The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) – Volume III — Page 6
Seal of the Prophets - Volume III 6 Muslims pass. Therefore, on one occasion an ambassador of the Holy Prophet sa went to his region and he, ignoring all the laws of war, conspired to kill him. 1 As a matter of fact, at one time, he even planned to assassinate the Holy Prophet sa himself. 2 When the party of Muḥammad bin Maslamah ra captured Thumāmah, they were unaware of the identity of this individual. As a matter of fact, they had captured him only on the basis of suspicion. It seems that by his extraordinary intelligence, Thumāmah also did well in concealing his identity from the Muslims. For he knew that he had committed heinous crimes against Islām and that if the indignant Muslim soldiers were to find out who he was, they might deal with him harshly or kill him altogether. He expected kinder treatment from the Holy Prophet sa himself. As such, until their return to Madīnah, the identity of Thumāmah remained hidden to the party of Muḥammad bin Maslamah ra. Upon arriving in Madīnah, when Thumāmah was presented before the Holy Prophet sa , he recognised him at first glance and said to Muḥammad bin Maslamah ra and his companions, “Do you know who this is?” They expressed their lack of knowledge in this matter, upon which the Holy Prophet sa enlightened them. After this, the Holy Prophet sa ordered the good treatment of Thumāmah as was his custom, and went to his home and instructed that whatever food was available should be sent to Thumāmah. 3 Then the Holy Prophet sa instructed that instead of keeping Thumāmah in another house, to tie him to a pillar on the veranda of Masjidun-Nabawī. 4 By this, the purpose of the Holy Prophet sa was so that his gatherings and the Muslim Ṣalāt 5 be held before his eyes and so that these spiritual sights influence his heart, so that he become inclined towards Islām. 6 1 Aṭ-Ṭabaqātul-Kubrā, By Muḥammad bin Sa‘d, Volume 5, p. 356, Tasmiyatu Man Nazalal-Yamāmata Min Aṣḥābi Rasūlillāhi sa /Thumamat-ubnu Uthālin. . . , Dāru Iḥyā’it-Turāthil-‘Arabī, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996) 2 Al-Iṣābatu Fī Tamīziṣ-Ṣaḥābah, By Aḥmad bin ‘Alī bin Ḥajar Al-‘Asqalānī, Volume 1, p. 526, Thumāmat-ubnu Uthālin, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon (2005) 3 As-Sīratun-Nabawiyyah, By Abū Muḥammad ‘Abdul-Mālik bin Hishām, p. 888, Asru Thumāmat- abni Uthālin Al-Ḥanfiyyi Wa Islāmuhu. . . , Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (2001) 4 The Mosque of the Holy Prophet sa in Madinah, which he built after migrating from Makkah. (Publishers) 5 The formal worship of the Muslims (Publishers) 6 Sharḥul-‘Allāmatiz-Zarqānī ‘Alal-Mawāhibil-Ladunniyyah, By Allāmah Shihābuddīn Al-Qusṭalānī, Volume 3, p. 103, Sariyyatul-Qurṭā’i Wa Ḥadīthu Thumāmata, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996)