Musaylimah
From Freepedia
Musaylimah, commonly given the epithet al-Kadhdhaab "the liar", was a self-proclaimed prophet
Ibn Habib al-Hanefi, also called as "Musailima the Liar", was the most formidable of the enemies of Islam who rose to threaten the existence of the new state. He was the son of Habib, of the Banu Hanifa, which was one of the largest tribes of Arabia and inhabited the region of Yamamah.
Among the first records of him is in late 9th Hijri, the Year of Delegations' when he accompanied a delegation of his tribe to to Madinah. The delegation included two other prominent.
They would help Musailima rise to power and in saving their tribe from destruction. These men were, respectively,Nahar Ar-Rajjal bin Unfuwa (or Rahhal) and Muja'a bin Marara.
When The delegation arrived at Madinah the camels were tied in a traveller's camp, and Musailima remained there to look after them while the other delegates went in.
They had talks with Muhmmad and embraced Islam. As was his custom, Muhmmad 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 made the whole tribe of Bani Hanifa to accept Islam. They built a mosque at Yamamah and started regular prayers.
Some months passed. Then Musailima resiled from his faith and proclaimed his own prophethood. He gathered the people and, 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 (of prophethood.)."
He then dazzled the crowd with his marvellous tricks. He was a superb conjuror and could do what no one had done before. 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 really was divinely gifted. He took to addressing gatherings as an apostle of Allah, 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. Some, however, were utterly ridiculous, like the following,
- Allah has blessed my wisdom.
- It is as strong as the gust that blows
- From between the belly and the intestines!
And the people marvelled at his wisdom and flocked to him. Strangely enough they did not doubt or dispute the divine mission of Muhammad. They accepted Muhammad as the apostle of Allah. But they also accepted Musailima as co-prophet-which is all that Musailima claimed.
Gradually the influence and authority of Musailima increased. Then one day, in late 10 Hijri, he wrote to Prophet Muhammad:
- "From Musailima, Messenger of Allah, to Muhammad, Messenger of Allah. 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."
During Muhammad's life, Musaylimah sent Muhammad an emissary named Ibn an-Nawwahah swearing that Musaylimah was a prophet and offering to divide the earth between the two of them; Muhammad replied that the earth was God's to divide as God pleased, and was so angered by the statement that he said he would have executed Ibn an-Nawwahah if he hadn't enjoyed immunity as an emissary. After Muhammad's death, he rose up against the new Islamic state led by Abu Bakr, and defeated the first two generals sent against him, but was defeated by Khalid ibn al-Walid.
Examples of his claimed revelations are quoted, largely for the purpose of ridicule, by some early Muslim authors; 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, alluded to in Tafsir Ibn Kathir, where it is described as a response to surat 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.
After the death of the false prophet Musailima, a deputation of Banu Hanifa waited on Abu Bakr. He inquired of them what were the teachings of the false prophet. As a specimen of his teaching they recited the following verse, which was alleged 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]
Musaylimah was killed in the battle of yamama by Wahshy ibn harb who happens to be the same man who killed Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib (the lion of allah) before he converts to islam and join the army of Khalid ibn al-Walid
