Various tribes are invited to Islam

Once again it was time for the Prophet to take Allah’s message to the people outside Makkah. Tribes from all over Arabia would journey to Ukaz, Mujanna and Dhul Majaz where three huge fairs were held each year. The fair at Ukaz, a village between Nakhlah and Ta’if, lasted the first twenty days of the month of Dhul Qad’ah. Then the tribes would move to Mujanna and set up markets there. Finally, during the first eight days of Dhul Hijjah, markets were set up in Dhul Majaz, behind Jabal Rahmah on the plain of Arafah. The people would perform Hajj, or pilgrimage, rites following the last fair.

Taking the opportunity of finding a large audience, the Prophet approached various tribes with his message of Allah’s Oneness and his own prophethood. Those invited to Islam were Banu Amir bin Sasa’a, Banu Abs, Banu Nasar, Banu Al-Baka’a, Kinda, Jalb, Banu Al-Harithh bin Ka’b, Udrah and Hadharma.

None of these tribes accepted the Prophet’s invitation, but they responded in different ways. Some of them declined politely, some asked him to appoint them as his successors after his death, some pointed out that most of the Prophet’s kinsmen and tribesmen had refused to follow him, and some resorted to insults. Banu Haneefa, the tribe of Musaylimah Al-Kaddhab, or Musaylimah the Liar (who was later to pose as a prophet himself), was especially disrespectful to the Prophet .