Seerah of Prophet Muhammad 94 - The Year of Delegations - Part 1 ~ Dr. Yasir Qadhi | 29th Oct 2014
Seerah of Prophet Muhammad 94 - The Year of Delegations - Part 1 ~ Dr. Yasir Qadhi | 29th Oct 2014\
We are in the 9th year of the Hijrah. And again we are coming to the end of the seerah - there isn't that much left to discuss.
Issues Pertaining to the Year of Delegations
The 9th year is actually called the Year of Delegations. There is however a number of issues when it comes to delegations.
1) Although we are discussing it now as is custom, the delegations did not occur just in the 9th year after Tabuk. Rather they actually began probably around the Battle of Ahzab in the 5th year right to the end of the Prophet's PBUH life. And there are plenty of delegations found in ibn Ishaq, ibn Hisham, al-Waqidi, etc. Some scholars have attempted to gather all of them together including ibn Kathir. Later scholars built on the classical books, and these days we have in depth dissertations on the delegations of the Prophet PBUH. An Indian scholar wrote a 250 page book on the delegations that has now become the standard reference for any and all delegations. So the delegations occurred over a long period but to pause every time and talk about a delegation would be repetitive. This is why scholars lump them all after Tabuk as we are doing now.
2) No standard book of tafsir lists the delegations because it simply gets boring. So what happens is that, this is where the seerah books simply gloss over the bulk of the delegations since it's not that relevant to us. So we will illustrate maybe 10 or 15 delegations which make up only 10% of the actual amount.
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Why is 9 AH Called the Year of Delegations?
So why is the 9th year called the Year of Delegations? Because the frequency of delegations reached its height. What is a delegation? It is when a tribe sends a representative to negotiate with the Prophet PBUH. Delegations doesn't mean they are embracing Islam. It simply means some negotiation - yes they might embrace Islam, but others might hesitate and wait. Some groups were hypocrites who were just pretending to embrace and as soon as the Prophet PBUH died, they left Islam. Then there were those who openly said, "We won't be Muslim but let's have a peace treaty." We also had another extreme of delegations of threat; an example is Musaylimah al-Kadhdhab (Musaylimah The Liar). He met the Prophet PBUH and he was the head of the delegation from his tribe in Yamama. He attempted to negotiate, "You have half the earth I'll take the other half." The point is the 9th year is the year in which delegations became so frequent the entire year is called the Year of Delegations. After the conquest of Makkah and especially after Tabuk, where the Muslims by default won since the other side didn't show up, it sealed the fate for the rest of the Arabs. Why? Because if there was any capital of Arabia it was Makkah. And if there was a primary tribe it was the Quraysh. So with Makkah and Quraysh conquered, there is no rallying force against the Muslims. The rest of the tribes know they cannot put up a fight. Of course they tried to in Ahzab and others under the Quraysh but that didn't work. So with the Conquest of Makkah, Hunayn, and Battle of Tabuk it's a done deal. Either the tribes embrace Islam or they make a peace treaty or they go into all out war as Musaylimah tried.
By the way at this stage you were allowed to be a pagan in Arabia - in the 6th, 7th, 8th year you were allowed via a peace treaty. But in the 9th year that's when the announcement came when the first verses of Surah al-Tawba were revealed and Allah says, "After four months you have to leave." The point is, in this year, because of the changes of the political landscape, the surrounding tribes had to embrace Islam or negotiate and that is why this year is called the Year of Delegations.
We will discuss around 15 delegations - ones which we can derive benefits from. We begin with the delegation of Abd al-Qays.
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The Tribe of Abd al-Qays:
"Tell Us Something That Will Cause Us to Enter Jannah"
The tribe of Abd al-Qays lived in the area of Bahrain - back then, Bahrain was not an island, it was the land close to the island we know now. Many of the people were Christian, some pagans, etc. so there was a mixture. The tribe of Abd al-Qays sent two delegations. The first was in the 5th year of the Hijrah, and this is considered to be perhaps the first ever delegation the Prophet PBUH received. Then the tribe sent a second delegation in the 9th year i.e. year of delegations. Why is this significant? It's said the tribe was the first tribe outside the Hejaz to accept Islam voluntarily. Therefore this is a great matter of pride for this tribe. A special significance for us is that, in the 5th year of the Hijrah, a tribe near the borders of Persia, they've heard of Islam. The message has reached them, they are interested and so they send representatives. So in the 5th year a small group converted to Islam and arrived in Madinah.
It's mentioned the Prophet PBUH was once giving the khutbah and predicted, "Soon a delegation will come to you, and they are the best people from the east." So in a day or two Umar RA was in the marketplace when he saw a group of delegates arrive as the Prophet PBUH predicted. He jumped up and rejoiced and said, "I give you the good news for the Prophet PBUH said you are the best people." And all of the delegates rushed to meet the Prophet PBUH except for the youngest among them, his nickname was 'al-Ashaj ibn al-Qays' (the wounded one) who is a famous sahabi.
As for al-Ashaj, he stayed behind, cleansed himself, took a bath, wore some good garments, put on perfume, and then went to meet the Prophet PBUH. In other words he took time to prepare himself and then came. And the Prophet PBUH says, "Ya Ashaj, you have two characteristics that Allah and His messenger love." al-Ashaj said what is that? And the Prophet PBUH replied, "You can control your temper (forbearance), and you don't act hastily (calm and collected)." this is a very famous hadith that occurred in this story in the 5th year. So al-Ashaj says, "These two characteristics, have I developed them or has Allah given them to me?" It's a very clever question. The Prophet PBUH said, "No Allah implanted them in you." This shows us that at some level there is an element beyond your control. Some people are short tempered, etc. So al-Ashaj very cleverly responded, "All praise be to Allah who has implanted in me characteristics that He loves." And al-Ashaj is a very famous sahabi because of this.
Then the delegates said, "Ya Rasulullah between us and you is the tribe of Mudar, a pagan tribe, and they are fighting us so we can only come to you in the sacred months (i.e. we won't be able to come for a year), so tell us something that will cause us to enter Jannah and we can teach our people when we go back." So clearly this is an intelligent tribe. This hadith is in Bukhari and Muslim so it is fully authentic, and it's a very famous hadith which has a lot of theological implications. The Prophet PBUH responded, "I command you to have Iman in Allah, and do you know what is Iman? That you say the shahada, pray the prayers, fast Ramadan and pay zakat." And he stopped there - he didn't mention Hajj because it's the 5th year of the Hijrah and there is no Hajj.
Why is this a theological hadith? Because he said, "Do you know what is Iman?" And then the Prophet PBUH listed the pillars of Islam. So he defined Iman with the same definition of Islam that is found in the hadith of Jibril AS. This is why the hadith is very deeply discussed, i.e. what is Iman, what is Islam and what is their relationship? The delegates also mentioned they live in a cold climate so they asked if they could drink alcohol. The Prophet PBUH forbade them from doing so, and he literally listed all the different types of alcohol one by one which are forbidden. It is said that, they were the first group to build a masjid outside the Hejaz, and they were the first to pray Jumu'ah.
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Banu Sa'd ibn Bakr, the Tribe of Halimah the Foster Mother of the Prophet PBUH:
The Genuineness of Dimam ibn Tha'laba
The second delegation is that of Banu Sa'd ibn Bakr. Halimah, the foster mother/carer of the Prophet PBUH when he was an infant, was from the tribe of Banu Sa'd. So this tribe as we discussed a while ago would come down to Makkah and take care of the children of Quraysh. And the Banu Sa'd is one of the subtribes of Hawazin which fought alongside the Quraysh at Ahzab. So the delegate sent at the time was not a Muslim. This tribe was meant to negotiate a treaty, and this took place before one of the most important delegations which was that of Ta'if (Thaqif tribe).
So before Thaqif this tribe comes, and negotiates a peace treaty. They send one of their elders Dimam ibn Tha'laba. Recall the main difference between Hawazin and Thaqif was that Thaqif were residents of Ta'if, but Hawazin lived around Ta'if. So they are Bedouins. This means in terms of their manners they were rough. So the Hawazin chieftain comes in, and he was a very hairy scruffy man with two ponytails. And this is common amongst the Bedouins that they had ponytails. So Ibn Tha'laba comes in, brings his camel all the way to the door of the masjid; then he barges in and says, "Where is the son of Abdul Muttalib." Subhan'Allah we see the wisdom of why Allah chose the Prophet PBUH to have the most prestigious lineage. This is a Bedouin, ignorant, crude and unlettered. Yet he knows Abdul Muttalib and he knows the man claiming to be a prophet is his grandson. So this no doubt has an impact on his thinking and embracing Islam. That, "If I will embrace a religion let it at least be from someone with lineage and prestige." If we go back to Hunayn what was the Prophet PBUH saying?, "I am the true Prophet, and I am the grandson of Abdul Muttalib." At that time that was the rallying call needed so the Prophet PBUH used it. In any case the Prophet PBUH said, "I am the son of Abdul Muttalib."
So Dimam points at the Prophet PBUH and says, "You are Muhammad?" And the Prophet PBUH said, "Yes I am Muhammad." So Dimam says, "I will ask you, and I will be very tough with you, so don't get angry with me." So the Prophet PBUH said, "Ask what you wish." So Dimam said, "Your envoy came to us, and he told us that Allah has sent you." So the Prophet PBUH said, "He has spoken the truth." So Dimam says, "Who created the heavens, skies and earth?" The Prophet PBUH said, "Allah." Then Dimam says, "So I ask you by the One who created the heavens, skies and earth, I ask you by Allah, are you swearing Allah has sent you to us?" So the Prophet PBUH said, "I swear by Allah I have been sent by him." So Dimam said, "Your envoy also said we have to pray 5x a day, so I ask you by the One who sent you, did Allah command us to pray 5x a day?" The Prophet PBUH said, "Yes." And then the series of questions go on about zakat, fasting and Hajj - note Hajj is mentioned because this is the 9th year of the Hijrah.
According to some narrations this is the same man who said, "Do I have to pray anything more than the fard 5 prayers?" And the Prophet PBUH said, "No unless you want to." So then he said, "Do I have to give one penny more than zakat - do I have to fast one day outside Ramadan?, etc." The Prophet PBUH said, "No unless you want to." So he finishes the whole hadith, then the Bedouin says, "I swear by the One who has sent you that I shall follow this and not increase or decrease one bit." The Prophet PBUH said, "If he is true then he shall enter Jannah" i.e. this is the bare minimum of Islam - if you do all this and avoid the major sins you have done your job.
It's said when Dimam returned back to his people, he was the one who started preaching to his people - he was so respected by his community that the same day he returned, the entire tribe converted to Islam. And the same day he returned he destroyed the idols in his town. And it's said no other delegate had as much impact as Dimam i.e. the entire tribe converted in one day. No doubt there is some type of barakah in this tribe because Halimah is from them.
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The Tribe of Muzayna:
Miracle in the House of Umar RA
Also there is an interesting miracle reported when the tribe of Muzayna came. The entire tribe came to embrace Islam. When they wanted to return home the Prophet PBUH said to Umar RA, "Ya Umar give them the food they need to return." So he needs to provide them with food to last for a few weeks. So Umar RA says, "Ya Rasulullah I only have one bag of dates at home." So the Prophet PBUH said again, "Ya Umar give them the food they need to return." So Umar RA said, "I will do that." So he goes back to his home, and lo and behold his entire room was full of dates to the ceiling. Subhan'Allah. The whole room was full of dates; and when he saw this he called the tribe and all 400 of them took and filled their sack of dates. The last one who exited said, "I looked back and the pile of dates was just as it was when we began taking our provisions from it."
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Banu Asad ibn Khuzaymah:
"They Think They Are Doing You a Favor; Rather, Allah Has Done Them a Favor"
Not all tribes ended so positively - some tribes had some issues even though they accepted Islam, in particular the Banu Asad ibn Khuzaymah. They were 10 people who entered loudly in the masjid, and they said, "O messenger of Allah we testify that we are Muslims, and we would like you to know that we have come to you without you sending anyone. And we've accepted Islam without you fighting us. So we aren't like the other Arabs. And we've traveled in the darkness and the cold in order to come to you." So they kept on bragging about what they have done. Allah revealed about this tribe:
يَمُنُّونَ عَلَيْكَ أَنْ أَسْلَمُوا ۖ قُل لَّا تَمُنُّوا عَلَيَّ إِسْلَامَكُم ۖ بَلِ اللَّهُ يَمُنُّ عَلَيْكُمْ أَنْ هَدَاكُمْ لِلْإِيمَانِ إِن كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ
"They think they have done you a favor by embracing Islam - NO, Allah has done them a favor." [see Qur'an, 49:17] And Allah says, 'If you are truly Muslims, you should be thankful Allah has made you Muslim.'
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Banu Amir ibn Sa'sa'ah, the Tribe Responsible for the Massacre of Bi'r Ma'una:
Attempt to Assassinate the Prophet PBUH & the Divine Punishment That Followed
Another interesting tribe was that of Banu Amir ibn Sa'sa'ah. This is the tribe that was responsible for the massacre of the well of Bi'r Ma'una. One of the main instigators, Amr ibn Tufayl, physically came to Madinah as a part of the delegates but he had no intention of embracing Islam. Then Ibn Tufayl said to his henchman, Arbad ibn Qays, that, "Let us get rid of his man." Note this is taking place probably in the 7th-8th year. Most likely this is taking place before the conquest of Makkah because once Makkah was conquered it's hopeless for any tribe to do anything against the Muslims. So this is a small assassination attempt.
Amr ibn Tufayl says, "I will distract him with a series of questions, and when I give you the signal, you pull out a dagger and stab him." Most likely it was a poisonous dagger. So when they came to the Prophet PBUH, Amr ibn Tufayl said, "Give us a private audience." And the Prophet PBUH said, "No, not until you embrace Islam." He tried asking again but the Prophet PBUH declined. When he realized it wasn't going to happen, he gave his henchman Arbad the secret signal. But Arbad did not do anything. The conversation continues but again Arbad does not do anything. The third time when Arbad doesn't do anything, Ibn Tufayl realizes it won't happen. So to conclude the discussion he tells the Prophet PBUH, "I give you three options (look at his arrogance here): If you want, you take charge of the people of the cities and I will take charge of the Bedouins," i.e. he wants to split leadership. "If not, then the second option, you make me the leader after you. If you don't do these, there will be an army against you from my side." Look at the arrogance of this man.
And so the Prophet PBUH refused to accept any of the conditions and he said, "Allah will stop you. 'O Allah, I put you in charge of being sufficient for me against Amr ibn Tufayl. O Allah, take care of him and guide his people.'" This was the prophetic methodology that even though the Prophet PBUH is asking Allah to take care of this man, he still wants guidance for his people.
After they left, Amr became furious with Arbad. He said, "What is wrong with you, you are considered to be the strongest amongst all the people." Arbad said, "Don't get angry, when I entered upon the Prophet PBUH it was my intention. But I could only see you and not him. Every time you are giving me the signal I could only see you!" So Allah directly protected the Prophet PBUH as He has done multiple times. Both of them suffered a very evil demise eventually. As for Amr ibn Tufayl, it's said on the way back to his tribe, he stopped at the house of a prostitute and spent the night there. In the middle of the night he was inflicted with a disease which spread throughout his body. When he realized he's about to die he says, "Amr ibn Tufayl will die in this house?!" So he mounted his horse and fled away in the darkness because he didn't want to die in such a location. So he literally fled and died at a random place. As for Arbad, he returns to his tribe and says something bad about Allah, that is not worth repeating. Lo and behold the next day he went out on his camel, and in front of his community lightning came from the heavens and consumed both him and his camel. It's said he is the reference in Surah al-Ra'ad verse 11-13:
لَهُ مُعَقِّبَاتٌ مِّن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ ۗ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِقَوْمٍ حَتَّىٰ يُغَيِّرُوا مَا بِأَنفُسِهِمْ ۗ وَإِذَا أَرَادَ اللَّهُ بِقَوْمٍ سُوءًا فَلَا مَرَدَّ لَهُ ۚ وَمَا لَهُم مِّن دُونِهِ مِن وَالٍ
13:11. For each one are successive [angels] before and behind him who protect him by the decree of Allah . Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves. And when Allah intends for a people ill, there is no repelling it. And there is not for them besides Him any patron.
هُوَ الَّذِي يُرِيكُمُ الْبَرْقَ خَوْفًا وَطَمَعًا وَيُنشِئُ السَّحَابَ الثِّقَالَ
13:12. It is He who shows you lightning, [causing] fear and aspiration, and generates the heavy clouds.
وَيُسَبِّحُ الرَّعْدُ بِحَمْدِهِ وَالْمَلَائِكَةُ مِنْ خِيفَتِهِ وَيُرْسِلُ الصَّوَاعِقَ فَيُصِيبُ بِهَا مَن يَشَاءُ وَهُمْ يُجَادِلُونَ فِي اللَّهِ وَهُوَ شَدِيدُ الْمِحَالِ
13:13. And the thunder exalts [Allah] with praise of Him - and the angels [as well] from fear of Him - and He sends thunderbolts and strikes therewith whom He wills while they dispute about Allah ; and He is severe in assault.
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The Tribe of Tamim al-Dari:
The Hadith of al-Dajjal
Another delegation is that of Tamim al-Dari, who was a Christian from a northern tribe. He came as a delegate embracing Islam. His story is narrated by Fatima bint Qays, who is one of the sahabiyat who immigrated to both Abyssinia and Madinah, so she completed both Hijrahs. Fatima narrates she was in her iddah when she heard a voice saying, "الصلاة جامعة (Come to the prayer)." And so she went to the masjid of the Prophet PBUH and she said, "I was in the women's row closest to the men." When the Prophet PBUH finished the prayer he went onto the mimbar and his face was smiling, beaming. He said, "Let every person stay in his place. Do you know why I've called you? By Allah I haven't called you for a lecture, rather I have called you to hear the story of Tamim ad Dari. He was a Christian and he has become a Muslim, and he has said something that agrees with what I have been telling you about the Dajjal."
So the hadith we will go into now is all about Dajjal. This entire story occurs in the 9th year. So the Prophet PBUH is telling the story that, "Tamim said he sailed in a ship with 30 men and they were tossed by the waves of the sea and were lost for a month. Until they crashed onto an island at sunset and they were in a small boat. They met a beast with a great amount of hair. And they became scared and said, 'Woe to you! What are you?' He said, 'I am the Jassasa (this is the name given to the creature of Dajjal).' Tamim said, 'What is the Jassasa?' The creature said, 'O people, come to the monastery where the man is waiting to meet you. I'm just a messenger.' Tamim said, 'When we heard there is a man with this creature as his messenger we became more terrified.'"
They then went to the monastery to find the man. Then the hadith said, "We found the biggest man we had ever seen, bound strongly in chains. With his hands tied to his neck; his legs bound from the knees to the ankles with iron shackles. And we said, 'Who are you?' So the giant man said, 'You will find out about me. Tell me who are you.' They said, 'We are people of Arabia who are stranded on this Island of yours and we took our smaller boats looking for food and water. We met this creature who brought us to you, and we are wondering are you a devil or a man?' So the man said, 'Tell me about the date palms of the trees of Baysan. I am asking you whether they are fruitful. They said, 'Yes.' He said, 'It's only a matter of time they will go barren and dry.'"
Then he said, 'Tell me about the lake of Tabariyyah - is there still water in the lake?' They said, 'Yes a lot of water.' He said, 'Soon it will dry up.' Then he said, 'Tell me about the spring of Zughar is there still water there and do the people grow crops with that water?' They said, 'Yes.' Then he said, 'Tell me about the unlettered prophet and what he has done.' Tamim replied, 'He has left Makkah and settled in Yathrib.' So this entity said, 'Have the Arabs fought against him?' They said, 'Yes.' He said, 'What was the verdict?' They said, 'We are told he prevailed over the Arabs in his vicinity and they've all shown obedience to him.' So this entity said, 'Has it really happened?' They said, 'Yes.' Then the entity said, 'If it is so, then it is better for them to show obedience to him. Now I will tell you about myself. I am the Dajjal. And soon Allah will give me permission to emerge. I will come travelling in the lands, I will not spare any town. I will stay in every town for 40 nights except for Makkah and Tayyibah (Madinah). On every road into these cities there will be angels guarding it." This is the story of Tamim.
The Prophet PBUH then goes on. Fatima says the Prophet PBUH was standing on the mimbar with his staff and he began hitting the pulpit saying, "This is Tayyibah, this is Tayyibah, this is Tayyibah. Didn't I tell you about this before?" The people said, "Yes." The Prophet PBUH said, "This is why I like this story about Tamim because it proves what I told you about Makkah, Madinah and Dajjal. But he (Dajjal) is in the east, east and east." Fatima narrates she memorized this hadith from the Prophet PBUH.
Now this hadith is narrated in Sahih Muslim, and this is why it has caused many issues. The fact is this hadith is unique in its narration of a number of things. Firstly the Jassasa, secondly the Dajjal is alive right now chained to some wall on some island. Frankly, no one has really resolved this with other traditions that seem to suggest that Dajjal will be born at a future date. This is why some scholars have cast doubts on his hadith even if it is in Sahih Muslim. One such scholar is ibn Uthaymeen. Ibn Uthaymeen says this hadith seems to contradict other ahadith, for example, one hadith it is narrated the Prophet PBUH came out one night and said, "Every single person who is alive today on this earth will be dead in 100 years." The sheikh says, "How then can the Dajjal be one an island somewhere?" Further there are other issues, that the Dajjal is reported to be a short, stocky man. Whereas this hadith mentions he is a giant. It's also mentioned in other narrations that the Dajjal will be born to a couple who was waiting for a child for a long time but it didn't happen.
Also Dajjal has kafir written on the forehead but Tamim doesn't mention this. And the single most characteristic of Dajjal is his one eye, but Tamim has nothing about this at all. Based on this, a minority of scholars have said something doesn't seem right about this hadith.
The students of ibn Uthaymeen weren't happy about this because it is in Sahih Muslim. By the way, note that Bukhari is a whole another level above Sahih Muslim. The fact that Bukhari doesn't have this hadith means Bukhari himself didn't like the hadith to his standards.
Another very interesting thing that doesn't make sense is the very famous controversy of Ibn Sayyad. He was a magician from a Jewish tribe from Madinah. At one point, even the Prophet PBUH was unsure whether this person was the Dajjal or not, to the extent the Prophet PBUH went to quiz and test him. Umar RA until his death would swore Ibn Sayyad is the Dajjal. Yet if the hadith of Fatima is true, why is Umar worried about this man? The point is this one hadith gives us details that seem to conflict with the entire narrative of Dajjal. Thus some scholars have rejected the hadith. Note though hadiths are not judged based on out intellect or feelings. If it doesn't make sense to us, that is not a legitimate reason to reject it. However, with this hadith, it appears the Quran and Sunnah's narrative of the Dajjal is clearly constructed but this one hadith throws a spanner in the entire narrative.
The chain of the hadith is al-Sha'bi from Fatima. And al-Sha'bi was a tabi'un who was known to take a lot from storytellers, so there is a weakness in the chain. If however the hadith is authentic then we believe it. In the opinion of Sheikh Yasir Qadhi, something doesn't seem right about it.