Saying · 9 AH
I give you good news, O people of Tamim.
Saying · 9 AH
You are giving us good news, so give us then the money.
~9 AH · 9 AH
Imran ibn Husayn RA narrated this hadith. He was sitting in the mosque when a delegation of Banu Tamim arrived to announce that they had become Muslims. Banu Tamim were Bedouins from Najd, known for being rough and harsh, and most of the Confederate army at the Battle of the Trench had come from that region. The Prophet ﷺ said to them, "I give you good news, O people of Tamim." He meant the good news of Paradise. They misunderstood him and thought he was offering them something of this world, so they said, "You are giving us good news, so give us then the money." Out of good manners, the Prophet ﷺ stayed silent.
Then a delegation from Himyar in Yemen arrived and announced that they too had become Muslims. The Prophet ﷺ said, "O people of Himyar, accept the good news since the people of Banu Tamim did not accept it." They replied, "We accept the good news! And we have come all the way from Yemen asking you about the creation, how did Allah create it, and how did it all begin?" The Prophet ﷺ answered, "There was Allah, and there was nothing before Him. And He then created the heavens and the earth while His Throne was on the water."
Just then, someone called out to Imran that his camel had run off. He ran after it into the desert, but he neither caught the camel nor heard the rest of the hadith. He later wished he had let the camel go. Imran was the only one to report this hadith. The men of Himyar went back to Yemen and did not pass it on, so the rest of what the Prophet ﷺ said that day has not come down to us.
This is one of the most famous and theologically significant hadiths in the Seerah, cited by Ibn Taymiyyah and others as evidence that this creation is not the only thing Allah has created: the Throne and the water existed even before the heavens and the earth.
Other events recorded in 9 AH. Their order within the year is not established; use the storyline above for the sequence.
I give you good news, O people of Tamim.
You are giving us good news, so give us then the money.
O people of Himyar, accept the good news, since the people of Banu Tamim did not accept it.
Said to the newly arrived delegation of Himyar, immediately after the delegates of Banu Tamim had mistaken the same words as a promise of money.
We accept the good news! And we have come all the way from Yemen asking you about the creation: how did Allah create it, and how did it all begin?
There was Allah, and there was nothing before Him. And He then created the heavens and the earth while His Throne was on the water.
As I was sitting there, someone yelled out to me, "O Imran! Your camel has fled!" So I rushed out and ran after it in the desert. Neither did I get the camel, nor did I catch the hadith. How I wish now I had let the camel go and finished the hadith.
The people of Yemen have come to you; they have the best of souls and the softest of hearts. Faith is Yemeni and wisdom is also Yemeni.
O Allah, bless us in our Sham and in our Yemen.
How about Najd, O Messenger of Allah ﷺ?
From there will come the earthquakes, fitna, and tribulations.
Said pointing toward Najd, after the man asked three times and the Prophet ﷺ repeated "Sham and Yemen" each time.
I will be the one in charge of my Fountain on the Day of Judgment, and I will be the one to make sure people make space for the people of Yemen, and I shall be beating with my stick until space is made for them.