Seerah of Prophet Muhammad 96 - The Year of Delegations - Part 3 ~ Dr. Yasir Qadhi | 12th Nov 2014
Seerah of Prophet Muhammad 96 - The Year of Delegations - Part 3 ~ Dr. Yasir Qadhi | 12th Nov 2014
Today is the third and final installment on 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'll mention the most important delegations and finish it off. But be aware the books of seerah have mentioned a list of over 110 delegations by name; the bulk of them we don't know any of them other than just their name. The more interesting ones we've mentioned.
Banu Hanifa, the Tribe of Musaylimah:
Musaylimah the False Prophet
We begin with one of the more bizarre one - the delegation from Banu Hanifa. The leader was Musaylimah al-Kadhdhab. His name is actually Musaylimah al-Habib. 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 and he knew Latin. He also took on the culture of the Romans. So his people gave him a lot of respect and he would rise in power. By the time Islam came, he was someone who had the respect of his entire tribe and also the region of Yamama (north Arabia). His arrogance got the better of him - after being respected for so long, he couldn't imagine giving that up and becoming a servant to another person. So when the delegation arrived and recall the purpose of the delegation was to negotiate, the Banu Hanifa didn't plan to submit. Note the Banu Hanifa was the largest, worst and most problematic tribe in the time of Abu Bakr RA during the Battles of Ridda.
Musaylimah saw his tribe split due to Islam. One of the nobleman of his tribe converted along with his followers; Thumamah ibn Uthal. The one who was tied to the masjid for three days. When the Prophet PBUH asked him, "What will you do?" And he said, "If you will kill me, you will kill someone whose blood is weighty. If you let me go, you'll forgive someone who is good. And if you want money, you are asking the one who has plenty." So three options: Kill me, free me or ransom me. After the three days the Prophet PBUH just let him go - but during those days Thumamah saw Islam, salah, Qur'an so he embraced Islam. And he went to Makkah and said, "I'll never allow wheat or other goods to the Quraysh unless the Prophet PBUH allows me."
Thumamah is from the same tribe as Musaylimah. Therefore, the tribe of the Banu Hanifa, some of them are converting; others remained on their religion. So Musaylimah said to his people, "If the Prophet PBUH gives me power after his death, then I'll follow him. And he must share with me in prophethood like Musa AS shared with his brother Harun." The books of seerah mentioned his followers brought him into the masjid and they were shielding him with fancy clothes i.e. they are decorating him like a king. So already Musaylimah is being treated with such reverence; clearly it's gone to his head. And he thought he was much more than he was. Because of this he could never imagine giving up this power. So even before he declared himself to be a false prophet he thought this in his mind. So he had the audacity to claim prophethood, and the Prophet PBUH predicted that, "After my death you shall see 30 dajjals that are liars." The first was Musaylimah who said to the face of the Prophet PBUH, "Make me in charge after you and share with me in your prophethood."
The Prophet PBUH was amongst the sahaba and he had in his hand a tree branch. And he said to Musaylimah, "Wallahi if you asked me for this stick I wouldn't even give this to you, and Allah will deal with you and humiliate you. And you are the fulfillment of that prophecy (dream) that Allah warned me about." Ibn Abbas asked Abu Hurairah several years later, "What was that dream the Prophet PBUH talked about?" Note, Ibn Abbas is just 12 years old. His knowledge came after the death of the Prophet PBUH. So 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 is haram). And I felt disturbed at this. So it was inspired to me to blow on them. And they broke off and departed. So I interpreted them to be two false liars after me. And the first of them will be from the tribe of Anas (Talha) and the second will be Musaylimah from al-Yamama."
And Musaylimah's story is well known. He wrote a letter to the Prophet PBUH. And look at the arrogance. He said, "From Musaylimah, the prophet of God to Muhammad. Peace be on you. Know I have been placed in this matter alongside you. And the Quraysh have half, and I have the other half. But the Quraysh are a people who go beyond transgression." Look at the ridiculousness. Two people came to deliver this letter to the Prophet and he asked them, "What do you think about Musaylimah?" They said, "We are upon the letter." So the Prophet PBUH said, "Were it not for the fact that envoys are not harmed, I would have executed you." This is pure kufr. There are two types of kufr: Normal kufr of being a kafir, then the kufr of ridda, i.e. kufr going beyond the line such as claiming to be a false prophet. So the Prophet PBUH said, "Were it not for the fact you are envoys I would have killed you."
Subhan'Allah. To this day everyone gives 'diplomatic immunity' i.e. you can't kill a messenger. Musaylimah was the first human ever not only to declare prophethood but to attempt to imitate the Quranic style. That's a whole different topic altogether. He had ridiculous statements that he considered to be the Qur'an. And everything he narrates, he tried to copy the language the Qur'an. One such example is he tried to copy Surah al-Kawthar by changing certain words. One of his most famous (and ridiculous) ones narrated in all seerah books is: "O toad, daughter of two toads." Talking about a frog. "Continue to purify... and so on." This was a myth that they believed toads purified the water. And so on. He called it 'the Chapter of the Frog.' He also had the most bizarre Surah, the Surah of the Fil. It goes on and on in a frankly silly manner.
It's narrated that one of the Arabs passing by asked Musaylimah, "Are you also a prophet? Do you have anything the other prophet has?" So Musaylimah said yes, "I have the Qur'an listen to this." And he recited his own Surah al-Fil. So this Arab said, "Wallahi you know that I know you are a liar." This is a testimony of someone not even a Muslim. In any case Musaylimah was eventually killed in the Wars of Ridda by none other than Wahshi, because he wanted to atone for killing Hamzah RA. So he took the same javelin and executed Musaylimah al-Kadhdhab, Musaylimah the Liar.
Notice up until the coming of the Prophet PBUH the entire Arab world had never heard of someone being a prophet. It was completely unknown to the Arabs; 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 of someone claiming to be a prophet?" And Abu Sufyan said, "No." And the Qur'an says, "They ask you what is a prophet?" So the concept of a prophet was not known; however, with the coming of the Prophet PBUH and his success, all of 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: From one of the tribes of Azd. And this was a miracle that happened. The tribe of Azd (which became Muslim) was one of the large tribes of Yemen; and it's reported a delegate came to accept Islam, so the Prophet PBUH put in charge of them a sahabi called al-Surad ibn Abdillah al-Azdi. And he gave him the task of conquering a neighboring tribe that was still pagan called the tribe of Jurash. It so happened the tribe of Jurash (the pagan tribe) sent two envoys to Madinah to gauge the pulse of the Prophet PBUH and see whether he would accept a truce or not. In the meantime when the envoys are on the way, the Prophet PBUH has already told the tribe of Azd to attack the tribe of Jurash. So when the two envoys arrive to Madinah, it so happened that the day they arrived, Surad, the Muslim commander had attacked the tribe of Jurash. Of course the envoys do not know this [note Surad had put the tribe under siege first, and the siege broke, etc. so Surad was winning over the tribe of Jurash]. The Prophet PBUH asked these two envoys, "Which tribe are you from?" as 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," - they didn't understand this reference. So Abu Bakr and Uthman told them, "Woe to you! Don't you realize he is saying your tribe is being massacred; your only hope is to beg him to ask Allah to save the tribe of Jurash." 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 the same day they were in Madinah, the tribe of Azd had overcome the tribe of Jurash. And there was about to be a massacre/winning over 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 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. Spending time to memorize Qur'an, learn fiqh, and ask some very interesting questions. Perhaps the most interesting question that was ever asked was asked from the tribe of the Himyar, from Yemen. It's a very famous hadith narrated in Bukhari and Muslim that's generated a lot of commentary in the books of theology. This is the hadith of Imran ibn Hussayn who said, "When I was sitting in the masjid a delegation came, firstly from Najd which is up north (Banu Tamim), and they came announcing Islam, so the Prophet PBUH said, 'I give you good news, O people of Tamim (meaning Jannah).'" The people from up north were considered to be crude and harsh Bedouins. The people within the Hejaz were more cultivated and civilized; but the people up north were more Bedouins (this is where most of the Ahzab army came from and other problems). So when the Prophet PBUH said, "Good news rejoice!" they understood 'good news means you are giving us something good i.e. money.' So they said to the Prophet PBUH, "You are giving us good news so give us money." Their limited minds only understood good news to be money. So the Prophet PBUH was silent which shows us his adab - when someone misunderstands you just ignore them. 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've come all the way from Yemen asking you about the creation, and how did Allah create it and how did it all begin?"
Subhan'Allah this is a very deep theological question. They want to ask the greatest questions imaginable: The creation of time itself. Imran ibn Hussayn is narrating this hadith, and he said 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 earth are not the only creations of Allah. There are things before the creation of this world i.e. his throne. And this is the point ibn Taymiyyah and others have made. This hadith is one of the main evidences used. Then Imran ibn Hussayn says, "As I was sitting there, someone yelled out, 'O Imran, your camel has fled.'" So Imran rushed out and said, "I saw my camel fleeing so I ran after it. Neither did I get the camel, nor did I catch the hadith. How I wish 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 is a Madani and 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
Other delegations came from Yemen, and so many hadith praise the people of Yemen. In Sahih Muslim the Prophet PBUH said, "The people of Yemen have come to you; they have the best of souls and softest of hearts." Then he said the famous hadith that, "Faith is Yemeni and wisdom is Yemeni." Also in Bukhari the Prophet PBUH said, "O Allah, bless us in our Sham and in our Yemen." When he said this neither Sham nor Yemen was under Muslim control. The fact that he says, 'OUR,' means that these are the places of Islam. A man said, "How about Najd, O Messenger of Allah?" The scholars differ if this Najd is referencing central Arabia or Iraq (stronger opinion). And the Prophet PBUH repeated Sham and Yemen. The man asked again. So the Prophet PBUH repeated Sham and Yemen. For the third time this happened. And then the Prophet PBUH pointed to Najd and said from there comes fitna and problems, trials and tribulations will come from there.
Of course, 'Sham' includes Syria and Palestine and so we see these lands are blessed by Allah. In another hadith the Prophet PBUH also said, "I'll be the one in charge of my fountain, and I'll be the one to make sure people make space for the people of Yemen, and I'll beat 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. The number of ahadith about the people of Yemen is indeed many. Yemen also includes the Ansar. Where did they come from? The Aws and Khazraj go back to Yemen - so all the praise of Yemen is the praise of Ansar, along with anyone who converted from Yemen. Ibn Taymiyyah said the people of Yemen were the ones who were at the forefront fighting in the Battle of Ridda, and they opened so many lands. Through them Allah brought about much good for the believers.
Note Yemen was separated from Arabia in many ways. Firstly it was a majority of Christian and many Jews were there. Some of the largest concentration 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, Yemen typically had more Christian and Jews, not pagans. This was different to all 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 is walking with Mu'adh ibn Jabal and he accompanied him all the way. Mu'adh was on the animal and the Prophet PBUH is the one walking. This is a great honor for Mu'adh. And he gives him a lot of advice, and tells him, "You will go to a group; they are people of the book, make sure you call them to tawhid. If they listen, tell them to pray, if they pray tell them to give zakat, etc." Also in the end he said, "Ya Mu'adh it is possible I won't see you after this." And this was the farewell to Mu'adh ibn Jabal.
Note this took place after the Hajj of Abu Bakr in the 9th year of the Hijrah, so not now but a few months from now. After Abu Bakr returns, a few months later the Prophet PBUH sends Mu'adh to Yemen. And 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's one of the reasons why the Prophet PBUH said, "They have the best of hearts and softest of hearts."
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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 he sent Mu'adh ibn Jabal, the last piece of advice he gave him is, "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 right for them. Don't make it difficult and turn them away. It's sad to say so many ulama 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 a certain advice. Here is Mu'adh ibn Jabal being sent yet the Prophet PBUH told him to take it easy.
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Other Interesting Ahadith Narrated From One-Time Sahaba
One of the very interesting things about all these small delegations, we see so many things about fiqh and aqidah narrated from people who are not famous sahabi at all. Rather they are one-time sahabi, i.e. the delegates. Some of the standard hadith about fiqh and theology are from these people, which shows they came to study Islam. So when they go back and narrate to their own people, their hadith become the hadith of fiqh we use today.
1. The Hadith of Awrah
One of the famous hadith is narrated by someone from Yemen by the name of Muawiyah ibn Haidha, that he asked the Prophet PBUH, "What is allowed to show of our awrah? What are we not allowed to show?" This is the famous hadith of awrah and there's only one hadith explicit about the awrah. It's narrated by someone who only saw the Prophet PBUH once in his whole life, 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.
We also learn that many of them came just to get the du'a of the Prophet PBUH. So we have delegates who were murtads such as Musaylimah, and we have delegates who were non-Muslims who just wanted peace treaties. We have delegates who are hypocrites; and we have delegates whose Iman is weak. Then we have delegates whose Iman is so strong the only reason they came is because they want du'a from the Prophet PBUH, which is a beautiful reason.
2. Nobody Is Perfect, but Come as Close as You Can to Become Perfect
In this we have one narration from the tribe of the Banu Kulf, that al-Hakam al-Hazn, 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've come to you so that you may pray for us.' 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 holding up a stick. And I remember one phrase in the khutbah that, 'O people..." Remember this is the Year of Delegations - every Jumu'ah has total strangers, new to Islam. So the sahabi said he remembered one phrase that the Prophet PBUH said, "O people, do what you can, and know that you will never be able to do everything you've been commanded to do." This original hadith is in Bukhari. That the Prophet PBUH said, "You will never be able to do everything commanded." Meaning, you won't be perfect. You will make mistakes and sin. The Prophet PBUH continued, "But rather cover up and come closer." That is, fill in the gaps. And he said, "Come as close as you can to what you're supposed to do." This is a beautiful hadith narrated by many sahaba.
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The Delegation of the Christians of Najran:
Revelation of the Beginning of Surah Ali-Imran incl. the Verse of Mubahala
The final incident is probably one of the more interesting ones. The delegation 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 addressing them in, "The name of the God of Abraham, Ishaq and Ya'qub." And he invited them to Islam and said, "If you accept it's better for you, otherwise pay the jizya, and if you refuse then we must fight." 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 it's not him?" 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 Ismail. 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 isn't 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 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 second to gauge the reality of the situation.
So Ibn Ishaq and others mention when they entered in upon the Prophet PBUH they were all dressed in a unique garment. These are not the pagans of Arabia; they have a civilization similar to the Romans. So they are dressed accordingly. When they came in the sahaba said, "We've 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." Facing east means they are not facing the qibla, but they were facing the left of the modern masjid. So they all turned towards one of the walls and said their prayer in the masjid of the Prophet PBUH. This is of course a very interesting point. And the sahaba said when they had finished their prayer, discussions and dialogue began for 3-4 days.
On the first day they asked many questions about Isa ibn Maryam. Eventually they asked the Prophet PBUH a question that, "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. Let Allah answer you." So the next day they came and Allah revealed the first 60 verses of Ali-Imran. Note the middle of Ali-Imran was revealed at Uhud, but the beginning was revealed right now in the 9th year. They were asking about the father of Jesus, but who is the father of Adam AS? In Surah Ali-Imran:
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." [3:59]
Meaning Allah simply says, 'Be,' and he became. Isa AS 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. Allah revealed:
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." [3:67]
And in this surah are the famous verses called 'the verse of mutual cursing.' Allah says:
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 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]."" [3:61]
This was the Verse of Mubahala - this was a very big deal, and this shows us mubahala is allowed in rare occasions, only once you get to the end of legitimate argumentation. There's no problem in saying, "Okay khalas if you are that sincere, let's do mubahala." And mubahala literally means 'may Allah curse be upon the party that is lying between the two of us.' This is not how you begin dawah, it's how you end it. And why do you call your children and wives, and then ourselves? Because it's much more painful so Allah's punishment on them, then on ourselves.
The next day the Prophet PBUH readied his family, his daughters, Hassan and Husayn and others - yes this is Ahl al-Bayt. The Shias make this a big deal, but what's the problem? This is his family. It doesn't mean Ali RA was entitled to be the next khalifa just because he was in this mubahala. Yes it's Ahl al-Bayt, of course it is. So the Prophet PBUH got them ready for mubahala; 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." So the next day they said, "We decline the mubahala and accept the jizya unconditionally." So the Prophet PBUH put upon them a jizya which was reasonable; a certain amount of cloth and silver each year. Cloth was a very expensive commodity for the Arabs. And he said, "For as long as Allah wills" i.e. it is not permanent. Umar RA of course during his reign told them to stop paying the jizya and leave the Arabia entirely. And because of that there are no indigenous non-Muslims in the entire Arabian lands. Indeed 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." So the Prophet PBUH sent Abu Ubaydah Amir ibn al-Jarrah as a judge.
The Leader Admitted That the Prophet PBUH Is a True Prophet,
but Still Knowingly Rejected Islam for Worldly Reason
Note out of the 60 it's mentioned 24 of them were from the elite and noble. Of them were three who were bishops. Of them was one who was a patriarch. Meaning there were some very senior officials. Al-Bayhaqi in his Dala'il al-Nubuwwah mentions that on the way back, the younger brother of one of the most senior members said something derogatory about the Prophet PBUH. But his older brother (one of the bishops/patriarch) said, "Don't curse him; because he is the (true) prophet." So he is admitting the Prophet PBUH is the prophet. So the brother said, "Why didn't you accept him then?!" The patriarch said, "Do you wish to give up all of the wealth and ties 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 the senior among them recognized that indeed this was the prophet they were waiting for. This shows us the bulk of mankind simply follows certain people. That's why the Prophet PBUH emphasizes reaching out to the higher ranked people. If they convert everyone below them will convert. 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?"
Some of these delegations were wondering, "Should we convert or not?" There's a beautiful hadith - this is the delegation led by Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Aqil, one of the one-time sahaba and again the only thing we know about him is this one hadith. Remember, if you're a part of the delegates it means you only saw the Prophet PBUH once; so they're not of the level of the Badriyun, or sahaba at Hudaybiyyah, etc. The delegates are still sahabi and are still respected, but can't be compared to the elite sahaba that fought in battles and lived with the Prophet PBUH.
One such sahaba is Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Aqil. 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." So subhan'Allah look at how it flipped. This is understandable: Some people are coming thinking they will be humiliated that their tribe has to give up their freedom, religion and accept a new faith. They're angry and hurt and are treating the Prophet PBUH as a conqueror. But then when they see and speak with him, he becomes the most beloved to them.
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?'" So the Prophet PBUH laughed and said, "Maybe your companion has been given a kingdom better than the kingdom of Sulayman." And, "Allah has never sent any prophet except that he has given him one request. Some of those prophets asked of something from this world. Some asked for punishments against their people. As for me, Allah has given me a request that I've kept with myself between me and my Lord. It shall be my shafa'ah for my ummah on the Day of Judgement." So he has the better kingdom because his entire ummah will enter Jannah, insha'Allah.
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Some of the Fabricated Ahadith Related to This Time Frame
Note we mentioned all the important delegations over the past three episodes. However we will also briefly mention bizarre, fabricated and weak narrations. We do this when such narrations are used to embarrass Muslims, or they are used by the unorthodox sects of Islam. These come from the tertiary books of seerah: Not the primary. Some of these books mention some very bizarre stories. We'll mention them now; they are NOT authentic. But we will mention them because sometimes they are mentioned in the extreme Sufi books and so it's important to be aware these are fabricated and not authentic.
One such story is that the great grandson of Iblis came to accept Islam. And he repented and what not, etc. This is of course not true. In al-Mustadrak of al-Hakim which is a famous book of hadith but has many fabrications, it's reported that Ilyas AS the prophet 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 when back up to heaven. This is wallahi bizarre, strange, and clearly fabricated. We also find such narrations in Tabarani's Kitab al-Awsat, which is a book wherein Tabarani intended to compile the most bizarre hadith, not the most authentic. Rather the most obscure and strange hadith. Also they appear in the Kamil of Ibn Adi - a book in which Ibn Adi purposefully compiled all the weak ahadith. Therefore if you read a book relating hadith from the Kamil of Ibn Adi, you wonder what the person is doing when he's narrating a hadith from a book whose known to collect fabricated hadith. That is, the purpose of Ibn Adi's book was to collect fabricated hadith to make us aware of them. But then when authors quote from it as if it's from Bukhari, there are clearly problems. In one narration it's said a stranger came to the masjid of the Prophet PBUH and made a Sufistic du'a. And the Prophet PBUH smiled and said, "Why don't you add this to the du'a?" And there's a back and forth until finally it's discovered this person is apparently Khidr. Clearly all of this is fabrication. 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. So from Yemen, Najran, Oman, Najd, etc. Thus this was the year that, without military campaigns, these are small independent tribes who realize they can't remain as they are. They too either embrace or enact a treaty to pay the jizya. Thus an Islamic State is consolidated; this is the first time in human history the Arabian world was united by one political entity. Never before have all the Arab tribes consolidated under one rule. This shows us the fruits of patience are always sweet. And Allah fulfilled his promise to the Prophet PBUH. In Surah al-Nasr Allah said:
إِذَا جَاءَ نَصْرُ اللَّهِ وَالْفَتْحُ
110:1. When the victory of Allah has come and the conquest,
وَرَأَيْتَ النَّاسَ يَدْخُلُونَ فِي دِينِ اللَّهِ أَفْوَاجًا
110:2. And you see the people entering into the religion of Allah in multitudes,
فَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ وَاسْتَغْفِرْهُ ۚ إِنَّهُ كَانَ تَوَّابًا
110:3. Then exalt [Him] with praise of your Lord and ask forgiveness of Him. Indeed, He is ever Accepting of repentance.
2. It also shows us, even in the time of the Prophet PBUH, people had different levels of Iman. We have this naive assumption everyone was like Abu Bakr or Umar. Rather, we see hypocrites, pagans, people of weak Iman, people of strongest Iman who came all the way just for a du'a. We see people wanting to study Islam, asking fiqh and theology questions. So the entire spectrum is there. Of the most amazing things, many of us assume Islam is so simple, clear and easy that all we have to do is speak and people will embrace. However, we forget that peoples natures are stubborn. Here we have the Prophet PBUH conversing with the Christians of Najran yet many still thought Christianity is correct. The point is, accepting a new religion is not an easy matter. 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's always people who are 'deaf and blind.' This demonstrates 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.
3. 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 can be used as a place of worship for people that are not Muslim as an occasional thing. People who are ultra strict who don't want non-Muslims to even come to the masjid, this kind of attitude and behavior is completely wrong and bizarre. Throughout the seerah non-Muslims walk into the masjid. Here we have Christians praying in the holiest masjids in Madinah. The sahaba want to stop them, the Prophet PBUH says, "Let them pray." Thus no doubt you don't make a regular prayer time for them, but if they are guests then it's fine. 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 Islam and will let them pray even in our own masjids. This is wallahi the height of realistic pluralism.
To say, "Everyone is okay (i.e. all religions are correct)," is nonsensical because each group believes the other is wrong. E.g. Christians say, "The only way to God is through Jesus," "Thus anyone who doesn't follow this can't get to God." We as well say the only way to Allah is through Islam. Yet what does that mean? It's up to everyone else; We dialogue; and that dialogue must be firm, and can even go as far as invoking Allah's curse (mubahala), but we don't get physical with them. 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, up until 'secularism' which rejected religion as a whole. Of course Europe was extremely intolerant at that time. In any case we learn from the Prophet PBUH we must tolerate other faiths.
4. We also see when delegates come, it's the responsibility of the Muslim community to host them. The Prophet PBUH took charge of feeding them. In fact the books of seerah mention certain houses were used to house them. And these are pagans, Jews, Christians, etc. All of them were taken care of by the Prophet PBUH. Thus guests are treated with utmost honor and hospitality. Even in Makkah and Madinah non-Muslims can come for a temporary period in time. This is the majority position; some say it's haram for any non-Muslim to come completely. No - it's haram for them to live in Makkah and Madinah. But not haram to come for a period of time for a greater community good. For example, when the masjid of the Prophet PBUH was being built, there were Germans building the masjid. Why? Because they were experts in that field. You need the technology. What did you expect other than the technicians to come and build it themselves. The point is that, nothing is wrong with this. So here we have the permissibility even in Makkah and Madinah of non-Muslims entering for a small period of time.
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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 Qur'an, 29:46], even if their conception of God is different from ours.