Khalid to the Banu al-Harith of Najran: the three-day call

This is the tenth year of the prophetic Hijra, and the chapter of the Messenger of Allah sending Khalid ibn al-Walid. Ibn Ishaq said: then the Messenger of Allah sent Khalid ibn al-Walid in Rabi’ al-Akhira or Jumada al-Ula of the year ten to the Banu al-Harith ibn Ka’b at Najran, and ordered him to call them to Islam three days before fighting them; if they answered, accept from them, and if they did not, fight them. Khalid went out until he arrived at them, and sent out horsemen striking in every direction, calling to Islam and saying: O people, accept Islam and you will be safe. The people accepted Islam and entered what they were called to, and Khalid stayed among them teaching them Islam, the Book of Allah and the sunna of his prophet, as the Messenger of Allah had commanded, if they accepted Islam without being fought.

Khalid ibn al-Walid then wrote to the Messenger of Allah: In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate. To Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, from Khalid ibn al-Walid: peace be upon you, O Messenger of Allah, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings; I praise toward you Allah, there is no deity but Him. As for what follows: O Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless you: you sent me to the Banu al-Harith ibn Ka’b and commanded me, when I came to them, not to fight them three days, but to call them to Islam; if they accepted Islam I was to accept from them and teach them the marks of Islam,

the Book of Allah and the sunna of His prophet, and if they did not accept Islam I was to fight them. I came to them and called them to Islam three days as the Messenger of Allah commanded me, and sent among them horsemen saying: O Banu al-Harith, accept Islam and you will be safe. They accepted Islam and were not fought, and I am residing among them commanding them what Allah commanded and forbidding them what Allah forbade, teaching them the marks of Islam and the sunna of the Prophet, until the Messenger of Allah writes me; and peace be upon you, O Messenger of Allah, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. The Messenger of Allah wrote him: In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate, from Muhammad the Prophet, the Messenger of Allah, to Khalid ibn al-Walid: peace be upon you; I praise toward you Allah, there is no deity but Him.

As for what follows: your letter came to me with your messenger, informing me that the Banu al-Harith ibn Ka’b have accepted Islam before you fought them, and have answered what you called them to of Islam, and testified that there is no deity but Allah and that Muhammad is the servant of Allah and His Messenger, and that Allah has guided them by His guidance; so give them glad tidings and warn them, and come, and let their delegation come with you; and peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.

Khalid returned to the Messenger of Allah, and with him came the delegation of the Banu al-Harith ibn Ka’b, among them Qays ibn al-Husayn Dhu l-Ghussa, Yazid ibn Abd al-Madan, Yazid ibn al-Muhajjal, Abdallah ibn Qurad az-Ziyadi, Shaddad ibn Ubaydallah al-Qanani and Amr ibn Abdallah ad-Dibabi. When they arrived to the Messenger of Allah and he saw them he said: who are these people as though they were men of India? It was said: O Messenger of Allah, these are the Banu al-Harith ibn Ka’b. When they stood before the Messenger of Allah they greeted him and said: we testify that you are the Messenger of Allah and that there is no deity but Allah.

The Messenger of Allah said: and I testify that there is no deity but Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah. Then he said: are you those who, when pushed, charge forward? They were silent and none answered him; he repeated it a second time, then a third, and none of them answered him; then he repeated it a fourth time, and Yazid ibn Abd al-Madan said: yes, O Messenger of Allah, we are those who, when pushed, charge forward. He said it four times, and the Messenger of Allah said: had Khalid not written me that you had accepted Islam and had not been fought,

I would have cast your heads beneath your feet. Yazid ibn Abd al-Madan said: by Allah, we have not praised you nor praised Khalid. He said: whom then have you praised? They said: we praised Allah who guided us by you, O Messenger of Allah.

The Messenger of Allah said: you spoke truly. Then he said: by what did you overcome whoever fought you in the Jahiliyya? They said: we never overcame anyone. He said: rather you did overcome whoever fought you.

They said: we overcame whoever fought us, O Messenger of Allah, because we gathered and never dispersed, and we began injustice against no one. He said: you spoke truly. Then he appointed Qays ibn al-Husayn over them. Ibn Ishaq said: they returned to their people in the remainder of Shawwal or the beginning of Dhu l-Qi’da; then he sent to them, after their delegation departed, Amr ibn Hazm to instruct them in the religion and teach them the sunna and the marks of Islam and take their alms, and wrote him a document in which he entrusted him his covenant and commanded him his affair; Ibn Ishaq has already reported it, in the delegation of the kings of Himyar, by way of al-Bayhaqi, and an-Nasa’i reported it like what Muhammad ibn Ishaq cites, without a chain.