Musaylimah

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Musaylimah(مسيلمة) or Maslamah ben Habib (مسلمة بن حبيب) was one of a series of men who claimed to be a prophet around the same time as Muhammad. He is often viewed as a "false prophet" by traditional accounts, and frequently referred to by the epithet الكذّاب al-Kazaab, or "the Liar."^[1]

Contents 1 Name and biography 2 Proclaiming prophethood 3 Death 4 Works of Musaylimah 5 See also 6 References

[edit] Name and biography

Musaylimah's name was Ibn Habib al-Hanefi, which indicates that he was the son of Habib, of the tribe Banu Hanifa, one of the largest tribes of Arabia that inhabited the region of Yamamah. The Banu Hanifa were a Christian branch of Banu Bakr and led an independent existence prior to Islam.

Musaylimah was the theocratic lord of a sacred haram or enclave which, according to one report, he had set up in Yamamah before the prophet's hijrah. He thus controlled an extensive area of the eastern Arabia. He controlled more extensive territories and properties than Muhammad.

Among the first records of him is in late 9th Hijri, the Year of Delegations' when he accompanied a delegation of his tribe to Medina. The delegation included two other prominent Muslims. They would later help Musaylimah rise to power and save their tribe from destruction. These men were Nahar Ar-Rajjal bin Unfuwa (or Rahhal)^[2] 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.

When the delegation arrived at Medinah the camels were tied in a traveller's camp, and Musaylimah remained there to look after them while the other delegates went in.

They had talks with Muhammad. The delegation before their departure, embraced Islam and denounced Christianity 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. They built a mosque at Yamamah and started regular prayers.

[edit] Proclaiming prophethood

While at Yamamah, Musaylimah proclaimed his prophethood and gathered the people, referring to Muhammad, addressed them:

"I have been given a share with him in this matter. Did he not say to our delegates that I was not the least among them? This could only mean that he knew that I had a share with him in this matter."

Then he began in rhyming speech and in imitation of the Qu'ran:"God has bestowed favors upon this pregnant woman; He has brought forth from her a living being that moves from between the bowels and peritoneum."

Musaylimah, who is reported as having been a skilled magician,^[3] dazzled the crowd with apparent miracles. He could put an egg in a bottle; he could cut off the feathers of a bird and then stick them on so the bird would fly again; and he used this skill to persuade the people that he was divinely gifted.

Musaylimah shared verses purporting them to have been revelations from God and falsely told the crowd that Muhammad had shared power with him.^[4] Musaylimah even referred to himself as Rahman,^[5] which suggests that he may have attributed some divinity to himself. Thereafter, some of the people accepted him as a prophet alongside Muhammad. Gradually the influence and authority of Musaylimah increased with the people of his tribe. Musaylimah sought to abolish prayer and freely allow fornication and Alcohol consumption.^[6] He also took to addressing gatherings as an apostle of Allah just like Muhammad, and would compose verses and offer them, as Quranic revelations. Most of his verses extolled the superiority of his tribe, the Bani Hanifa, over the Quraish.

Musaylimah also proposed to share power over Arabia with Muhammad. Then one day, in late 10 Hijri, he wrote to Muhammad:

"From Musaylimah, Messenger of Allah, to Muhammad, Messenger of God. Salutations to you. I have been given a share with you in this matter. Half the earth belongs to us and half to the Quraish. But the Quraish are a people who transgress."

Muhammad, however, replied back:

“

"From Muhammad, the messenger of God, to Musaylimah, the arch-liar. Peace be upon him who follows (God's) guidance. Now then, surely the earth belongs to God, who bequeaths it to whom He will amongst his servants. The ultimate issue is to the God-fearing."[7]

”

An account by Hassan al-Basri relates the story of two Muslim men who had the misfortune of being captured by Musaylimah. Musaylimah asked one of them, "Do you bear witness that Muhammad is the son of God?" "Yes"', answered the man. "Do you bear witness that i am the son of God?" Again, the man repied affirmatively. Musaylimah thus let him go. Muhammad then asked the other man if he bore witness to Muhammad's prophethood. The man replied that he did. Then Musaylimah asked him if he recognized his own prophethood, which he repeated three times. The man, however, answered each time, "I am deaf." Musaylimah had the man executed. The prophet commented thus about this incident: "As for the man who was killed, he departed with his truth and certainty; Happy is he! But as for the other man, he availed himself of God's leniency: hence, there is no blame on him."

According to Sir William Muir, Musaylimah's religion was "a wretched travesty of Islam."

[edit] Death

After Muhammad's death, Musaylimah rose up against the new Caliph Abu Bakr but his forces were soundly defeated by Khalid ibn al-Walid^[8] as Musaylimah was killed by Wahshy ibn Harb in the Battle of Yamamah.

After the death of Musaylimah, a deputation of Banu Hanifa waited on Abu Bakr. He inquired of them what were the teachings of Musaylimah. As a specimen of his teaching they recited the following verse, which was to have been revealed to him: "O frog! Holy are you. You do not prevent the drinker, nor do you make the water dirty. Half the world belongs to us, and half to the Quraish, but the Quraish are a cruel people." On hearing this, Abu Bakr remarked: "God be praised. Is this the divine word? It has no sublimity of divinity. To what depths he had dragged you". [1]

[edit] Works of Musaylimah

Examples of his claimed revelations are quoted by some early Muslim authors as indications of his disingenuousness; the best-known of them reads like a parody of the Qur'anic surat al-Fil:

"The elephant. What is the elephant? And who shall tell you what is the elephant? He has a ropy tail and a long trunk. This is a [mere] trifle of our Lord's creations."

Another work of Musaylimah, alluded to in Tafsir Ibn Kathir, where it is described as a response to the Quranic chapter of al-Asr (it has a similar rhyme scheme to al-Asr, in Arabic), is:

O hyrax (Wabr), O hyrax! You are only two ears and a chest, and the rest of you is digging and burrowing.^[9]

[edit] See also

• Prestidigitators
• Non-Muslim interactants with Muslims during Muhammad's era

[edit] References