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8. Bali Delegation: Their arrival was in Rabi‘ Al-Awwal, the ninth year of Al-Hijra. They
embraced Islam, stayed in Madinah for three days. Their chief Abu Ad-Dabeeb wondered
whether hospitality was rewarded by Allâh. The Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him)
said:
·
·
“Yes, and so is any charity you offer to poor or rich people that is
Sadaqah
.”
He also inquired about the time allotted to hospitality. “Three days,” said he. “What about
the stray ewe?” The Prophet said: “It is either yours or your brother’s, otherwise it goes to
the wolf.” He inquired about the stray camel. “It is not of your business. Leave it alone! Its
owner will try to find it.”
8. Thaqif Delegation: Their arrival was in Ramadan the ninth year of Al-Hijra, after the return
of the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) from Tabuk. As to how they became
Muslims, this could be deduced from the following:
9. Their chief ‘Urwah bin Mas‘ud Ath-Thaqafi came to see the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be
upon him) after the latter’s return from At-Ta’if in Dhul-Qa‘dah in the year 8 A.H. ‘Urwah
became a Muslim. He thought that when he will tell his people and call them to embrace
Islam, they would obey him, because he had always been an obeyed Master. He was even
more beloved to them than their own firstborn. But contrary to that, when he called them to
Islam they shot arrows at him from everywhere and killed him. They remained as they were
for months before they started discussing the situation again among themselves. Upon
realizing that they were incapable of fighting the neighbouring Arabs who had paid
allegiance to the Prophet (Peace be upon him) and converted to Islam, they made up their
mind to dispatch a man to the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him). They concluded that
‘Abd Yalail bin ‘Amr would be the right messenger.
‘Abd refused to do such a thing lest they should kill him as they had killed ‘Urwah. “I will not
do such a thing till you send some other men with me,” said ‘Abd. So they sent two men of
their allies and three others from Bani Malik. The six of them including ‘Uthman bin Abi Al-
‘As Ath-Thaqafi who was the youngest among them all.
When they entered into the Prophet’s (Peace be upon him) audience, a tent was pitched up
in a corner of the mosque so that they might listen to the Qur’ân and see p eople at prayer.
During their stay they came again and again to the Prophet (Peace be upon him) who kept
on calling them to embrace Islam, till their chief asked the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be
upon him) to enter into a peace treaty between him and Thaqif by means of which he allows
them to commit fornication, drink wine and deal with usury. They also asked him not to
injure their tyrant idol “Al-Lat” or to oblige them to perform the prayer. Finally they insisted
that they would not knock down the idols themselves. But the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be
upon him) turned down all their requests. They went aside to council. Realizing that there
were no other alternatives they yielded and professed Islam. The only condition that they
insisted on was that the demolition of Al-Lat should be dealt with and handled by the
Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) whereas Thaqif should in no way knock it down
themselves. The Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) agreed and took a pledge with
them.
Being the most attentive and the keenest to study jurisprudence and learn Qur’ân, ‘Uthman
bin Abi Al-‘As was appointed by the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) a prince on his
people. His keenness and carefulness to learn the Qur’ân and study jurisprudence were
clearly discernible through his behaviour during their stay.
Everyday morning, the group of delegates used to go and see the Messenger of Allâh (Peace
be upon him). Being the youngest one, ‘Uthman bin Abi Al-‘As was left behind with their
camels and things to keep an eye on. At noon when they came back and slept, ‘Uthman
used to go to the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) in order to learn the Qur’ân and
inquire about religious matters. If it happened that the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon
him) was asleep, he would then go to Abu Bakr for the same purpose. With the pof time, he
turned out to be a source of blessing to his people. For at the Apostasy Times (
Ar-Riddah
)
when Thaqif were determined to apostatize, he addressed them saying: “O, folkmen of
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