Musaylima (), d.632, was a claimant of prophethood from the Banu Hanifa tribe. Based from

Diriyah Diriyah (; formerly romanization of Arabic, romanized as Dereyeh and Dariyya) is a towns in Saudi Arabia, town and governorate in Saudi Arabia. Located on the northwestern outskirts of the Saudi capital, Riyadh, Diriyah was the original home of t ...

in present day

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

, he claimed to be a

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divinity, divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings ...

and was an enemy of Islam in 7th-century Arabia. He was a leader of the enemies of Islam during the

Ridda wars The Ridda Wars were a series of military campaigns launched by the first caliph Abu Bakr against rebellious Arabian tribes, some of which were led by rival prophet claimants. They began shortly after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad in ...

. He is considered by

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

to be a

false prophet In religion, a false prophet or pseudoprophet is a person who falsely claims the gift of prophecy or divine inspiration, or to speak for God, or who makes such claims for evil ends. Often, someone who is considered a "true prophet" by some peop ...

(). He is commonly called Musaylima al-Kadhāb () by Muslims. Musaylima was said to have composed in

saj' Saj' () is a form of rhymed prose defined by its relationship to and use of end-rhyme, meter, and parallelism. There are two types of parallelism in saj': ''iʿtidāl'' (rhythmical parallelism, meaning "balance") and ''muwāzana'' (qualitative m ...

, a type of rhymed prose that was common in pre-Islamic artistic speech.

Etymology

Musaylima's actual name was '' Maslama'', but Muslims altered his name to Musaylima, which is the

diminutive A diminutive is a word obtained by modifying a root word to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment, and sometimes to belittle s ...

of Maslama (i.e., 'Little Maslama'). The name ''maslama'' contains an Arabic or Syriac participal-nominal substratum like ''muslim'' (submitter). Maslama may be a title derived from ''aslam'' which is a verb associated with prophethood.

Early life

Musaylima was the son of Habib, of the tribe Banu Hanifa, one of the largest tribes of Arabia that inhabited the region of

Najd Najd is a Historical region, historical region of the Arabian Peninsula that includes most of the central region of Saudi Arabia. It is roughly bounded by the Hejaz region to the west, the Nafud desert in Al-Jawf Province, al-Jawf to the north, ...

. The Banu Hanifa were a

monotheist Monotheism is the belief that one God is the only, or at least the dominant deity.F. L. Cross, Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. A ...

branch of

Banu Bakr The Banu Bakr bin Wa'il ( '), or simply Banu Bakr, today known as Bani Bakr is an Arabian tribe belonging to the large Rabi'ah, a branch of Adnanite tribe. It is registered as one of the oldest and most ancient Arab gatherings. The tribe is rep ...

and led an independent existence prior to

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

. Among the first accounts of him describe events in the late 9th Hijri, the Year of Delegations, when he accompanied a delegation of his tribe to

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

. The delegation included two other prominent Muslims. They would later help Musaylima rise to power and save their tribe from destruction. These men were Nahar Ar-Rajjal bin Unfuwa and Muja'a bin Marara. In Medina, the deputation stayed with the daughter of al-Harith, a woman of the Ansar from the

Banu Najjar Banu Najjar (, "sons of the carpenter") or Banu al-Naggar is the name of several unrelated historical and modern-day tribes throughout the Arab world. The individual tribes vary in religious composition. In Islamic history One Banu Najjar group ...

. When the delegation arrived at Medina the camels were tied in a traveler's camp, and Musaylima remained there to look after them while the other delegates went in. They had talks with

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

. The delegation before their departure embraced Islam and renounced

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

without compunction. As was his custom, Muhammad presented gifts to the delegates, and when they had received their gifts one said, "We left one of our comrades in the camp to look after our mounts." Muhammad gave them gifts for him also, and added, "He is not the least among you that he should stay behind to guard the property of his comrades." On their return they converted the tribe of Banu Hanifa to Islam.

Self-proclaimed prophethood

Musaylima, who is alleged as having been a skilled magician by Muslim historians, is said to have performed unusual feats that amazed onlookers. Musaylima also shared verses purporting them to have been revelations from God.

Al-Tabari Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr ibn Yazīd al-Ṭabarī (; 839–923 CE / 224–310 AH), commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Sunni Muslim scholar, polymath, historian, exegete, jurist, and theologian from Amol, Tabaristan, present- ...

in his History of the Prophets and Kings chronicles that Musaylima also proposed to share power over Arabia with Muhammad. On 10 Hijri, he wrote to Muhammad: Muhammad, is said to have replied:

Personal life

During the

which emerged following the death of Muhammad, Sajah bint al-Harith declared that she was a prophetess after learning that Musaylima and Tulayha had declared prophethood.E.J. Brill's first encyclopedia of Islam, 1913–1936 By M. Th. Houtsma, p665 4,000 people gathered around her to march on

. Others joined her against Medina. However, her planned attack on Medina was called off after she learned that the army of

Khalid ibn al-Walid Khalid ibn al-Walid ibn al-Mughira al-Makhzumi (; died 642) was a 7th-century Arabs, Arab military commander. He initially led campaigns against Muhammad on behalf of the Quraysh. He later became a Muslim and spent the remainder of his career ...

had defeated Tulayha al-Asadi (another self-proclaimed prophet).The Life of the Prophet Muhammad: Al-Sira Al-Nabawiyya By Ibn Kathir, Trevor Le Gassick, Muneer Fareed, pg. 36. Thereafter, she sought cooperation with Musaylima to oppose the threat of Khalid. A mutual understanding was initially reached with Musaylima. Eventually, the two married and she accepted his prophethood (although she later recanted and died a Muslim). Khalid then defeated the remaining rebellious elements around Sajah, and then moved on to defeat Musaylima.

Death

Musaylima fought in the

Battle of Yamama The Battle of Yamama was fought in December 632 as part of the Ridda Wars against a rebellion within the Rashidun Caliphate in the region of al-Yamama (in present-day Saudi Arabia, South of Riyadh City) between the forces of Abu Bakr and Musay ...

, and was killed by Wahshi ibn Harb.

Notes

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Musaylima Year of birth unknown 633 deaths Medieval Arabs killed in battle Converts to Islam from Christianity Opponents of Muhammad Arab prophets People of the Ridda Wars Self-declared messiahs 632 deaths