Letter · Weeks or months into Thumamah's grain embargo of the Quraysh, 6 AH
Ya Muhammad ﷺ, you claim you are preaching to be good to your relatives, yet here you are letting us wither away.
In Shawwal of 6 AH, a small expedition (sariyya) of 30 Companions under Muhammad ibn Maslamah RA was sent to al-Qurta' against the tribe of Banu Bakr ibn Kilab. On the way back, they came across a small convoy that seemed suspicious and brought its men back as prisoners. They did not realise who they had captured. One of them was Thumamah ibn Uthal, the chieftain of the Banu Hanifa, one of the largest tribes in Arabia. Thumamah had openly sided with the pagans and had publicly threatened to kill the Prophet ﷺ.
The Prophet ﷺ had earlier prayed to Allah to give him control over Thumamah, and he recognised him at once. He ordered that Thumamah be treated with honour. Thumamah was kept tied up in the Prophet ﷺ's masjid for three days and was sent the Prophet ﷺ's own food. Each morning the Prophet ﷺ asked him what he had to say, and each time Thumamah gave the same dignified answer. On the third day the Prophet ﷺ had him released. Thumamah went out, bathed, and soon came back to declare his shahada, the testimony of faith.
Thumamah then went on to Makkah to perform the umrah he had been travelling to make, and he openly announced his new faith there. When the Quraysh confronted him, he swore that no grain would reach them from his lands until they followed Islam. He then cut off the grain supply from the Najd, in central Arabia, to the Quraysh. In the end Abu Sufyan wrote to the Prophet ﷺ, appealing to him as a relative. The Prophet ﷺ then wrote to Thumamah asking him to let the supply resume.
Outcome: Thumamah embraced Islam. Years later, when Musaylimah, the false prophet of his own tribe, rose up in the Ridda wars, Thumamah fought on the side of the Muslims against his tribe. He eventually died a martyr.
Thumamah's conversion brought much of the powerful Banu Hanifa tribe toward Islam and demonstrated the Prophet ﷺ's practice of answering harshness with gentleness. It is also a foundational hadith for the permissibility of non-Muslims entering the masjid and for the recommendation that a new Muslim take a bath upon converting.
Other events recorded in 6 AH. Their order within the year is not established; use the storyline above for the sequence.
Ya Muhammad ﷺ, you claim you are preaching to be good to your relatives, yet here you are letting us wither away.
Wallahi, not a single seed of grain will come to you from the Banu Hanifa and from up north until you follow the religion of Muhammad ﷺ.
Said to the Quraysh in Makkah after they surrounded him with drawn swords for proclaiming his new faith; his tribe the Banu Hanifa, from the Najd, controlled the highway bringing grain from the north to Makkah.
Ya Muhammad ﷺ, I swear by Allah, there was no face in the whole world that was more despised and hated to me than your face, but wallahi, it is now the most beautiful and most beloved face to me. And I swear by Allah, there was no religion I hated more than yours, but now wallahi, it is the most beloved to me. And I swear by Allah, there was no city I hated more than yours, but now wallahi, it is the most beloved to me.
O Allah, allow me to have control over Thumamah.
Do you not know who your prisoner is? ... You have captured Thumamah ibn Uthal.
What do you have to say for yourself?
Ya Muhammad ﷺ, if you are going to kill me, you are going to kill someone whose blood is very heavy; and if you are generous, you are going to be generous to someone who recognizes your generosity and will repay you. And if you want money, ask for whatever you want and you have your price.
Given identically on each of the three days he was held.
I was on my way to do umrah when you captured me. Now that I am a Muslim, should I continue my umrah?
Yes, go and continue your umrah.
Why are you astonished? A man ate in the morning with the stomach of a disbeliever, and now he is eating at night with the stomach of a Muslim. Verily, a disbeliever eats with seven stomachs, and a Muslim eats with one stomach.
I entered Makkah reciting the proper talbiyah of Islam, openly proclaiming my faith before the Quraysh.
No, I have become a Muslim. And I testify that there is no god except Allah, and that Muhammad ﷺ is the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
The Quraysh, hearing him recite the Islamic talbiyah, asked whether he had left his ancestors' religion and become a Sabi'.