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.
A sariyya of 30 sahaba under Muhammad ibn Maslamah RA was sent to al-Qurta' against the tribe of Banu Bakr ibn Kilab in Shawwal of 6 AH. On the return journey the sahaba captured, without realizing it, Thumamah ibn Uthal, the chieftain of the Banu Hanifa and a public enemy of the Prophet ﷺ who had vowed to kill him. The Prophet ﷺ, who had earlier prayed for control over Thumamah, recognized him and ordered he be treated with honor. Thumamah was held for three days in the Prophet ﷺ's masjid, given the Prophet ﷺ's own food, and questioned each morning. On the third day he was released, and he returned shortly after to declare his shahada. He then performed umrah in Makkah, openly proclaiming his new faith, and afterward cut off the grain supply from the Najd to the Quraysh until the Prophet ﷺ, moved by Abu Sufyan's appeal, wrote to Thumamah asking that the supply resume.
Outcome: Thumamah embraced Islam and later fought against his own tribe, led by the false prophet Musaylimah, in the Ridda wars, dying 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'.