46. THE DELEGATION OF THE PEOPLE OF NAJRAN
Al-Bukhari related on the authority of Hudhaifah who narrated: Al-Aqib and Sayyid, the rulers of Najran, came to Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, with the intention of doing Li‘an. One of them said to the other: “Do not do (this Li‘an) for, by Allah, if he is a Prophet and we do this Li‘an, neither we, nor our offspring after us will be successful.” Then both of them said (to the Prophet): “We will give what you ask, but you should send a trustworthy man with us, and do not send any person with us but an honest one.” The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: “I will send an honest man who is truly trustworthy.” Every one of the Companions of Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, wished to be that person. The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: “Get up, Abu ‘Ubaidah Ibn Al-Jarrah.” When he got up, Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: “This is the trustworthy man of this (Muslim) nation.”
Yoonus said: The ruler of Najran was a Christian but became Muslim. Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, had written to the people of Najran prior to their coming to him:
“In the Name of the God of Ibrahim, Ishaq and Ya‘qoob. From Muhammad, Allah’s Messenger, to the prelate and to the people of Najran; if you accept Islam then I will give praise to the God of Ibrahim, Ishaq and Ya‘qoob. I am inviting you to the worship of Allah away from the worship of slaves; I invite you to the Authority of Allah away from the authority of slaves. However, if you decline, then it is incumbent on you to pay the Jizyah. If you reject, then I warn you of a war.”
When the letter was received by the prelate and he read its contents, he was filled with great fright. He sent for a man from the people of Najran who was known as Shurahbeel Ibn Wada‘ah from Hamdan. Whenever a problem erupted, no one was consulted before him. When he came, the prelate handed him the letter sent by Allah’s Messenger. The prelate said: “Abu Maryam, what is your opinion?” Shurahbeel said: “You are well aware of Allah’s promise to Ibrahim concerning the progeny of Isma‘eel and Prophethood so there is no assurance that this is not the same man (promised). I do not have an opinion in the matter of Prophethood. If it were an issue from mundane matters I would have preferred an opinion and exerted effort to arrive at a sound judgment for you.” The prelate said to him: “Relax and take a seat.” Shurahbeel sat down close to him and the prelate sent for another person from the people of Najran named ‘Abdullah Ibn Shurahbeel. He read the letter to him and then asked him his opinion and he spoke in a manner similar to what Shurahbeel had said. Again the prelate said to him: “Relax and take a seat,” and he sat close to him. The prelate sent for yet another person from the people of Najran called Jabbar Ibn Faid from Banu Al- Harith Ibn Ka‘b, a member of Banu Al-Himas. Again, he read the letter to him and asked him for an opinion concerning it. Again, the man responded in a similar manner as that of Shurahbeel and ‘Abdullah and the prelate asked him to take a seat, which he did.
When their opinions were heard, and it was established that they all had the same opinion, the prelate asked for a bell and rang it. He raised his hood in the hermitage. This was their manner when they were alarmed in the daytime. Whenever they were alarmed in the night time, they would ring the bell and then kindle a fire in their hermitage. Once the bell was rung and the hood was raised, all the people, from the upper and the lower part of the entire valley up to the distance of a day’s journey for a fast rider, gathered. There were 73 villages and one hundred and twenty fighters. The prelate read the letter of Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, to them and then requested for their opinion. The intelligent ones among them suggested that they send Shurahbeel Ibn Wada‘ah Al-Hamdani, ‘Abdullah Ibn Shurahbeel Al-Asbahi and Jabbar Ibn Faid Al-Harithi to gather more information about the Messenger of Allah.
So they headed for Madinah. Once they arrived there, they took off their journey clothes and adorned themselves with jewelry and gold rings, and then they proceeded to see the Messenger of Allah. They gave him the greetings but he did not return their greetings. They attempted to engage him in a discussion all day long but he refused to speak with them while they were wearing their jewelry and gold rings. They then went in search of ‘Uthman Ibn ‘Affan and ‘Abdur Rahman Ibn ‘Awf, may Allah be pleased with them, both of whom they had known. They found both of them in the midst of a gathering of the Ansar and the Muhajiroon. They said: “O ‘Uthman and ‘Abdur Rahman, your Prophet wrote to us and we came in response to him but when we went to see him, we gave him the greeting but he did not respond to our greeting; we attempted to speak with him all day but he declined to speak to us. What do you both suggest we do, should we return (back home) ?” ‘Uthman and ‘Abdur Rahman turned to ‘Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, who was also present in the gathering and asked for his opinion concerning the complaint of the delegates. ‘Ali said to them: “I suggest that they take off their jewelry and gold rings, wear their journey clothes and then return to him.”
They did so and they greeted the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and this time he returned their greeting and then said:
“By the One Who sent me with the Truth, they had come to me at first instance while Iblees was with them.” They exchanged questions and they continued in that until they finally asked: “What do you say about ‘Eesa, for we shall return to our people who are Christians? We will be pleased to hear what you have to say concerning him if you are truly a Prophet.” Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: “I do not have anything (to say) concerning him today, but wait until I tell you what Allah will say concerning him.” By the following morning Allah had revealed this Verse:
Verily, the likeness of ‘Eesa (Jesus) before Allah is the likeness of Adam. He created him from dust, then (He) said to him: ‘Be!’ – and he was. (This is) the truth from your Lord, so be not of those who doubt. Then whoever disputes with you concerning him ‘Eesa after (all this) knowledge that has come to you, (i.e. ‘Eesa) being a slave of Allah, and having no share in Divinity. Say: (O Muhammad) ‘Come, let us call our sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves – then we pray and invoke (sincerely) the Curse of Allah upon those who lie’.” (Soorah Aal ‘Imran 3:59-61)
However, they failed to acknowledge that. The following morning they still showed signs of not accepting Allah’s Words concerning ‘Eesa. The Messenger of Allah came forward, wrapping AlHasan and Al-Husain under his garment while Fatimah was walking behind him, to challenge them to a Mubahalah (a mutual cursing on the liar between two contending individuals or groups). At the time, he had a number of women. Apprehensive of the course of events, Shurahbeel said to his remaining two companions: “You both know well that if you were to merge all of the inhabitants of the upper and lower part of the valley, they will not initiate an action except in my opinion. I swear by Allah, right now, I foresee a grave matter. If this man is truly a Prophet that has been sent and we dare exchange curses with him then not a single hair or nail of us will escape destruction.” His two other companions asked: “So what do you suggest, Abu Maryam?” He said: “I suggest that we ask him to decide upon the matter for I see him to be a man who would never exceed the limit in judgment.” The other two companions agreed and Shurahbeel went to meet the Messenger of Allah. He said to him: “I opine something better than engaging you in an exchange of curses.” The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, asked: “What is that?” Shurahbeel replied:
“We leave you to decide on a matter from this day until nightfall and from night till daybreak. Whatever you decide will be acceptable to us.”
Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, asked: “Perhaps, someone will oppose you from those whom you left behind?” Shurahbeel said: “You may ask my two companions.” Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, asked them and they said: “The entire valley does not initiate or reject except by Shurahbeel’s advice.” Thus Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, returned without engaging them in Mubahalah. The following morning he came back and wrote this document for them:
“In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent the Merciful. This is a document written by Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, for (the people of) Najran on condition that they would pay to the Muslims two thousand suits of garments, half in Safar, and the rest in Rajab…”
The sub-narrator related the terms of the agreement in its entirety until he said: “Witnessed by Abu Sufyan Ibn Harb, Ghailan Ibn Amr, Malik Ibn ‘Awf from Bani Nasr, Al-Aqra’ Ibn Habis Al-Hanzali and Al-Mugheerah Ibn Shu‘bah.” They took their document and left for Najran.
The delegates entered Najran and came to the monk Ibn Abi Shamir AzZabeedi in his hermitage and said to him: A Prophet has been raised in Tihamah and they related to him the deputation of Najran to Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah Be upon him, and that he had challenged them to an exchange of mutual curse and they had declined, Bishr Ibn Mu‘awiyah had gone over to him and had accepted Islam.” The monk said: “Bring me down otherwise I shall throw myself down from this hermitage.” They lowered him, bringing along with him a gift. Then he proceeded to Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. He stayed with him for a while listening to the Qur’an and then returned to his people. He did not accept, but had promised to return; however, it was not possible for him until Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, died.
The prelate Abul-Harith also came to Allah’s Messenger along with some leaders, deputies and noblemen and they stayed listening to what was being revealed to Allah’s Messenger. Then he (the Prophet) wrote this document for this prelate and the prelates after him:
“In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. From Muhammad, the Prophet, to the prelate, Abul-Harith, and all the prelates of Najran after him, as well as all the priests, monks and all those under their authority, small or large, all (have been provided the) security of Allah and His Messenger. No prelate, priest, or monk shall be displaced and none of their rights or authorities, which they currently enjoy, shall be denied to them. This is the security of Allah and His Messenger forever as long as they give good advice and behave well and they are not burdened with oppression and not being oppressors.” Mugheerah Ibn Shu‘bah wrote down the document.
By: Ibn Katheer
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