Part of Treasures of the Prophetic Biography (series completed)
· Lesson 49 of 58
Treasures of biography | Sheikh Othman Al-Khamis | Episode (49) | The continued flow of delegations to the city
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Transcript
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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
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Treasures of the Prophetic Biography.
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Truly, in eloquent speech there is magic.
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Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) narrated:
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There sat in the company of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
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Qays ibn 'Asim,
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Al-Zibriqan ibn Badr,
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and 'Amr ibn al-Ahtam.
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[Al-Zibriqan praised himself, saying:] "I am obeyed among them, my requests are answered,
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I am the strongest in defending them against injustice,
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and I secure their rights for them."
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"And this man knows it,"
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referring to 'Amr ibn al-Ahtam.
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Thereupon, 'Amr ibn al-Ahtam said:
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"He is indeed a man of sharp speech,
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fiercely protective of his side,
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and obeyed among his immediate kin."
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Al-Zibriqan remarked:
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"By Allah, O Messenger of Allah!
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He knows things about me other than what he has said,
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and nothing prevented him from speaking
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except sheer envy!"
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'Amr ibn al-Ahtam retorted:
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"I envy you?!
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By Allah, you are a man of ignoble maternal uncles,
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a paltry wealth,
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a foolish father,
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and a worthless outcast among your clan!
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By Allah, O Messenger of Allah,
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I spoke the truth in what I said first,
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and I did not lie in what I said last!
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But I am a man who,
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when pleased, says the best of what he knows,
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and when angered, says the worst of what he finds."
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"Yet I spoke the truth in both the former and the latter statement!"
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The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) then said:
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"Truly, in eloquent speech there is magic."
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Treasures of the Prophetic Biography.
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The Delegation of Banu 'Amir
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and their attempted assassination of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
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Among them were 'Amir ibn al-Tufayl,
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Arbad ibn Qays,
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and Jabbar ibn Salama.
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These men were the leaders of the tribe
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and their evil ringleaders.
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The enemy of Allah, 'Amir ibn al-Tufayl, advanced
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toward the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
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intending to act treacherously against him.
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His people had said to him:
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"O 'Amir!
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Indeed, the people have accepted Islam."
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He replied:
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"By Allah, I swore an oath
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that I would not stop until the Arabs follow in my footsteps;
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shall I then follow in the footsteps of this youth from Quraysh?!"
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Then he said to Arbad:
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"When we reach the man,
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I will distract his attention from you;
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so when I do that,
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strike him with your sword!"
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When they came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him),
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'Amir said:
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"O Muhammad,
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grant me a private audience."
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Meaning: "I want to speak with you alone."
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The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) replied:
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"No, by Allah,
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not until you believe in Allah alone."
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He said: "O Muhammad,
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grant me a private audience!"
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He replied:
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"Not until you believe in Allah alone, without any partner."
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When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) refused his request,
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'Amir said to him:
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"By Allah, I will surely fill the land against you with horses and foot soldiers!"
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As 'Amir turned and walked away,
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the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) prayed:
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"O Allah, protect me against 'Amir ibn al-Tufayl as You will."
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When they left the presence of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him),
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'Amir said to Arbad:
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"Woe to you, O Arbad!
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Where was that which I commanded you to do?
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By Allah, there was no one on the face of the earth whom I feared more for myself than you,
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but by Allah,
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I shall never fear you after today!"
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Arbad replied to him:
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"May you lose your father!
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Do not be hasty with me.
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By Allah, every time I attempted to carry out what you commanded me,
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you stepped between me and the man!
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Was I supposed to strike you with the sword?!"
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They then set out on their return journey to their homeland.
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While they were on the way,
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Allah afflicted 'Amir ibn al-Tufayl with a plague-bubonic swelling in his neck,
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and Allah Almighty caused him to die in the house of a woman from Banu Salul—
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who were among the most humiliated and weakest of the Arabs.
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'Amir ibn al-Tufayl lamented:
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"A plague-buboe like that of a camel,
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and a death in the house of a Saluli woman?!"
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He then rode out and died along the road.
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It is recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari
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that 'Amir ibn al-Tufayl came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
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and said to him:
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"I give you three choices:
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you shall rule the nomads of the plains,
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while I rule the town-dwellers;
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or I shall be your successor after you;
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or else I will launch an invasion against you with the Ghatafan tribe,
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leading a thousand reddish-brown horses and a thousand mares."
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Later, he was afflicted with a plague-boil in the house of a woman,
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and he exclaimed: "A plague-boil like the buboe of a young camel,
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in the house of a woman from the tribe of Such-and-Such?!
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Bring me my horse!"
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So he mounted it and died on the back of his horse.
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Treasures of the Prophetic Biography.
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The Delegation of 'Abd al-Qays.
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In the Two Sahihs, it is narrated on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father)
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that the delegation of 'Abd al-Qays came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
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He asked them: "Who are these people?" or "Which delegation is this?"
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They replied: "From the tribe of Rabi'ah."
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He said: "Welcome to the delegation,
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who come neither disgraced nor regretful."
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They said: "O Messenger of Allah,
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between us and you lies this tribe of the disbelievers of Mudar,
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and we cannot reach you except during the sacred month.
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So give us a decisive command
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that we may adhere to it, convey it to those we left behind,
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and by which we may enter Paradise."
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He (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
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"I command you with four things and forbid you from four:
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I command you to believe in Allah alone.
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Do you know what belief in Allah alone entails?
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It is testifying that there is no god but Allah
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and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah,
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establishing prayer,
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paying zakat,
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fasting Ramadan,
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and giving one-fifth of the war booty.
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And I forbid you from four things:
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[using vessels made of] gourds (ad-dubba'), green glazed jars (al-hantam),
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hollowed palm-stumps (an-naqir), and pitch-smeared vessels (al-muzaffat).
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Memorize these commands and convey them to those behind you."
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In a narration by Muslim,
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they said: "O Messenger of Allah,
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how do you know what an-naqir is?"
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He replied: "Indeed I do;
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it is a palm trunk that you hollow out,
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into which you throw dates,
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then you pour water over them until it ferments;
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when it settles, you drink it,
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to the extent that one of you might strike his cousin with a sword!"
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Among the delegation was a man who bore a sword scar from just such an incident;
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he said: "I used to conceal my scar out of shyness before the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)."
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They asked: "In what vessels should we drink, O Messenger of Allah?"
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He said: "In leather waterskins
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whose mouths are tied shut."
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They said: "O Messenger of Allah,
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our land abounds in field rats,
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which leave no leather waterskin intact."
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He replied: "Even if the field rats gnaw them,"
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repeating it two or three times.
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Then he said to Al-Ashajj, the chief of 'Abd al-Qays,
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who was one of the delegates:
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"You possess two qualities that Allah loves:
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forbearance and deliberate calmness."
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Treasures of the Prophetic Biography.
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The Delegation of Banu Hanifah.
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The delegation of Banu Hanifah came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him),
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and among them was Musaylimah the Liar.
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Musaylimah said:
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"If Muhammad grants me leadership after him, I will follow him."
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He arrived with a vast number of his people.
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The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) walked up to him,
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accompanied by Thabit ibn Qays ibn Shammas,
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and carrying in his hand
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a piece of a dry date-palm branch.
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He stood over Musaylimah
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and said to him:
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"Even if you were to ask me for this dry palm-twig, I would not give it to you.
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You cannot bypass the decree of Allah concerning you,
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and if you turn your back—
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meaning, away from Islam—
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Allah will surely destroy you!
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Indeed, I see that you are the very person regarding whom I was shown what I was shown in my vision.
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Here is Thabit, who will answer you on my behalf."
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He then turned away and left him.
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Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) said:
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"I asked about the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him):
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'You are the very person regarding whom I was shown what I was shown,'
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inquiring as to what he meant by this statement."
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"So Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) informed me
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that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
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'While I was sleeping,
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I saw two golden bracelets placed on my hands,
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and their presence distressed me.
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It was inspired to me in the dream to blow upon them,
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so I blew upon them, and they flew away.
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I interpreted them as two impostors who would appear after me.'"
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On the authority of Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him), he said:
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The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
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"While I was sleeping,
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I was brought the treasures of the earth,
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and two golden bracelets were placed in my hands.
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That distressed me and made me anxious,
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but it was revealed to me that I should blow on them,
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so I blew on them and they flew away.
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I interpreted them as the two liars between whom I am placed:
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the ruler of Sanaa and the ruler of Al-Yamamah,
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namely Al-Aswad al-Ansi
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and Musaylimah the Liar."
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Despite what Musaylimah said to the Prophet (peace be upon him),
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and despite what 'Amir ibn al-Tufayl said,
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nevertheless, the Prophet (peace be upon him)
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did not execute either of them,
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because they were part of the visiting delegations and emissaries,
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and emissaries are not to be killed,
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just as the Prophet (peace be upon him)
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never acts treacherously.
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There came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
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the delegation of Tayy,
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among whom was Zayd al-Khayl,
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who was their chieftain.
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When they reached the Prophet (peace be upon him),
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he spoke to them and presented Islam to them,
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so they embraced Islam and became excellent Muslims.
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Then the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
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"No Arab man has ever been described to me as possessing virtue,
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and then came to me, except that I found him to be less than what was said about him—
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except Zayd al-Khayl;
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for indeed, what was said of him did not even reach the full measure of what he truly possessed."
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Then the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) renamed him
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"Zayd al-Khayr" (Zayd the Good).
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He granted him Fayd and lands alongside it,
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and wrote a decree for him to that effect.
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He then departed from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him),
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returning to his people.
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The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
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"If Zayd escapes the fever of Medina..."—
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and "if" here carries a negative sense,
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meaning he would not survive it.
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When he reached a body of water in Najd
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called Fardah,
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he was struck by the fever and passed away.
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As he felt death approaching, he recited:
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"Will the people of the East depart in the morning,
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leaving me behind in a house at Fardah, seeking a savior?
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Ah, how many a day, were I sick, would I be visited
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by women whose visits bring no relief to one who suffers!"
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Treasures of the Prophetic Biography.
12:13
The Delegation of Kindah.
12:18
Al-Ash'ath ibn Qays came
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in the delegation of Kindah to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him),
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among eighty—or sixty—mounted men.
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They entered upon the Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him) in his mosque,
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having combed their long hair and armed themselves.
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When they entered before him,
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the Prophet (peace be upon him) asked them:
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"Have you not embraced Islam?"
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They replied, "Yes, indeed."
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He said, "Then why is this silk around your necks?"
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So they tore it off;
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they tore it off, stripped it away, and discarded it.
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Al-Ash'ath said:
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"We came to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) as the delegation of Kindah,
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and they regarded me as the most noble among them.
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So I said, 'O Messenger of Allah,
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are you not from us?'
13:11
He replied, 'No, we are the descendants of Al-Nadr ibn Kinanah;
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we do not trace our mother's lineage falsely,
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nor do we disown our father.'"
13:19
That was because the Prophet (peace be upon him) had a grandmother from Kindah.
13:26
Treasures of the Prophetic Biography.
13:28
The Delegation of the Ash'arites,
13:36
who were the people of Yemen.
13:38
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
13:42
"There shall come to you a people
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who have softer hearts than yours."
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When the Ash'arites arrived,
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they began chanting war poetry, saying:
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"Tomorrow we shall meet our beloved ones,
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Muhammad and his companions!"
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On the authority of Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him), he said:
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I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) say:
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"The people of Yemen have come to you;
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they are gentler in spirit and softer at heart.
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Faith is Yemeni, and wisdom is Yemeni.
14:12
Tranquility is among the owners of sheep,
14:15
while pride and arrogance are among the rude, loud owners of camels from the desert folk
14:19
towards the rising of the sun."
14:21
In Sahih al-Bukhari, it is recorded that
14:23
a group of people from Banu Tamim came to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him).
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He said to them:
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"Glad tidings, O Banu Tamim!"
14:33
They said:
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"You have given us glad tidings, so now give us wealth!"
14:37
Upon hearing this, the expression of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) changed.
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Then a group of people from Yemen arrived,
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so he said to them:
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"Accept the glad tidings, O people of Yemen,
14:49
since Banu Tamim have rejected them."
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They replied, "We accept!"
14:54
Then they said, "O Messenger of Allah,
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we have come to gain understanding in the religion
14:59
and to ask you about the beginning of this creation."
15:02
He said:
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"Allah existed when there was nothing other than Him,
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“And He it is Who created the heavens and the earth in six Days - and His Throne was upon the water - that He might try you, which of you is best in conduct. Yet if thou (O Muhammad) sayest: Lo! ye will be raised again after death! those who disbelieve will surely say: This is naught but mere magic.” (11:7)
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and He recorded everything in the Preserved Tablet."
15:13
Treasures of the Prophetic Biography.
15:15
The Delegation of Hamdan.
15:19
Al-Bayhaqi narrated with an authentic chain of transmission—
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as Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) stated—
15:27
from the hadith of Abu Ishaq,
15:29
on the authority of Al-Bara' (may Allah be pleased with him):
15:32
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
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sent Khalid ibn al-Walid to the people of Yemen
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to invite them to Islam.
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Al-Bara' said:
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"I was among those who went out with Khalid ibn al-Walid.
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We stayed for six months calling them to Islam,
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but they did not respond to him.
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Then the Prophet (peace be upon him)
15:55
sent 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him),
15:58
ordering him to send Khalid back,
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except for any man who was with Khalid
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and preferred to remain behind with 'Ali—
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meaning that Khalid should return
16:08
along with whoever wished to return,
16:10
while whoever wished to stay with 'Ali could do so."
16:13
Al-Bara' said:
16:15
"So I was among those who stayed behind with 'Ali.
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When we drew near the people,
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they came out to meet us.
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'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) led us in prayer,
16:25
then aligned us in a single rank,
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stepped forward in front of us,
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and read to them the letter of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him).
16:35
Thereupon, the entire tribe of Hamdan embraced Islam.
16:38
So 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)
16:43
informing him of their conversion.
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When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) read the letter,
16:49
he fell prostrate in gratitude,
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then raised his head and said:
16:54
'Peace be upon Hamdan!
16:56
Peace be upon Hamdan!'
16:59
And in this incident is the precedent for prostrating upon hearing good news."
17:04
Treasures of the Prophetic Biography.
17:07
The Delegation of Najran.
17:11
There came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
17:16
the delegation of the Christians of Najran,
17:18
consisting of sixty mounted men,
17:20
among whom were twenty-four of their noblemen.
17:24
Among them was Al-'Aqib,
17:26
the leader of the group,
17:27
their man of judgment,
17:29
their chief counselor,
17:31
and the one without whose opinion and order they would make no decision;
17:35
his name was 'Abd al-Masih.
17:37
With him was another leader,
17:39
who was in charge of their baggage and administrative affairs,
17:42
named Al-Ayham.
17:44
There was also Abu Harithah ibn 'Alqamah,
17:47
a man of Banu Bakr ibn Wa'il,
17:49
who was their bishop, scholar,
17:51
religious leader, and head of their seminaries.
17:54
Abu Harithah
17:56
held a position of high honor among them and had studied their scriptures
17:59
until his knowledge of their religion became profound.
18:02
The Christian kings of the Byzantine Empire
18:05
had honored him, funded him,
18:08
and built churches for him.
18:10
When he set out to go to the Messenger of Allah,
18:13
Abu Harithah sat
18:15
upon his mule,
18:17
heading towards the Messenger of Allah
18:19
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
18:21
Riding beside him was a brother of his
18:23
named Kurz ibn 'Alqamah,
18:25
traveling along with him.
18:27
Suddenly, Abu Harithah's mule stumbled,
18:29
whereupon Kurz said to him:
18:31
"May that wretched man perish!"—
18:33
referring to the Messenger of Allah
18:35
(peace be upon him).
18:37
Abu Harithah said to him:
18:39
"Nay, it is you who should perish!"
18:42
Kurz asked him:
18:43
"Why, my brother?"
18:45
Abu Harithah replied:
18:47
"By Allah, he is indeed the Prophet
18:49
whom we have been awaiting!"
18:51
Kurz said to him:
18:53
"Then what prevents you from following him, knowing this?"
18:56
He answered:
18:58
"It is what these kings have done for us;
19:00
if I were to do so,
19:02
they would strip away from us everything you see."