us his adab—"Then the Himyarites arrived and they also announced their Islam. So the Prophet PBUH said, 'O people of Himyar, accept the good news since the people of Banu Tamim did not accept it.' So they said, 'We accept the good news! And we have come all the way from Yemen asking you about the creation, how did Allah create it, and how did it all begin?'"
Subhan'Allah, this is a very deep theological question. They ask the greatest questions imaginable. Imran ibn Husayn is narrating this hadith, and he said that the Prophet PBUH said, "There was Allah, and there was nothing before Him. And He then created the heavens and the earth while His Throne was on the water." This shows us the heavens and the earth are not the only creations of Allah. There are things before the creation of this world, e.g., Allah's Throne and the water. And this is the point Ibn Taymiyyah and others have made. This hadith is one of the main evidences used to say that this creation around us is not the only creation.
Then Imran ibn Husayn says, "As I was sitting there [in the masjid], someone yelled out to me, 'O Imran! Your camel has fled!'" So Imran rushed out. And he narrates, "I saw my camel fleeing in the desert, so I ran after it. Neither did I get the camel, nor did I catch the hadith. How I wish now I had let the camel go and finish the hadith." Subhan'Allah, how we wish as well he let the camel go and got the full hadith about the creation. Imran was a Madani and an Ansari and he was the only one to report this hadith — the delegation from Himyar went back to Yemen and they did not narrate to us (they did not become scholars of hadith) — so this hadith is not preserved for a wisdom known to Allah SWT.
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Tangent: Blessings of the People of Yemen
There are other delegations that came from Yemen — and subhan'Allah, so many of these ahadith praise the people of Yemen.
1. In Sahih Muslim, the Prophet PBUH said, "The people of Yemen have come to you; they have the best of souls and the softest of hearts." Then he said the famous phrase: "Faith is Yemeni and wisdom is also Yemeni."
2. In Bukhari, the Prophet PBUH said, "O Allah, bless us in our Sham and in our Yemen." And this is amazing because when he PBUH said this, neither Sham nor Yemen was under Muslim control. Yet he said "OUR." The fact that he says "our" means he knew these places would become the places of Islam. A man said, "How about Najd, O Messenger of Allah?" The scholars differ on whether this Najd is referencing central Arabia or up north around Iraq (stronger opinion). And the Prophet PBUH repeated Sham and Yemen. The man asked again. The Prophet PBUH repeated Sham and Yemen. For the third time, when the man asked again, the Prophet PBUH pointed to Najd and said, "From there will come the earthquakes, fitna, and tribulations"—trials and tribulations will come from there.
3. In another hadith, in Sahih Muslim, the Prophet PBUH said, "I will be the one in charge of my Fountain on the Day of Judgment, and I will be the one to make sure people make space for the people of Yemen, and I shall be beating with my stick until space is made for them." This means the people of Yemen will be the first to drink from the Prophet's PBUH Fountain on the Day of Judgment.
The number of ahadith narrated about the people of Yemen is indeed many. And as we said before, "Yemeni" also includes the Ansar, as the Aws and the Khazraj's origins go back to Yemen — so all of the praise of Yemen is also a praise for the Ansar, along with anyone who converted from Yemen.
4. Ibn Taymiyyah says that the people of Yemen were the ones who were at the forefront fighting in the Battle of Ridda, and they opened so many lands, and it was through them Allah SWT brought about much good for the believers.
It's worth noting that Yemen was separate from Arabia in many ways. Firstly, they were majority Christian (and also many Jews were there). (Side notes: Some of the largest concentrations of Jews in the world were in Yemen up until 1947. Many Israelis are descendants of Yemeni Jews. So much so they still speak Arabic. And they consider themselves to be pure Jews — they don't think European Jews are as pure as them. The point is that Yemen typically had more Christians and Jews, and not as many pagans. And this was different from the rest of Arabia.) Also, Yemen was divided into small mini-kingdoms which was also very different. So there was more stability and civilization in Yemen.
It's worth noting that Yemen was separate from Arabia in many ways. Firstly, they were majority Christian (and also many Jews were there). (Side notes: Some of the largest concentrations of Jews in the world were in Yemen up until 1947. Many Israelis are descendants of Yemeni Jews. So much so they still speak Arabic. And they consider themselves to be pure Jews — they don't think European Jews are as pure as them. The point is that Yemen typically had more Christians and Jews, and not as many pagans. And this was different from the rest of Arabia.) Also, Yemen was divided into small mini-kingdoms which was also very different. So there was more stability and civilization in Yemen.
One of the main kings of Yemen from Himyar accepted Islam, and so the Prophet PBUH sent Mu'adh ibn Jabal to be the deputy and judge. This is the famous incident when the Prophet PBUH accompanied Mu'adh ibn Jabal to the south of Madinah — Mu'adh was on the animal and the Prophet PBUH was the one walking (this is a great honor for Mu'adh). And he PBUH gives him a lot of advice and tells him, "O Mu'adh, you will go to a group, they are People of the Book. Make sure you call them to tawhid (monotheism). If they listen, tell them to pray. If they pray, tell them to give zakat... [and so on]." And in the end, he PBUH said, "Ya Mu'adh, it is possible that I won't see you after this." And this was his PBUH farewell to Mu'adh ibn Jabal RA. (Note: This incident of the Prophet PBUH seeing off Mu'adh took place a few months after the Hajj of Abu Bakr in the 9th year of the Hijrah [see episode 99] — so not now, but a few months from now. After Abu Bakr returns, a month or two later.)
The Prophet PBUH also sent Abu Musa al-Ash'ari to another province in Yemen. So Yemen is embracing Islam en masse. And subhan'Allah, the overall ease with which the Yemeni people accepted Islam did not happen anywhere else in central/northern Arabia. That is one of the reasons why the Prophet PBUH said, "They have the best of hearts and the softest of hearts," "Iman is Yemeni and wisdom is Yemenite."
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"Make Things Easy and Don't Make Things Difficult. Give People Glad Tidings and Don't Turn People Away. Cause People to Come Together and Don't Cause Disunity"
As the Prophet PBUH sent Mu'adh ibn Jabal, the last piece of advice he gave him was, "Make things easy and don't make things difficult. And give people glad tidings and don't turn people away. And cause people to come together and don't cause people to disunite." Wallahi, this is a beautiful piece of advice, that we shouldn't make Islam difficult. Look at the level of the people and then do what is reasonable for them. Make it easy, and don't make it difficult and turn them away. It's sad then to see that so many mashaikh and ulama and preachers make Islam so difficult — even if they speak the truth, it's without wisdom and without the appropriate context, or talking to people who are not ready for certain advice. Here is Mu'adh ibn Jabal being sent —and he is who he is— yet the Prophet PBUH told him to make it easy for the people and to be gentle with them.
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Other Interesting Ahadith Narrated From One-Time Sahaba
One of the very interesting things about all these small delegations is that we see so many ahadith about fiqh and aqidah narrated from people who are not famous sahabis at all. Rather, they are one-time sahabis, meaning the delegates. Some of the standard ahadith about fiqh, and even theology, are narrated from those people who came to these delegations — which shows they came to study Islam. So when they go back and narrate to their own people, their ahadith become the standard ahadith:
1. The Hadith of Awrah
One of the famous ahadith is narrated by someone from Yemen by the name of Muawiyah ibn Haydah (معاوية بن حيدة). He asked the Prophet PBUH, "O Messenger of Allah, what is allowed to show of our awrah, and what is not allowed to show?" This is the famous hadith of awrah, and there is only one hadith explicit about the awrah. It's narrated by someone who only saw the Prophet PBUH once in his whole life, meaning he is on the delegates, which shows us the delegates wanted to study fiqh and aqidah. The Prophet PBUH said, "Cover your awrah from everyone other than your spouse." Muawiyah said, "What if I am alone?" The Prophet PBUH said, "There is more right upon Allah that you be shy of Him." Subhan'Allah.
2. Nobody Is Perfect, but Come as Close as You Can to Become Perfect
We also learn that many of the delegates came just to get the du'a of the Prophet PBUH.
In this, we have one narration from the tribe of the Banu Kulf (بنو كلف), that al-Hakam ibn Hazn (الحكم بن حزن), a one-time sahabi who just saw the Prophet PBUH once, narrated, "We were around 9 people who came to the Prophet PBUH. We entered in upon him and said, 'We have come to you so that you may pray for us for all good.' So the Prophet PBUH made du'a for us, and he took care of us, and he was hospitable to us, and he fed us. And we stayed in Madinah for a few days, and we prayed Jumu'ah as well. I saw him giving Jumu'ah (khutbah) holding up a stick (staff) or bow. And I remember one phrase in the khutbah, that, 'O people, do what you can, and know that you will never be able to do everything you have been commanded to do...'"—meaning we will never be perfect; we will make mistakes; so what should we do? The Prophet PBUH continued—"...so cover up..."—meaning fill in the gaps—"...and come as close as you can to what you are supposed to do"—meaning even as you know you can't do 100%, don't give up and say you're going to do 0; at least do the 90; in the effort, maybe Allah SWT will accept from you. This is a beautiful hadith narrated by many sahaba (the gist of it is also found in Bukhari). And in this version, the one who is hearing it is one of the delegates.
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The Delegation of the Christians of Najran:
The Revelation of the Beginning of Surah Ali-Imran incl. the Verse of Mubahala
One of the more interesting delegations is that of the Christians of Najran. Now, Najran is of course a very famous province. The people there were almost entirely Christian and had a strong relationship with the Roman emperor. The Prophet PBUH had sent them a letter a few months before, and he addressed them "in the name of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob," and he invited them to Islam and basically said, "If you accept, it will be better for you. Otherwise, you pay the jizya. And if you refuse to do the both, then you must fight the qital." So the people of Najran gathered together and made shura among themselves. One of them said, "We know that there is a prophet predicted in the Bani Ismail — how do we know this is not him? Maybe this is the one." This shows us they were expecting a prophet. And frankly, there are clear indications to this day in the Old Testament that there shall come a prophet from the Children of Ishmael. The people of Najran are attesting to this. And the person said, "We should send a delegation to find out." Another said, "Even if he is not a prophet, we should know his strength." So all of them agreed to send a delegation directly to Madinah and judge for themselves. So they decided to send a large delegation. Ibn Ishaq mentions that 60 people came. That is a huge number. Typically, delegations would be 1, 2, 5, or 10 people. This is a delegation of 60. The purpose of this was twofold: Firstly to impress the Prophet PBUH and the Muslims, and secondly to gauge the reality of the situation.
So when they entered in upon the Prophet PBUH, they were all dressed in a unique garb. These are not the pagans of Arabia; they have a civilization similar to the Romans. So they are dressed accordingly. When they came into the Masjid of the Prophet PBUH, the sahaba said, "We have never seen any delegation like theirs." And they arrived at the time of Asr, and it was time for their salah, so they asked permission to pray their salah, and the sahaba wanted to say no, but the Prophet PBUH allowed them to pray, so they turned towards the east. The Christians of old would turn towards the east when they would say their prayers. And facing east in the Masjid of the Prophet PBUH would mean they were not facing the qibla, but the left. So they all turned towards one of the walls of the Masjid and said their prayer — this is of course a very interesting point. And the sahaba said when they had finished their prayer, discussions and dialogue began for —Allah knows best— maybe 3-4 days.
On the first day, they asked many questions about Isa ibn Maryam (Jesus the son of Mary). Eventually, they asked the Prophet PBUH, "If you agree with us that Isa was born of a virgin, then who is his father?" And our Prophet PBUH said, "I don't have an answer for you now. Let Allah answer you." The next day, they came, and Allah revealed the first 60 verses of Surat Ali-Imran. (It's worth noting that the middle of Ali-Imran was revealed at Uhud, but the beginning was revealed right now in the 9th year.) In it, Allah SWT says:
إِنَّ مَثَلَ عِيسَىٰ عِندَ اللَّهِ كَمَثَلِ آدَمَ ۖ خَلَقَهُ مِن تُرَابٍ ثُمَّ قَالَ لَهُ كُن فَيَكُونُ
"Indeed, the example of Jesus to Allah is like that of Adam. He created him from dust; then He said to him, 'Be,' and he was" [Quran, 3:59].Meaning Allah simply said, 'Be,' and he became, just like how He SWT created Adam AS. Meaning Isa AS does not have a father, and he does not need a father.
Further, they asked if Ibrahim AS was a Christian or a Jew — and of course, they said and believed he was a Christian. But Allah SWT revealed:
All of these verses came down during this incident. And in this Surah as well are the famous verses called Ayat al-Mubahala (أية المباهلة - the Verse of Mutual Cursing). Mubahala means you invoke the curse of Allah:
This is the Verse of Mubahala. And it was revealed at the end of the second day after the back-and-forth. This shows us that mubahala is allowed on rare occasions, only once you get to the end of legitimate argumentation. There is no problem in saying, "Okay, khalas, if you are that sincere, let's do mubahala. Let's invoke God's curse upon the liars among us." Mubahala literally means "may Allah's curse be upon the party that is lying between the two of us." It's important to note, however, that this is not how you begin a dawah; it's how you end it IF you want to — it's an option that is there. And by the way, why do you call your children and wives, and *then* yourselves? Because it's much more painful to see Allah's curse upon your loved ones than upon yourself.
The next day, the Prophet PBUH readied his family: His daughter, her husband Ali, and their children Hasan and Husayn. (Tangent: Yes, this is Ahl al-Bayt, and we Sunnis affirm this. The Shias make a big deal out of this, but just because Ali RA was in this mubahala doesn't mean he was entitled to be the first khalifa.) So the Prophet PBUH got them ready for mubahala; and in the meantime, the Christians of Najran discussed amongst themselves, and they said, "You know, if he is a prophet and we do this curse, we shall be obliterated from the face of this earth. So let's not do it." So they said to the Prophet PBUH, "We decline the mubahala and accept the condition of jizya." So the Prophet PBUH put upon them a jizya that was reasonable: A certain amount of cloth and silver each year (cloth was a valuable commodity for the Arabs) — and he PBUH said, "For as long as Allah wills," i.e., it is not permanent. (Side note: And Umar RA of course during his reign told them to stop paying the jizya and leave for Rome. He wanted to make the Arabian Peninsula purely a Muslim region. And because of that, the entire region is a Muslim region; there are no indigenous people who are non-Muslim in the entire Arabian Peninsula. No doubt, there were small pockets of Jews here and there, but otherwise, the entire Arabian Peninsula was Muslim.)
And the people of Najran said, "Can you give us a judge to resolve our internal affairs? Because we see you to be honest people." This shows us they were having internal disputes amongst themselves and they wanted a neutral party to be some type of judge. So the Prophet PBUH sent Abu Ubaydah Amir ibn al-Jarrah RA for a while to Najran to be their judge.
مَا كَانَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ يَهُودِيًّا وَلَا نَصْرَانِيًّا وَلَٰكِن كَانَ حَنِيفًا مُّسْلِمًا وَمَا كَانَ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ
"Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but he was one inclining toward Truth, a Muslim [submitting to Allah]. And he was not of the polytheists" [Quran, 3:67].All of these verses came down during this incident. And in this Surah as well are the famous verses called Ayat al-Mubahala (أية المباهلة - the Verse of Mutual Cursing). Mubahala means you invoke the curse of Allah:
فَمَنْ حَاجَّكَ فِيهِ مِن بَعْدِ مَا جَاءَكَ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ فَقُلْ تَعَالَوْا نَدْعُ أَبْنَاءَنَا وَأَبْنَاءَكُمْ وَنِسَاءَنَا وَنِسَاءَكُمْ وَأَنفُسَنَا وَأَنفُسَكُمْ ثُمَّ نَبْتَهِلْ فَنَجْعَل لَّعْنَتَ اللَّهِ عَلَى الْكَاذِبِينَ
"Then whoever [still] argues with you about it after [this] knowledge has come to you, say, 'Come, let us call our sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves, then supplicate earnestly [together] and invoke the curse of Allah upon the liars [among us]'" [Quran, 3:61].This is the Verse of Mubahala. And it was revealed at the end of the second day after the back-and-forth. This shows us that mubahala is allowed on rare occasions, only once you get to the end of legitimate argumentation. There is no problem in saying, "Okay, khalas, if you are that sincere, let's do mubahala. Let's invoke God's curse upon the liars among us." Mubahala literally means "may Allah's curse be upon the party that is lying between the two of us." It's important to note, however, that this is not how you begin a dawah; it's how you end it IF you want to — it's an option that is there. And by the way, why do you call your children and wives, and *then* yourselves? Because it's much more painful to see Allah's curse upon your loved ones than upon yourself.
The next day, the Prophet PBUH readied his family: His daughter, her husband Ali, and their children Hasan and Husayn. (Tangent: Yes, this is Ahl al-Bayt, and we Sunnis affirm this. The Shias make a big deal out of this, but just because Ali RA was in this mubahala doesn't mean he was entitled to be the first khalifa.) So the Prophet PBUH got them ready for mubahala; and in the meantime, the Christians of Najran discussed amongst themselves, and they said, "You know, if he is a prophet and we do this curse, we shall be obliterated from the face of this earth. So let's not do it." So they said to the Prophet PBUH, "We decline the mubahala and accept the condition of jizya." So the Prophet PBUH put upon them a jizya that was reasonable: A certain amount of cloth and silver each year (cloth was a valuable commodity for the Arabs) — and he PBUH said, "For as long as Allah wills," i.e., it is not permanent. (Side note: And Umar RA of course during his reign told them to stop paying the jizya and leave for Rome. He wanted to make the Arabian Peninsula purely a Muslim region. And because of that, the entire region is a Muslim region; there are no indigenous people who are non-Muslim in the entire Arabian Peninsula. No doubt, there were small pockets of Jews here and there, but otherwise, the entire Arabian Peninsula was Muslim.)
And the people of Najran said, "Can you give us a judge to resolve our internal affairs? Because we see you to be honest people." This shows us they were having internal disputes amongst themselves and they wanted a neutral party to be some type of judge. So the Prophet PBUH sent Abu Ubaydah Amir ibn al-Jarrah RA for a while to Najran to be their judge.
The Leader Admitted That the Prophet PBUH Was a True Prophet;
but Still Knowingly Rejected Islam for Worldly Reasons
It's worth noting that out of the 60, it's mentioned that 24 of them were from the elite and noble. Of them, three were bishops. And one of them was a patriarch. Meaning there were some very senior officials. Al-Bayhaqi in his Dala'il al-Nubuwwah mentions that on their way back to Najran, the younger brother of one of the most senior members said something derogatory about the Prophet PBUH. So his older brother (one of the bishops/patriarch) said, "Do not curse him." The younger brother said, "Why?" The patriarch said, "Because he is the prophet [prophesied in our scripture]"—so he is admitting that the Prophet PBUH is the prophet. So the brother said, "Why didn't you accept him then?!" meaning, "I thought he was not — and that's why we are following you!" The patriarch said, "Do you wish to give up all of the honor, wealth, and ties that the (Roman) emperor has given us?" And so when the younger brother heard this, he was so shocked he defected, became a Muslim, and came back to Madinah.
Thus, the point is that the senior among them recognized that indeed the Prophet PBUH was the prophet that the Christians were waiting for; whereas most of them simply followed the senior. And subhan'Allah, this shows us the importance of the elite. The fact of the matter is that the bulk of mankind simply follows certain people — they look up to them. And that's why our Prophet PBUH emphasized reaching out to the higher-ranked people. If they convert, everyone below them will convert. And we have seen many such instances in the seerah. This is the sunnah of Allah amongst His creation.
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The Delegation of Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Aqil:
"Ya Rasulullah, Why Don't You Ask Your Lord to Give You a Kingdom Like That of Sulayman?"
There is a beautiful hadith — this is the delegation led by Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Aqil (عبد الرحمن بن أبي عقيل), one of the one-time sahaba. The only thing we know about him is this one hadith. He says, "I was one of those who went as a delegate to the Prophet PBUH. And when we asked permission to enter in upon him, there was no one in the world whom we despised more than the one we were forced to go and see." Meaning they hated the Prophet PBUH, but their tribe forced them to meet and negotiate. And he continues: "But when we ended up leaving, there was no one in the world more beloved to us than the one we were departing from." Subhan'Allah, look at the flip. Then he said, "One of our youngsters asked the Prophet PBUH, 'O Messenger of Allah, why don't you ask your Lord to give you a kingdom like that of Sulayman AS?'" The Prophet PBUH laughed and said, "Maybe your companion has been given a kingdom better than the kingdom of Sulayman." And he PBUH said, "Allah has never sent any prophet except that He has given him one request (i.e., given him one du'a that He will never reject). Some of those prophets asked for something of this world; some asked for punishments against their people; and as for me, Allah has given me a request that I have kept with myself between me and my Lord: It shall be my shafa'a (شفاعة - intercession) for my ummah on the Day of Judgment."
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Some Fabricated Ahadith Related to This Time Frame
We mentioned most of the interesting and important delegations over the past three episodes. Now, we also have to briefly mention some of the bizarre, fabricated, and weak narrations. Even though we don't do this for much of the seerah, sometimes we have to when such narrations are used to embarrass Muslims, or they are used by the unorthodox groups of Islam. These narrations come from the tertiary books of seerah; not the primary. Some of these books mention some very bizarre stories. We will mention them now because sometimes, they are mentioned in the extreme, mystical Sufi books, so it's important for us to be aware that these narrations are fabricated and not authentic.
i) One such story mentions that the great-grandson of Iblis came to accept Islam as one of the delegates. And it's said he repented and whatnot. This is of course not true.
ii) In al-Mustadrak of al-Hakim —which is a famous book of hadith but has many weak and fabricated narrations— it's reported that Prophet Ilyas (إلياس - Elijah) AS came as a delegate, and a table from heaven came down, and he had dinner with the Prophet PBUH. And then when the dinner was finished, Ilyas AS went back up to heaven. This is wallahi bizarre, strange, and clearly fabricated.
iii) We also find such narrations in al-Tabarani's al-Mu'jam al-Awsat, which is a book wherein al-Tabarani intended to compile the most bizarre ahadith, not the most authentic; and they also appear in al-Kamil fi Du'afa' al-Rijal (الكامل في ضعفاء الرجال) of Ibn Adi (ابن عدي), a book in which Ibn Adi purposefully compiled all the weak ahadith to make us aware of them. In one narration, it's said that a stranger came to the Masjid of the Prophet PBUH and made a beautiful du'a, "اللهم أعني على ما ينجيني مما خوفتني ... [and so on]"—which is very Sufistic language. And then allegedly, the Prophet PBUH smiled and said, "Why don't you add this to the du'a as well?" And there was a back-and-forth until finally, it was discovered that this person was apparently al-Khidr (الخضر).
Clearly, all of this is fabricated. No Ilyas, no Khidr, no Ibn Ibn Shaytan came.
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Lessons From the Episodes of the Year of Delegations
1. We see especially in the 9th year how quickly Islam spread amongst the tribes of Arabia. We have delegations coming from the north, from the south, and from the east — Yemen, Najran, Oman, Najd, etc. Without military campaigns, these small, independent tribes who realized they couldn't remain as they were, they too either embraced Islam or enacted a treaty to pay the jizya. Thus, this was the year that an Islamic State was consolidated. And this is the first time in human history the Arabian Peninsula was united by one political entity. Never before have all the Arab tribes consolidated under one rule. This shows us that the fruits of patience are always sweet. Allah fulfilled His promise to the Prophet PBUH. In Surah al-Nasr, Allah said:
إِذَا جَاءَ نَصْرُ اللَّهِ وَالْفَتْحُ
110:1. When Allah's [ultimate] help comes and the victory [over Makkah is achieved],
وَرَأَيْتَ النَّاسَ يَدْخُلُونَ فِي دِينِ اللَّهِ أَفْوَاجًا
110:2. and you [O Prophet] see the people embracing Allah's Way in crowds,
فَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ وَاسْتَغْفِرْهُ ۚ إِنَّهُ كَانَ تَوَّابًا
110:3. then glorify the praises of your Lord and seek His forgiveness, for certainly, He is ever Accepting of Repentance.2. It also shows us that even in the time of the Prophet PBUH, people had different levels of Iman. We (Muslims in our time) have this naive assumption that the sahaba were all like Abu Bakr and Umar. But this is not true. Rather, we see that there was an entire spectrum from people of weak Iman to people of strongest Iman who came just for the Prophet's PBUH du'a, wanting to study Islam, and asking fiqh and theology questions.
3. Many of us assume that Islam is so simple, clear, and easy that all we have to do is open our mouths and everybody will embrace it; and we forget that —yes, even though it's true that Islam is simple, clear, and easy, but— people's natures are stubborn. Here we have the Prophet Muhammad PBUH conversing with the Christians of Najran, yet many still sincerely thought Christianity was correct. Accepting a new religion is not an easy matter even if Islam is true. If the Prophet PBUH —and people are talking and seeing him directly— if they are not convinced immediately that he is the Messenger of Allah, then do you think you and I will be able to do a better job when we give dawah? Of course not. There will always be people who 'don't see': "They are [willfully] deaf, dumb, and blind, so they will never return [to the Right Path]" [see Quran, 2:18] — and that's between them and Allah. Therefore, this demonstrates for us that Truth might indeed be clear, but only for those who want to see it. If you cover your own eyes and you don't want to change your culture and religion, then even having the Prophet PBUH in front of you won't make you change your mind.
4. Also, we learn that the masjid can be used as a place of hospitality for non-Muslims (the tribe of Thaqif stayed inside the masjid), and it can even be used —as an occasional thing— as a place of worship by people that are not Muslim. Some Muslims in our time are ultra-strict in this regard and they don't want non-Muslims to even come to the masjid; but this kind of attitude and behavior is completely wrong and bizarre. Throughout the seerah, we see non-Muslims walk into the masjid. Here we have Christians praying in the holiest masjid in Madinah. The sahaba wanted to stop them, but the Prophet PBUH said, "Let them pray." Thus —no doubt, you don't make a regular prayer niche for them, but— if they are guests, we can let them pray. This shows us the true spirit of Islam, that we are tolerant. We don't believe any other religion to be true, but we won't force anybody to convert, and we will let them pray even in our own place of worship. This is wallahi the height of realistic pluralism.
Notes on pluralism: No doubt, to say "everyone is okay (i.e., all religions are correct)," is nonsensical, because each group believes in something the other group believes to be wrong; e.g., Christians say, "The only way to God the Father is through Jesus Christ," "Thus anyone who doesn't follow this can't get to God" — so it doesn't make sense for Christians to say to people of other faith that, "It's okay what you believe" — and that's why most Christians don't say that; and we as well say the same thing, that the only way to Allah is through Islam; but what does that mean? Do we force other people to convert? No. It's up to them. And so the Christians have their religion, we have our religion, and the Jews have their religion. Let them worship as they want to worship, and we dialogue. And that dialogue can be firm —it can even go as far as invoking mubahala— but we don't get physical with one another. We see this in how the Prophet PBUH dealt with the tribe of Najran — in the end, after everything, when they refused to accept Islam, what was done to them? Nothing. They went back with their treaty in peace. This is the height of tolerance. No other civilization in the world was this tolerant. Europe was an extremely intolerant place at that time amongst its own people. In any case, we learn from the Prophet PBUH that we must tolerate other faiths even if we don't agree with their theology.
5. We also see that when delegates come, it's the responsibility of the Muslim community to host them. The Prophet PBUH took charge of feeding the delegates. In fact, the books of seerah mention that certain houses were used to house them. Some of these people were pagans, some were Jews, some were Christians, some were Muslims — and all of them were taken care of by the Prophet PBUH. Thus, this shows us that guests are treated with utmost honor and hospitality even if they are non-Muslim. And yes, even in Makkah and Madinah, non-Muslims can come for a temporary period of time for a legitimate reason [see episode 89].
5. We also see that when delegates come, it's the responsibility of the Muslim community to host them. The Prophet PBUH took charge of feeding the delegates. In fact, the books of seerah mention that certain houses were used to house them. Some of these people were pagans, some were Jews, some were Christians, some were Muslims — and all of them were taken care of by the Prophet PBUH. Thus, this shows us that guests are treated with utmost honor and hospitality even if they are non-Muslim. And yes, even in Makkah and Madinah, non-Muslims can come for a temporary period of time for a legitimate reason [see episode 89].
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Q&A
1. The practice of mubahala is not encouraged amongst Muslims. It is not something that we should think about doing. But it is there if the need arises, as a last resort. Historically speaking, it is usually used as a threat rather than actually enacted.
2. Yes, the Christians of Najran were allowed to pray inside the masjid because they were Ahl al-Kitab. We tolerate with Ahl al-Kitab what we don't tolerate with paganism. Because overall, the God of the Christians and Jews is our God [see Quran, 29:46] even if their conception of God is different from ours.
[Transcribed by Br. Safwan Khan & Faizan]
safwan-khan@hotmail.com
[Revised by Br. Syed Haq & MAR, February 2022]
[Revised by Br. Syed Haq & MAR, February 2022]
