PREACHING: THE INFLUENTIAL MAN PREACHING OF GROUPS AMR IBN AL AS AND TRIBE OF BALIY KHALID IBN WALEED AND YEMEN KHALID IBN WALEED AND NAJRAN Hayatus Sahabah by Muhadith Kandahlawi (Kandhelvi) Rendered into current English by Khadeijah Abdullah Darwish (Anne Stephens) Free give away Acquired from Amazon’s Kindle Not for sale or resale by any third party ©2013 - www.Muhammad.com PREACHING TO AN INFLUENTIAL CHIEFTAN Anas narrates that the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, sent one of his Companions to preach to a chieftain who had been influential during the period that became known as “Age of Ignorance”. The person mocked and asked the Companion, “What is your Lord to whom you call made from?” Is he made from iron? Is he made from copper? Is he made from gold?” The Companion sent a report to the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, telling him what the man had said. The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, sent back a reply telling him to repeat the invitation, but once again the man repeated his questions, whereupon the Companion reported the outcome to the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him. The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, repeated his instruction to invite the man yet again but the man persisted in his insolence and the Companion sent word back to the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, once more. The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, said, “Allah has struck your friend with a bolt of lightning that incinerated him.” Then the following verse was sent down: “…. He looses the thunderbolts and smites whosoever He will.” Koran Ch.13:13 In the report of Bazzar it states that the person was a tyrannical Arab chieftain, and the Companion said to the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, “O Messenger of Allah, he is even more tyrannical than Pharaoh!” The version goes on to say that on the third attempt to invite the chieftain to Islam, Allah sent a cloud that hovered above the chieftain that started to rumble with its thunder, then a bolt of lightning was let loose from the cloud that decapitated the man. i THE MESSENGER OF ALLAH SENDS ABDUR RAHMAN AND OTHERS TO PREACH Abdullah, son of Omar narrates that the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, called for Abdur Rahman, son of Auf to come to him, and told him, “Prepare yourself, because I want to send you out with a group (to preach).” Thereafter Abdur Rahman joined the other Companions and they left together. When Abdur Rahman reached a place called Dowmatul Jandal (a fortress between Medina and Sham surrounded by several villages) he spent three days inviting the tribesmen to Islam. On the third day, their chieftain, Asbagh, son of Amr bin Kalbi who was a Christian embraced Islam. Abdur Rahman sent a letter to the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, with a Rafi, son of Makeeth from the tribe of Juhaynah reporting the good news. The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, replied with the instruction to marry the daughter of Asbagh, whereupon he married her. His wife’s name was Tumaadir from whom he had a son known as Abu Salma. THE SENDING OF AMR, SON OF AL ‘AS TO PREACH TO THE TRIBE OF BANU BALIY Abdur Rahman Tamemi narrates that the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, sent Amr, son of Al ‘As of to attract the Arabs to Islam. The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, sent him to the tribe of Banu Baliy because Amr’s father, As’, son of Waa’il’s mother was from that tribe and it would be relatively easy for him to connect with them. When he reached the watering place of Salaasil, situated in the territory of Judham, he sensed danger and sent a message back to the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, requesting him to dispatch reinforcements to assist him. The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, sent a troop comprised of the early Migrant Companions under the leadership of Ubaydah, son of Jarrah, amongst those in the troop was Abu Bakr. THE MESSENGER OF ALLAH praise and peace be upon him SENDS KHALID, SON OF WALEED TO YEMEN Baraa, son of Aazib narrates that he was one of those in a party under the leadership of Khalid, son of Waleed sent by the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, to Yemen to invite its people to Islam. They stayed there for six months but no one accepted Islam. The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, decided to relieve Khalid and his party and send Ali to Yemen in his place, but said if any of Khalid’s party wished to remain behind with Ali they may do so. Baraa was one of those who decided to remain behind with Ali. When Imam Ali and the Muslims drew close to the people of Yemen, they also marched forward to meet the Muslims and read the letter that the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, had written. In response to this, the entire Hamdaan tribe accepted Islam. Ali wrote to the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, to inform him of this whereupon the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, fell down in prostration and lifted his head and prayed saying, “Peace be to the Hamdan, peace be to the Hamdan” THE SENDING OF KHALID, SON OF WALEED TO PREACH TO THE PEOPLE OF NAJRAN The son of Isaac narrates that the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, sent Khalid, son of Waleed to Najran to invite the tribe of Banu Harith, son of Ka’b to Islam with the instruction that upon his arrival he should not engage them in combat for three days (during which time Khalid could tell them about Islam). The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, instructed him that if the tribesmen accepted Islam, he should accept their adherence. If it were otherwise, then he should engage them in combat. Khalid and his men left Medina and traveled to Najran. Upon his arrival he sent riders in all directions to meet with the tribesmen and invite them to Islam saying, “O people, accept Islam and remain in peace.” All the people accepted Islam and entered into the Religion. According to the instructions of the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, Khalid stayed with the tribesmen and taught them about Islam, the Koran and the sunnah (prophetic way) of the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, and did not engage them in combat. Khalid sent a letter to the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, informing him of the blessing that read: “In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful To Muhammad, the Prophet and Messenger of Allah From Khalid, son of Waleed Peace be upon you, O Messenger of Allah and the mercy and blessings of Allah. Before you, I praise Allah besides whom there is none worthy of worship. O Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon, may Allah shower His special mercy upon you. You sent me to the tribe of Banu Harith son of Ka’b with the instruction to invite them to Islam for three days without engaging them in combat. Your instructions were that that I accept from them their conversion to Islam, after which I should teach them the rules of Islam, the Koran, and your sunnah, but if they did not accept Islam, and only then, I was to engage them in combat. When I arrived, I invited them to Islam for three days according to your instructions and sent riders among them saying, “O Banu Harith, accept Islam and live in peace.” They all accepted Islam without fighting. I am presently among them instructing them with that which Allah has instructed and forbidding what Allah has forbidden, and I shall teach them the rules of Islam and your sunnah until you write to me (with fresh instructions). Peace be upon you O Messenger of Allah, and the mercy and blessings of Allah.” The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, replied saying: From Muhammad, the Prophet and Messenger of Allah To Khalid, son of Waleed. Peace be upon you. I praise Allah besides whom there is none worthy of worship. Your letter sent with your messenger has reached me with the news that the tribe of Banu Harith surrendered without fighting and that they had accepted Islam. Your letter also informed me that they all bear witness that there is no god except Allah and that Muhammad is the worshiper and Messenger of Allah, and that Allah has guided them with His guidance. You should give them glad tidings (of Paradise) and warn them (of Hell). Peace be unto you and the mercy and blessings of Allah.” (Having received the letter) Khalid, son of Waleed returned to the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, accompanied by a delegation from the tribe of Banu Harith, son of Ka’b. When the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, saw them arriving, he asked, “Who are these people, they are like people from India.” A Companion replied, “They are from the tribe of Banu Harith, son of Ka’b.” They were presented to the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, and greeted him saying, “We bear witness that you are the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, and there is no god except Allah.” The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, replied, “I also bear witness that there is no god except Allah and that I am His Messenger.” Then the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, asked, “Are you the people who came forward (accepted Islam) when you were admonished?” They did not reply and remained silent. The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, repeated the question a second and third time but there was no response. Upon the fourth repeat of his question, Yazeed, the son of Abdil Madan said, “Yes, O Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him. Whereupon, the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, said, “If Khalid had not written to me with the news that you had accepted Islam without engaging in combat, I would have cast your heads beneath your feet.” Yazeed, the son of Abdil Madan, said, “By Allah, (when we accepted Islam) we neither praised you nor Khalid.” The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, asked, “Whom did you praise?” Yazeed replied, “We praised Allah who used you to guide us, O Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him.” The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, said, “You are right.” Then he asked, “How were you able to defeat your enemies during the Time of Ignorance?” They replied, “We were unable to defeat our enemies.” The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, asked them why and said, “You were indeed victorious over those whom you fought.” They replied, “O Messenger of Allah, we were able to defeat our enemies because we remained united without breaking, dividing into factions and never oppressed anyone.” The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him said, “You have spoken the truth.” Thereafter the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, appointed Qais, son of Husain to be their leader. May Allah be pleased with all the Companions.