Musaylimah al-Kadhdhab, "Musaylimah the Liar", was an elderly and highly respected leader of Banu Hanifa in al-Yamamah. He watched his tribe split as Islam spread. The nobleman Thumamah ibn Uthal RA and his followers became Muslims, while others held to the old ways. Musaylimah told his people that he would follow the Prophet ﷺ on two conditions. The Prophet ﷺ must give him power after his death, and must share prophethood with him "like Musa shared with his brother Harun." He then travelled to Madinah to negotiate.
His followers brought him into the mosque shielded with fine cloth, as if he were a king. He put his conditions to the Prophet ﷺ directly. The Prophet ﷺ was holding a tree branch, and he said, "Wallahi, if you asked me for this stick, I wouldn't even give this to you."
After returning home, Musaylimah wrote to the Prophet ﷺ, calling himself a Messenger of Allah alongside him. He claimed that the Quraysh had half of "the matter" and he had the other half. The Prophet ﷺ asked the two men who delivered the letter what they said about Musaylimah, and they said they agreed with the letter. The Prophet ﷺ told them that, were it not that envoys are never harmed, he would have had them executed, because their claim was open disbelief.
Musaylimah also composed imitations of the Qur'an. One was a reworking of Surah al-Kawthar. Another, which he called Surah al-Difda', "the Chapter of the Frog", was addressed to a frog. When he recited his own version of Surah al-Fil to a passing Arab who was not even a Muslim, the man told him, "Wallahi, you know that I know that you are a liar."
To the best of our knowledge, Musaylimah was the first person ever both to claim prophethood falsely and to try to imitate the Qur'an. Before Islam, the Arabs had never known anyone to claim to be a prophet. When Heraclius questioned Abu Sufyan RA, he asked whether this was common among the Arabs, and Abu Sufyan said it was not. Islam's success brought imitators in its wake. The Prophet ﷺ had warned, "After my death, you shall see 30 dajjals that are liars," and Musaylimah was one of them. He was killed in 12 AH, in the Wars of Ridda against the tribes that abandoned Islam, by Wahshi RA. Wahshi used the same javelin with which he had killed Hamzah ibn Abdul Muttalib RA at Uhud, hoping to atone for it. Banu Hanifa was the largest and worst of the tribes that left Islam in those wars.
Other events recorded in 9 AH. Their order within the year is not established; use the storyline above for the sequence.
If you make me in charge after you, and you share with me in your prophethood, then I will follow you.
Said to the Prophet ﷺ in Madinah, after his followers brought him into the Masjid draped in fine cloth like a king.
Wallahi, if you asked me for this stick, I wouldn't even give it to you. And Allah will deal with you and humiliate you. And I am certain that you are what Allah showed me.
From Musaylimah the Messenger of Allah, to Muhammad ﷺ the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Peace be on you. Know that I have been placed in this matter alongside you. The Quraysh have half of the matter, and I have the other half. But the Quraysh are a people who transgress.
Sent to the Prophet ﷺ in Madinah by two envoys, after Musaylimah's demand to share his rule and prophethood was refused.
What do you say about Musaylimah?
We are upon what the letter says.
Were it not for the fact that ambassadors are not harmed, I would have had the two of you executed.
We have given you precious materials. So pray to your Lord and pray early especially. Verily, the one who hates you is a kafir.
Musaylimah's mocking imitation of Surah al-Kawthar, part of his claimed "quran."
O toad, daughter of two toads, go ahead and continue to purify what you are purifying; neither do you make the water dirty, nor do you prevent the one who drinks from drinking. Your head is in the water and your tail is in the mud.
Musaylimah called this "Surah al-Difda'" (Chapter of the Frog), part of his claimed "quran."
You too are a prophet? Do you have anything like the other prophet has?
Yes, I have the quran. Listen to this: The elephant. What is the elephant? And what would have you know what the elephant is? It has a scraggly tail and a very long trunk...
Wallahi, you know that I know that you are a liar.
What was that dream the Prophet ﷺ talked about?
I heard the Prophet ﷺ say: "Once, when I was sleeping, I saw myself wearing two bracelets of gold, and I felt disturbed by this. It was inspired to me to blow on them, so I blew on them, and they broke off and went away from me. I interpret them to be two liars who will appear after me: the first of them the one from the tribe of Anas, and the second Musaylimah from al-Yamamah."