45. THE STORY OF THUMAMAH AND THE DELEGATION FROM BANU HANEEFAH WITH MUSAILIMAH, THE LIAR, MAY THE CURSE OF ALLAH BE ON HIM
Al-Bukhari related to the authority of Abu Hurairah who narrated that the Prophet sent some cavalry toward Najd and they brought a man from the tribe of Banu Haneefah who was named Thumamah Ibn Uthal. They fettered him to one of the pillars of the Mosque. The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, went to him and said: “What have you got, Thumamah?” He replied: “I have got a good thought, O Muhammad! If you kill me, then you will have killed a person who has already killed somebody; if you were to set me free, you would do a favor to one who is grateful; and if you want property, then ask me for whatever wealth you want.” He was left until the next day when the Prophet said to him: “What have you got, Thumamah?” He said: “What I have told you; i.e. if you set me free, you would do a favor to one who is grateful.” The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, left him until the day after, and he said: “What have you got, Thumamah?” He said: “I have got what I told you.” On that the Prophet said: “Release Thumamah.”
So, Thumamah went to a garden of date-palm trees near the Mosque, took a bath and then entered the Mosque and said: “I testify that none has the right to be worshipped except Allah, and I also testify that Muhammad is His Messenger! By Allah, O Muhammad, there was no face on the surface of this Earth that was more disliked by me than yours, but now your face has become the most beloved to me. By Allah, there was no religion more disliked by me than yours, but now it is the most beloved religion to me. By Allah, there was no town more disliked by me than your town, but now it is the most beloved town to me. Your cavalry arrested me (at the time) when I was intending to perform ‘Umrah. What should I do?” The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, gave him good tidings (congratulated him) and ordered him to perform ‘Umrah. So when he came to Makkah, someone said to him, “You have become a Sabian?” Thumamah replied, “By Allah, I have embraced Islam with Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah. By Allah, not a single grain of wheat will come to you from Yamamah unless the Prophet gives his permission.”
Al-Bukhari narrated on the authority Ibn ‘Ubaidullah Ibn ‘Utbah who narrated: “We were informed that Musailimah Al-Kadhdhab (the liar) had arrived in Madinah and stayed in the house of the daughter of Al-Harith. The daughter of Al-Harith Ibn Kuraiz was his wife and she was the mother of ‘Abdullah Ibn Amir. There came to him Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, accompanied by Thabit Ibn Qais Ibn Shammas, who was called the orator of Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was holding a stick in his hand. The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, stopped before Musailimah and spoke to him. Musailimah said to him: ‘If you wish, we would not interfere between you and the rule, on condition that the rule will be ours after you.’ The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: ‘If you were to ask me for this stick, I would not give it to you. I think you are the same person who was shown to me in a dream. And this is Thabit Ibn Qais who will answer you on my behalf.’ The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, then went away.
“I asked Ibn ‘Abbas about the dream Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, had mentioned. Ibn ‘Abbas said: ‘Someone told me that the Prophet said: ‘When I was sleeping, I saw in a dream that two gold bangles were put in my hands, which frightened me and made me dislike them. I was allowed to blow on them, and when I blew at them, both of them flew. I interpreted them as two liars who would appear.’ One of them was Al-Ansi who was killed by Fairooz in Yemen and the other was Musailimah AlKadhdhab.”
Abul-Qasim As-Suhaili said: He was Musailimah Ibn Thumamah Ibn Kabeer Ibn Habeeb Ibn Al-Harith Ibn Abdul-Harith Ibn Hiffan Ibn Dhuhl Ibn AdDool Ibn Haneefah. He was nicknamed Abu Thumamah or Abu Haroon. He also named himself Rahman so he was referred to as Rahman of Yamamah. His age by the time he was killed was 150 years. He knew some magic. He could insert an egg into a small bottle and he was the first person to do that. He would also break the wing of the bird and join it together again. He claimed that a deer used to come to him from the mountain and he would milk it.
I say: We shall relate some of his story while discussing his Killing. As-Suhaili and others relate that Ar-Rajjal Ibn Unfuwah, hisreal name being Nahar Ibn Unfuwah, had accepted Islam andhad learned some portions of the Qur’an and accompanied the
Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, for a while. Once, Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, met him while he was sitting along with Abu Hurairah and Furat Ibn Hayyan and he said to them: “The molar of one of you in the Hellfire will be (as big) as Uhud.” The latter two individuals never ceased to be afraid till Rajjal apostatized along with Musailimah and acknowledged for him visitors and that Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, gave him a share in the matter along with him. He rendered a portion of what he used to memorize from the Qur’an. Musailimah invited him to himself and the great Fitnah (trial) of Banu Haneefah came to pass. Zaid Ibn Al-Khattab killed him in the battle of Yamamah as shall be related shortly.
As-Suhaili also related that the mu’aththin of Musailimah was a man called Hujair. He was a battle schemer in the presence of Muhakkam Ibn At-Tufail. Sajah, who was nicknamed UmmSadir, also aligned with them and Musailimah married her. There are a couple of licentious stories concerning her. The name of her mu’aththin was Zuhair Ibn ‘Amr while some said he was Janabah Ibn Tariq. It is also said that Shibth Ibn Rib‘ee also acted in that capacity for her as well but later accepted Islam. She also accepted Islam during the reign of ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattab and she became a very good Muslim.
On the authority of ‘Abdullah Ibn Mas‘ood who narrated: Ibn An-Nawwahal and Ibn Uthal, two emissaries of Musailimah Al-Kadhdhab came toAllah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of allah be upon him, and he said to both of them: “Do you testify that I am a Messenger of Allah?” They both said: “We bear witness that Musaylimah is a messenger of Allah.” Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: “I believe in Allah and His Messengers, if I were to kill any messenger I would have killed both of you.” ‘Abdullah Ibn Mas‘ood added: “Thus the practice of not killing messengers continued.” ‘Abdullah said: “As for Ibn Uthal, Allah has sufficed him. As for An-Nawwarah, he never ceased to dominate my mind until Allah made me overpower him.
Shortly, we shall relate the death of Al-Aswad Al-Ansi toward the end of the life of Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and the death of Musailimah Al-Kadhdhab during the days of Abu Bakr’s Caliphate, and what became of Banu Haneefah.
By: Ibn Katheer
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