Category: Dealings with Non-Muslims

I was sitting with Jabir bin Zaid and ‘Amr bin Aus, and Bjalla was narrating to them in 70 A.H. the year when Musab bin Az-Zubair was the leader of the pilgrims of Basra. We were sitting at the steps of Zam-zam well and Bajala said, “I was the clerk of Juz bin Muawiya, Al-Ahnaf’s paternal uncle. A letter came from ‘Umar bin Al-Khattab one year before his death; and it was read:– “Cancel every marriage contracted among the Magians between relatives of close kinship (marriages that are regarded illegal in Islam: a relative of this sort being called Dhu-Mahram.)” ‘Umar did not take the Jizya from the Magian infidels

3157. till ‘Abdur-Rahman bin ‘Auf testified that Allah’s Messenger ﷺ had taken the Jizya from the Magians of Hajar.

(who was an ally of Bam ‘Amr bin Lu’ai and one of those who had taken part in (the Ghazwa of) Badr): Allah’s Messenger ﷺ sent Abu ‘Ubaida bin Al-Jarreh to Bahrain to collect the Jizya. Allah’s Messenger ﷺ had established peace with the people of Bahrain and appointed Al-‘Ala’ bin Al-Hadrami as their governor. When Abu ‘Ubaida came from Bahrain with the money, the Ansar heard of Abu ‘Ubaida’s arrival which coincided with the time of the morning prayer with the Prophet ﷺ. When Allah’s Messenger ﷺ led them in the morning prayer and finished, the Ansar approached him, and he looked at them and smiled on seeing them and said, “I feel that you have heard that Abu. ‘Ubaida has brought something?” They said, “Yes, O Allah’s Messenger ﷺ‘ He said, “Rejoice and hope for what will please you! By Allah, I am not afraid of your poverty but I am afraid that you will lead a life of luxury as past nations did, whereupon you will compete with each other for it, as they competed for it, and it will destroy you as it destroyed them.”

‘Umar sent the Muslims to the great countries to fight the pagans. When Al-Hurmuzan embraced Islam, ‘Umar said to him. “I would like to consult you regarding these countries which I intend to invade.” Al-Hurmuzan said, “Yes, the example of these countries and their inhabitants who are the enemies. of the Muslims, is like a bird with a head, two wings and two legs; If one of its wings got broken, it would get up over its two legs, with one wing and the head; and if the other wing got broken, it would get up with two legs and a head, but if its head got destroyed, then the two legs, two wings and the head would become useless. The head stands for Khosrau, and one wing stands for Caesar and the other wing stands for Faris. So, order the Muslims to go towards Khosrau.” So, ‘Umar sent us (to Khosrau) appointing An-Numan bin Muqrin as our commander. When we reached the land of the enemy, the representative of Khosrau came out with forty-thousand warriors, and an interpreter got up saying, “Let one of you talk to me!” Al-Mughira replied, “Ask whatever you wish.” The other asked, “Who are you?” Al-Mughira replied, “We are some people from the Arabs; we led a hard, miserable, disastrous life: we used to suck the hides and the date stones from hunger; we used to wear clothes made up of fur of camels and hair of goats, and to worship trees and stones. While we were in this state, the Lord of the Heavens and the Earths, Elevated is His Remembrance and Majestic is His Highness, sent to us from among ourselves a Prophet whose father and mother are known to us. Our Prophet ﷺ, the Messenger of our Lord, has ordered us to fight you till you worship Allah Alone or give Jizya (i.e. tribute); and our Prophet ﷺ has informed us that our Lord says:– “Whoever amongst us is killed (i.e. martyred), shall go to Paradise to lead such a luxurious life as he has never seen, and whoever amongst us remain alive, shall become your master.”

3160. (Al-Mughira, then blamed An-Numan for delaying the attack and) An-Nu’ man said to Al-Mughira, “If you had participated in a similar battle, in the company of Allah’s Messenger ﷺ he would not have blamed you for waiting, nor would he have disgraced you. But I accompanied Allah’s Messenger ﷺ in many battles and it was his custom that if he did not fight early by daytime, he would wait till the wind had started blowing and the time for the prayer was due (i.e. after midday).”

We accompanied the Prophet ﷺ in the Ghazwa of Tabuk and the king of ‘Aila presented a white mule and a cloak as a gift to the Prophet ﷺ. And the Prophet ﷺ wrote to him a peace treaty allowing him to keep authority over his country.

We said to ‘Umar bin Al-Khattab, Jo Chief of the believers! Advise us.” He said, “I advise you to fulfill Allah’s Convention (made with the Dhimmis) as it is the convention of your Prophet ﷺ and the source of the livelihood of your dependents (i.e. the taxes from the Dhimmis.) “

Once the Prophet ﷺ called the Ansar in order to grant them part of the land of Bahrain. On that they said, “No! By Allah, we will not accept it unless you grant a similar thing to our Quarries brothers as well.” He said, “That will be their’s if Allah wishes.” But when the Ansar persisted in their request, he said, “After me you will see others given preference over you in this respect (in which case) you should be patient till you meet me at the Tank (of Al-Kauthar).”

Allah’s Messenger ﷺ once said to me, “If the revenue of Bahrain came, I would give you this much and this much.” When Allah’s Messenger ﷺ had died, the revenue of Bahrain came, and Abu Bakr announced, ” Let whoever was promised something by Allah’s Messenger ﷺ come to me.” So, I went to Abu Bakr and said, “Allah’s Messenger ﷺ said to me, ‘If the revenue of Bahrain came, I would give you this much and this. much.” On that Abu Bakr said to me, “Scoop (money) with both your hands.” I scooped money with both my hands and Abu Bakr asked me to count it. I counted it and it was five-hundred (gold pieces). The total amount he gave me was one thousand and five hundred (gold pieces.)

Money from Bahrain was brought to the Prophet ﷺ . He said, “Spread it in the Mosque.” It was the biggest amount that had ever been brought to Allah’s Messenger ﷺ . In the meantime Al-‘Abbas came to him and said, “O Allah’s Messenger ﷺ! Give me, for I gave the ransom of myself and Aqil.” The Prophet ﷺ said (to him), “Take.” He scooped money with both hands and poured it in his garment and tried to lift it, but he could not and appealed to the Prophet ﷺ, “Will you order someone to help me in lifting it?” The Prophet ﷺ said, “No.” Then Al-‘Abbas said, “Then will you yourself help me carry it?” The Prophet ﷺ said, “No.” Then Al ‘Abbas threw away some of the money, but even then he was not able to lift it, and so he gain requested the Prophet ﷺ “Will you order someone to help me carry it?” The Prophet ﷺ said, “No.” Then Al-‘Abbas said, “Then will you yourself yelp me carry it?” The Prophet ﷺ said, ‘No.” So, Al-‘Abbas threw away some more money and lifted it on his shoulder and went away. The Prophet ﷺ kept on looking at him with astonishment at his greediness till he went out of our sight. Allah’s Messenger ﷺ did not get up from there till not a single Dirham remained from that money.

The Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever killed a person having a treaty with the Muslims, shall not smell the smell of Paradise though its smell is perceived from a distance of forty years.”

While we were in the Mosque, the Prophet ﷺ came out and said, “Let us go to the Jews” We went out till we reached Bait-ul-Midras. He said to them, “If you embrace Islam, you will be safe. You should know that the earth belongs to Allah and His Messenger ﷺ, and I want to expel you from this land. So, if anyone amongst you owns some property, he is permitted to sell it, otherwise you should know that the Earth belongs to Allah and His Messenger ﷺ.”

that he heard Ibn ‘Abbas saying, “Thursday! And you know not what Thursday is? After that Ibn ‘Abbas wept till the stones on the ground were soaked with his tears. On that I asked Ibn ‘Abbas, “What is (about) Thursday?” He said, “When the condition (i.e. health) of Allah’s Messenger ﷺ deteriorated, he said, ‘Bring me a bone of scapula, so that I may write something for you after which you will never go astray.’The people differed in their opinions although it was improper to differ in front of a prophet, They said, ‘What is wrong with him? Do you think he is delirious? Ask him (to understand). The Prophet ﷺ replied, ‘Leave me as I am in a better state than what you are asking me to do.’ Then the Prophet ﷺ ordered them to do three things saying, ‘Turn out all the pagans from the Arabian Peninsula, show respect to all foreign delegates by giving them gifts as I used to do.’ ” The sub-narrator added, “The third order was something beneficial which either Ibn ‘Abbas did not mention or he mentioned but I forgot.’

When Khaibar was conquered, a roasted poisoned sheep was presented to the Prophets as a gift (by the Jews). The Prophet ﷺ ordered, “Let all the Jews who have been here, be assembled before me.” The Jews were collected and the Prophet ﷺ said (to them), “I am going to ask you a question. Will you tell the truth?” They said, “Yes.’ The Prophet ﷺ asked, “Who is your father?” They replied, “So-and-so.” He said, “You have told a ie; your father is so-and-so.” They said, “You are right.” He siad, “Will you now tell me the truth, if I ask you about something?” They replied, “Yes, O AbuAl-Qasim; and if we should tell a lie, you can realize our lie as you have done regarding our father.” On that he asked, “Who are the people of the (Hell) Fire?” They said, “We shall remain in the (Hell) Fire for a short period, and after that you will replace us.” The Prophet ﷺ said, “You may be cursed and humiliated in it! By Allah, we shall never replace you in it.” Then he asked, “Will you now tell me the truth if I ask you a question?” They said, “Yes, O Ab Li-Al-Qasim.” He asked, “Have you poisoned this sheep?” They said, “Yes.” He asked, “What made you do so?” They said, “We wanted to know if you were a liar in which case we would get rid of you, and if you are a prophet then the poison would not harm you.”

I asked Anas about the Qunut (i.e. invocation in the prayer). Anas said, “It should be recited before bowing.” I said, “So-and-so claims that you say that it should be recited after bowing.” He replied, “He is mistaken.” Then Anas narrated to us that the Prophet ﷺ invoked evil on the tribe of Bani-Sulaim for one month after bowing. ‘ Anas Further said, “The Prophet ﷺ had sent 40 or 70 Qaris (i.e. men well versed in the knowledge of the Qur’an) to some pagans, but the latter struggled with them and martyred them, although there was a peace pact between them and the Prophet ﷺ I had never seen the Prophet ﷺ so sorry and worried about anybody as he was about them (i.e. the Qaris).”

the daughter of Abu Talib: I went to Allah’s Messenger ﷺ on the day of the conquest of Makkah and found him taking a bath, and his daughter Fatima was screening him. I greeted him and he asked, “Who is that?” I said, “I, Um Hani bint Abi Talib.” He said, “Welcome, O Um Hani.” When he had finished his bath, he stood up and offered eight Rak’at while dressed in one garment. I said, “O Allah’s Messenger ﷺ! My brother ‘Ali has declared that he will kill a man to whom I have granted asylum. The man is so and-so bin Hubaira.” Allah’s Messenger ﷺ said, “O Um Hani! We will grant asylum to the one whom you have granted asylum.” (Um Hani said, “That (visit) took place in the Duha (i.e. forenoon)).

‘Ali delivered a sermon saying, “We have no book to read except the Book of Allah and what is written in this paper which contains verdicts regarding (retaliation for) wounds, the ages of the camels (given as Zakat or as blood money) and the fact that Al-Madina is a sanctuary in between Air mountain to so-and-so (mountain). So, whoever innovates in it an heresy or commits a sin or gives shelter in it, to such an innovator will incur the Curse of Allah, the angels and all the people, and none of his compulsory or optional good deeds of worship will be accepted. And whoever (freed slave) takes as his master (i.e. befriends) other than his real masters will incur the same (Curse). And the asylum granted by any Muslim is to be secured by all the other Muslims, and whoever betrays a Muslim in this respect will incur the same (Curse).”

‘Abdullah bin Sahl and Muhaiyisa bin Mas’ud bin Zaid set out to Khaibar, the inhabitants of which had a peace treaty with the Muslims at that time. They parted and later on Muhaiyisa came upon ‘Abdullah bin Sah! and found him murdered agitating in his blood. He buried him and returned to Al-Madina. ‘Abdur Rahman bin Sahl, Muhaiyisa and Huwaiuisa, the sons of Mas’ud came to the Prophet ﷺ and ‘Abdur Rahman intended to talk, but the Prophet ﷺ said (to him), “Let the eldest of you speak.” as ‘Abdur-Rahman was the youngest:. ‘Abdur-Rahman kept silent and the other two spoke. The Prophet ﷺ said, “If you swear as to who has committed the murder, you will have the right to take your right from the murderer.” They said, “How should we swear if we did not witness the murder or see the murderer?” The Prophet ﷺ said, “Then the Jews can clear themselves from the charge by taking Alaska (an oath taken by men that it was not they who committed the murder).” The!y said, “How should we believe in the oaths of infidels?” So, the Prophet ﷺ himself paid the blood money (of ‘Abdullah). (See Hadith No. 36 Vol. 9.)

That Abu Sufyan bin Harb Informed him that Heraclius called him and the members of a caravan from Quraish who had gone to Sham as traders, during the truce which Allah’s Messenger ﷺ had concluded with Abu Sufyan and the Quraish infidels.

Once the Prophet ﷺ was bewitched so that he began to imagine that he had done a thing which in fact he had not done.

I went to the Prophet ﷺ during the Ghazwa of Tabuk while he was sitting in a leather tent. He said, “Count six signs that indicate the approach of the Hour: my death, the conquest of Jerusalem, a plague that will afflict you (and kill you in great numbers) as the plague that afflicts sheep, the increase of wealth to such an extent that even if one is given one hundred Dinars, he will not be satisfied; then an affliction which no Arab house will escape, and then a truce between you and Bani Al-Asfar (i.e. the Byzantines) who will betray you and attack you under eighty flags. Under each flag will be twelve thousand soldiers.

Abu Bakr, on the day of Nahr (i.e. slaughtering of animals for sacrifice), sent me in the company of others to make this announcement: “After this year, no pagan will be allowed to perform the Hajj, and none will be allowed to perform the Tawaf of the Ka’bah undressed.” And the day of Al-Hajj-ul-Akbar is the day of Nahr, and it called Al-Akbar because the people call the ‘Umra Al-Hajj-ul-Asghar (i.e. the minor Hajj). Abu Bakr threw back the pagans’ covenant that year, and therefore, no pagan performed the Hajj in the year of Hajj-ul-Wada’ of the Prophets.

Allah’s Messenger ﷺ said, “Whoever has (the following) four characteristics will be a pure hypocrite: “If he speaks, he tells a lie; if he gives a promise, he breaks it, if he makes a covenant he proves treacherous; and if he quarrels, he behaves in a very imprudent evil insulting manner (unjust). And whoever has one of these characteristics, has one characteristic of a hypocrite, unless he gives it us.”

We did not, write anything from the Prophet ﷺ except the Qur’an and what is written in this paper, (wherein) the Prophet ﷺ said, “Al-Madina is a sanctuary from (the mountain of) Air to so and-so, therefore, whoever innovates (in it) an heresy or commits a sin, or gives shelter to such an innovator, will incur the Curse of Allah. the angels and all the people; and none of his compulsory or optional good deeds of worship will be accepted And the asylum granted by any Muslim Is to be secured by all the Muslims even if it is granted by one of the lowest social status among them. And whoever betrays a Muslim in this respect will incur the Curse of Allah, the angels and all the people, and his compulsory and optional good deeds of worship will not be accepted. And any freed slave will take as masters (befriends) people other than his own real masters who freed him without taking the permission of the latter, will incur the Curse of Allah, the angels and all the people, and his compulsory and optional good deeds of worship will not be accepted.”

Abu Hurairah once said (to the people), “What will your state be when you can get no Dinar or Dirhan (i.e. taxes from the Dhimmis)?” on that someone asked him, “What makes you know that this state will take place, O Abu- Hu raira?” He said, “By Him in Whose Hands Abu Hurairah’s life is, I know it through the statement of the true and truly inspired one (i.e. the Prophet ﷺ).” The people asked, “What does the Statement say?” He replied, “Allah and His Messenger’s ﷺ asylum granted to Dhimmis, i.e. non-Muslims living in a Muslim territory) will be outraged, and so Allah will make the hearts of these Dhimmis so daring that they will refuse to pay the Jizya they will be supposed to pay.”

I asked Abu Wail, “Did you take part in the battle of Siffin?” He said, ‘Yes, and I heard Sahl bin Hunaif (when he was blamed for lack of zeal for fighting) saying, “You’d better blame your wrong opinions. I wish you had seen me on the day of Abu Jandal. If I had the courage to disobey the Prophet’s ﷺ orders, I would have done so. We had kept out swords on our necks and shoulders, for a thing which frightened us. And we did so, we found it easier for us, except in the case of the above battle (of ours).’ “

We were in Siffin and Sahl bin Hunaif got up and said, “O people! Blame yourselves! We were with the Prophet ﷺ on the day of Hudaibiya, and if we had been called to fight, we would have fought. But ‘Umar bin Al Khatab came and said, ‘O Allah’s Messenger ﷺ! Aren’t we in the right and our opponents in the wrongs’ Allah’s Messenger ﷺ said, ‘Yes.’ ‘Umar said, ‘Aren’t our killed persons in Paradise and their’s in Hell?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ ‘Umar said, ‘Then why should we accept hard terms in matters concerning our religion? Shall we return before Allah judges between us and them?’ Allah’s Messenger ﷺ said, ‘O Ibn Al-Khattab! I am the Messenger ﷺ of Allah and Allah will never degrade me. Then ‘Umar went to Abu Bakr and told him the same as he had told the Prophet ﷺ.

On that Abu Bakr said (to ‘Umar). ‘He is the Messenger ﷺ of Allah and Allah will never degrade him.’ Then Surat-al-Fath (i.e. Victory) was revealed and Allah’s Messenger ﷺ recited it to the end in front of ‘Umar. On that ‘Umar asked, ‘O Allah’s Messenger ﷺ! Was it (i.e. the Hudaibiya Treaty) a victory?’ Allah’s Messenger ﷺ said, “Yes”

During the period of the peace treaty of Quraish with Allah’s Messenger ﷺ, my mother, accompanied by her father, came to visit me, and she was a pagan. I consulted Allah’s Messenger ﷺ, “O Allah’s Messenger ﷺ! My mother has come to me and she desires to receive a reward from me, shall I keep good relation with her?” He said, “Yes, keep good relation with her.”

When the Prophet ﷺ intended to perform the ‘Umra he sent a person to the people of Makkah asking their permission to enter Makkah. They stipulated that he would not stay for more than three days and would not enter it except with sheathed arms and would not preach (Islam) to any of them. So ‘Ali bin Abi-Talib started writing the treaty between them. He wrote, “This is what Muhammad, Messenger ﷺ of Allah has agreed to.” The (Meccans) said, “If we knew that you (Muhammad ﷺ) are the Messenger ﷺ of Allah, then we would not have prevented you and would have followed you. But write, ‘This is what Muhammad bin ‘Abdullah has agreed to..’ ” On that Allah’s Messenger ﷺ said, “By Allah, I am Muhammad bin ‘Abdullah, and, by Allah, I am Messenger ﷺ of ‘Allah.” Allah’s Messenger ﷺ used not to write; so he asked ‘Ali to erase the expression of Messenger ﷺ of Allah. On that ‘Ali said, “By Allah I will never erase it.” Allah’s Messenger ﷺ said (to ‘Ali), “Let me see the paper.” When ‘Ali showed him the paper, the Prophet ﷺ erased the expression with his own hand. When Allah’s Messenger ﷺ had entered Makkah and three days had elapsed, the Meccans came to ‘Ali and said, “Let your friend (i.e. the Prophet ﷺ) quit Makkah.” ‘Ali informed Allah’s Messenger ﷺ about it and Allah’s Messenger ﷺ said, “Yes,” and then he departed.

While the Prophet ﷺ was in the state of prostration, surrounded by a group of people from Quraish pagans. ‘Uqba bin Abi Mu’ait came and brought the intestines of a camel and threw them on the back of the Prophet ﷺ . The Prophet ﷺ did not raise his head from prostration till Fatima (i.e. his daughter) came and removed those intestines from his back, and invoked evil on whoever had done (the evil deed). The Prophet ﷺ said, “O Allah! Destroy the chiefs of Quraish, O Allah! Destroy Abu Jahl bin Hisham, ‘Utba bin Rabi’a, Shaiba bin Rabi’a. ‘Uqba bin Abi Mu’ait ‘Umaiya bin Khalaf (or Ubai bin Kalaf).” Later on I saw all of them killed during the battle of Badr and their bodies were thrown into a well except the body of Umaiya or Ubai, because he was a fat person, and when he was pulled, the parts of his body got separated before he was thrown into the well.

The Prophet ﷺ said, ”Every betrayer will have a flag on the Day of Resurrection” One of the two sub-narrators said that the flag would be fixed, and the other said that it would be shown on the Day of Resurrection, so that the betrayer might be recognized by it.

The Prophet ﷺ said, “Every betrayer will have a flag which will be fixed on the Day of Resurrection, and the flag’s prominence will be made in order to show the betrayal he committed.”

Allah’s Messenger ﷺ said on the day of the conquest of Makkah, “There is no migration now, but there is Jihad (i.e.. holy battle) and good intentions. And when you are called for Jihad, you should come out at once” Allah’s Messenger ﷺ also said, on the day of the conquest of Makkah, “Allah has made this town a sanctuary since the day He created the Heavens and the Earth. So, it is a sanctuary by Allah’s Decree till the Day of Resurrection. Fighting in it was not legal for anyone before me, and it was made legal for me only for an hour by daytime. So, it (i.e. Makkah) is a sanctuary by Allah’s Decree till the Day of Resurrection. Its thorny bushes should not be cut, and its game should not be chased, its fallen property (i.e. Luqata) should not be picked up except by one who will announce it publicly; and its grass should not be uprooted,” On that Al-‘Abbas said, “O Allah’s Messenger ﷺ! Except the Idhkhir, because it is used by the goldsmiths and by the people for their houses.” On that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Except the Idhkhir.”