13-Bani Haneefa Delegation

13-bani haneefa delegation: they arrived in madinah in the ninth year of al-hijra. they were 17 in number and included the master of liars, musailima [fath al-bari 8/87] bin thumamah bin kabeer bin habeeb bin al-harith of bani haneefa the group of delegates were housed in a helper’s house. they came to the prophet [pbuh] and declared their islamization. as for musailima the liar, versions vary concerning his embracing islam. contemplation of all these versions shows clearly that musailima expressed disapproval and revealed haughtiness, boastful spirit and expectations to be a prince.

at first the prophet [pbuh] attempted going on well with him. he dealt with him nicely and charitably but that did not do with him. the messenger of allâh [pbuh] perceived evil in his soul and recognized that he was one of those three evils he dreamt of while asleep.

the prophet [pbuh] had already dreamt that he had been granted the treasures of earth. his hand fell upon two golden bracelets, which distressed and worried him a lot. he was taught by inspiration to blow them off, so he did that and they were gone off. they were interpreted to be two liars who would turn up after the death of muhammad [pbuh]. so when musailima acted that way and showed disapproval, he realized that he would be one of the two liars. however musailima used to say, "if muhammad appointed me a successor of his, i would be a muslim. later on the messenger of allâh [pbuh] came to him, with a piece of palm leaf in his hand, and in the company of his orator, thabit bin qais bin shammas. he was among some of his friends. the prophet [pbuh] talked to him but musailima addressed him saying: "if you agree to transfer the whole thing to me after your death, i will not stand in your way." the messenger of allâh [pbuh] replied: "if you asked me to give you this (i.e. a piece of a palm leaf), i would not grant it to you. you are doomed. even if you repented and stopped what you were doing, allâh appointed that you would be slain. by allâh, i swear, that i see you now in the very state that has been revealed to me. here is thabit! you will hear my answer (from him)." then he went away. [sahih al-bukhari 2/627, 628; fath al-bari 8/87-93]

finally, the prophet’s predictions of musailima came true; for when musailima returned to yamama, he kept on thinking about the prophet [pbuh] and how he would be his partner. his dreams and thoughts went so far as to claim that he himself was a prophet. to confirm his prophecy he started uttering rhymed statements. he said that it was lawful to drink wine and commit adultery. he, however, bore witness that the messenger of allâh [pbuh]was a real prophet. his people, who were fascinated by what he allowed them to do, followed him and made bargains with him. he grew so prominent among them that they called him the beneficent of al-yamama. he wrote to the messenger of allâh [pbuh] saying: "i have been appointed an associate with you, so i will have a half and quraish will have the other half of the people’s affairs." the messenger of allâh’s reply was a letter saying that:

"verily, the earth is allâh’s. he gives it as a heritage to whom he will of his slaves, and the (blessed) end is for the muttaqûn (pious)." [al-qur'an 7:128] [za'd al-ma'ad 3/31,32]

on the authority of ibn mas‘ud, he says: when the two messengers of musailima — ibn an-nawaha and ibn athal — came to the messenger of allâh [pbuh], he asked them: "do you bear witness that i am the messenger of allâh?" their reply was "we testify that musailima is the messenger of allâh." "i believe in allâh and in his messenger," said the prophet [pbuh], "if i had ever thought of killing a messenger i would have killed you both." [mishkat al-masabeeh 2/347]

musailima’s pretence to prophethood was in the tenth year of al-hijra. but he was killed in al-yamama war during abu bakr as-siddeeq era, in rabi‘ al-awwal, in the twelfth year of al-hijra. he was killed by wahshi, the killer of hamzah. the second person who claimed to be a prophet was al-aswad al-‘ansi who was in yemen. he was killed by fairuz. his head was cut off a day and a night before the prophet’s death. so when the delegates came he told them the news that reached him through divine revelation. news about his death reached abu bakr [r] from yemen. [fath al-bari 8/93]