Enemy Becomes a Friend

In the sixth year after the hijrah, the Prophet, peace be upon him,
decided to expand the scope of his mission. He sent eight letters to
rulers in the Arabian peninsula and surrounding areas invitingthem to
Islam. One of these rulers was Thumamah ibn Uthal.
Thumamah was one of themost powerful Arab rulers in pre-Qur'anic
times. This is not surprising since he was a chieftain of the Banu
Hanifah and one of the rulers of al- Yamamah whose word no one daredto
challenge or disobey.
When Thumamah receivedthe Prophet's letter, he was consumed by anger
and rejected it. He refused to listen to the invitation of Truth and
goodness. More than that, he felt a strong desire to go and killthe
Prophet and bury his mission with him.
Thumamah waited and waited for a convenient time to carry out his
design against the Prophet until eventually forgetfulness caused him
to lose interest. One of his uncles, however, remindedhim of his plan,
praising what he intended to do.
In the pursuit of his evil design against the Prophet, Thumamah met
and killed a group of the Prophet's companions. TheProphet thereupon
declared him a wanted man who could lawfully be killed on sight.
Not long afterwards, Thumamah decided to perform umrah. He wanted to
perform tawaf around the Ka'bah and sacrifice to the idols there (The
people of Makkah, before becoming Muslims, placed hundreds of idols
inthe Holy Ka'bah. These idols were later destroyed by the Prophet).
So he left al-Yamamah for Makkah. As he was passing near Madinah, an
incident took place which he had not anticipated.
Groups of Muslims were patrolling the districts of Madinah and
outlying areas on the lookout for any strangers or anyone intent on
causing trouble. One of these groups came upon Thumamah and
apprehended him but theydid not know who he was.They took him to
Madinah and tied him to one of the columns in the mosque. They waited
for the Prophet himself to question the man and decide what should be
done with him.
When the Prophet was about to enter the mosque, he saw Thumamah and
asked his companions, "Do you know whom you have taken?"
"No, messenger of God," they replied.
"This is Thumamah ibn Uthal al-Hanafi," he said."You have done well in
capturing him."
The Prophet then returnedhome to his family and said, "Get what food
you can and send it to Thumamah ibn Uthal." He then ordered his camel
to be milked for him. All this was done before he met Thumamah or had
spoken to him.
The Prophet then approached Thumamah hoping to encourage him to become
a Muslim."What do you have to say for yourself" he asked.
"If you want to kill in reprisal," Thumamah replied, "you can have
someone of noble blood to kill. If, out of your bounty, you want to
forgive, I shall be grateful. If you want money in compensation, I
shall give you whatever amount youask."
The Prophet then left him for two days, but still personally sent him
food and drink and milk from his camel. The Prophet went back to him
and asked, "What do you have to say for yourself" Thumamah repeated
whathe had said the day before. The Prophet then left and came back to
him the following day. "What do you have to say for yourself?" he
asked again and Thumamah repeated what he had said once more. Then the
Prophet turned to his companions and said, "Set him free."
Thumamah left the mosque of the Prophet and rode until he came to a
palm grove on the outskirts of Madinah near al-Baqi' (a place of
luxuriant vegetation which later became a cemetery for many of the
Prophet's companions). Hewatered his camel and washed himself well.
Thenhe turned back and made his way to the Prophet's mosque. There, he
stood before a congregation of Muslims and said:
"I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and I bear witness that
Muhammad is His servant and His messenger." He then went to the
Prophet, upon whom be peace, andsaid:
"O Muhammad, by God, there was never on this earth a face more
detestable than yours. Now, yours is the dearest face of all to me."
"I have killed some of yourmen," he continued, "I am at your mercy.
What will you have done to me?"
"There is now no blame on you, Thumamah," replied the
Prophet."Becoming a Muslim obliterates past actions and marks a new
beginning."

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