Ibn an-Nawwahah was a messenger for
Musaylimah
Musaylima ( ar, مُسَيْلِمَةُ), otherwise known as Maslama ibn Ḥabīb ( ar, مَسْلَمَةُ بْنُ حَبِيبٍ) d.632, was a preacher of monotheism from the Banu Hanifa tribe. He claimed to be a prophet in 7th-century Arabia ...
, a purported
prophet
In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...
during the time of
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
who had gained a significant following through his tricks and miracles, teachings and from the fact that he was from Yamamah. Many people of the Rabiah Tribe of Yamamah were greatly hostile to Muhammad and the tribe of
Quraish
The Quraysh ( ar, قُرَيْشٌ) were a grouping of Arab clans that historically inhabited and controlled the city of Mecca and its Kaaba. The Islamic prophet Muhammad was born into the Hashim clan of the tribe. Despite this, many of the Qu ...
, so in an exchange between a man of the Rabiah tribe and Musaylimah, one man said:
:''"...a liar of the Rabi'ah tribe of Yamamah is better than a truthful person of the Mazar tribe of the Hijaz"
1
Ibn an-Nawwahah went to Muhammad with a message from Musaylimah consisting of Musaylimah's idea that the world should be split between himself and Muhammad, as they were both prophets of Allah. Muhammad retorted that the division of the world is for Allah to decide. In an exchange between an-Nawwahah and some other messengers of Musaylimah recorded in
Sunan Abu Dawood
''Sunan Abu Dawood'' ( ar-at, سنن أبي داود, Sunan Abī Dāwūd) is one of the ''Kutub al-Sittah'' (six major hadith collections), collected by Abu Dawud al-Sijistani (d.889).
Introduction
Abu Dawood compiled twenty-one books related to ...
br>
14:2755
:''I heard the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) say when he read the letter of Musaylimah: What do you believe yourselves? They said: We believe as he believes. He said: I swear by Allah that were it not that messengers are not killed, I would cut off your heads.''
Muhammad couldn't kill them because they were diplomatic emissaries, but this statement made by him would stick in the minds of some Muslims. Ultimately Ibn an-Nawwahah's life still ended by the sword of a Muslim, namely
Qarazah ibn Ka'b as recorded in Sunan Abu Dawoo
14:2756
:''
Harithah ibn Mudarrib said that he came to Abdullah ibn Mas'ud and said (to him): There is no enmity between me and any of the Arabs. I passed a mosque of Banu Hanifah. They (the people) believed in Musaylimah.
Abdullah (ibn Mas'ud) sent for them. They were brought, and he asked them to repent, except Ibn an-Nawwahah. He said to him: I heard the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) say: Were it not that you were not a messenger, I would behead you. But today you are not a messenger. He then ordered Qarazah ibn Ka'b (to kill him). He beheaded him in the market. Anyone who wants to see Ibn an-Nawwahah slain in the market (he may see him).''
It isn't completely settled whether Ibn an-Nawwahah was the only messenger or if other followers of Musaylimah had accompanied him, but it is more likely that an-Nawwahah was the only such messenger.
See also
*
Non-Muslim interactants with Muslims during Muhammad's era
This is a list of the non-Muslim interactants with Muslims during Muhammad's era. In Islam, the Ṣaḥābah ( ar, الصحابة "companions") were the companions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. This form is plural; the singular is ''Ṣaḥā ...
External links
A chapter from "The Message"
{{DEFAULTSORT:An-Nawwahah, Ibn
7th-century Arabs