The Origins of the Islamic State/Part 1/Chapter 14

by Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyá al-Balādhurī

CHAPTER XIV

The Capitulation of Najrân

The terms agreed upon. Bakr ibn-al-Haitham from az-Zuhri:—There came to the Prophet the military chief and the civil chief,^[1] delegated by the people of Najrân in al-Yaman, and asked for terms which they made on behalf of the people of Najrân, agreeing to offer two thousand robes—one thousand in Ṣafar and one thousand in Rajab—each one of which should have the value of one ounce [auḳiyah], the ounce weighing 40 dirhams. In case the price of the robe delivered should be more than one ounce, the surplus would be taken into consideration; and if it were less, the deficiency should be made up. And whatever weapons, horses, camels or goods they offered, should be accepted instead of the robes, if they are the same value. Another condition was made that they provide board and lodging for the Prophet's messengers for a month or less, and not detain them for more than a month. Still another condition was that in case of war in al-Yaman, they are bound to offer as loan thirty coats of mail, thirty mares and thirty camels, and whatever of these animals perish, the messengers [of the Prophet] guarantee to make up for them. To this effect, the Prophet gave them Allah's covenant and his promise. Another condition was that they be not allured to change their religion or the rank they hold in it, nor should they be called upon for military service or made to pay the tithe.^[2] The Prophet made it a condition on them that they neither take nor give usury.

The two monks of Najrân and the Prophet. Al-Ḥusain ibn-al-Aswad from al-Ḥasan:—There came to the Prophet two monks from Najrân.^[3] The Prophet proposed Islâm to them, and they replied, "We embraced Islâm before thou didst." To this the Prophet replied, "Ye have told a lie. Three things keep you from Islâm: pork eating, cross-worship and the claim that Allah has a son." "Well then," said they, "who is ʿÎsa's father?" Al-Ḥasan adds that the Prophet was never too quick but always waited for Allah's command. Hence the text revealed by his Lord:^[4] "These signs and this wise warning do we rehearse to thee. Verily, Jesus is as Adam in the sight of Allah. He created him of dust: He then said to him, 'Be'—and he was," etc. to "on those who lie."

This the Prophet repeated to them and then asked them to join with him in imprecating the curse of Allah upon whichever of them was wrong,^[5] taking hold of the hands of Fâṭimah, al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusain. At this, one of the two monks said to the other, "Climb the mountain and do not join with him in imprecating the curse, for if thou shouldst, thou wouldst return with the curse on thee." "What shall we do then?" asked the other. " I believe," said the former, "we had better give him the kharâj rather than join with him in imprecating the curse."^[6]

A statement of the treaty. Al-Ḥusain from Yaḥya ibn-Âdam who said:—"I copied the statement of the Prophet to the people of Najrân from that of a man who took it from al-Ḥasan ibn-Ṣâliḥ. These are the words:

'In the name of Allah, the compassionate, the merciful. The following is what the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad, wrote to Najrân, at whose disposal^[7] were all their fruits, their gold, silver and domestic utensils, and their slaves, but which he benevolently left for them, assessing on them two thousand robes each having the value of one auḳiyah, one thousand to be delivered in Rajab of every year, and one thousand in Ṣafar of every year. Each robe shall be one auḳiyah; and whatever robes cost more or less than one auḳiyah, their overcost or deficiency shall be taken into consideration; and whatever coats of mail, horses, camels or goods they substitute for the robes shall be taken into consideration. It is binding on Najrân to provide board and lodging for my messengers^[8] for one month or less, and never to detain them for more than a month. It is also binding on them to offer as loan thirty coats of mail, thirty mares and thirty camels, in case of war in al-Yaman due to their rebelling. Whatever perishes of the horses or camels, lent to my messengers, is guaranteed by my messengers and is returned by them. Najrân and their followers^[9] are entitled to the protection of Allah and to the security of Muḥammad the Prophet, the Messenger of Allah, which security shall involve their persons, religion, lands and possessions, including those of them who are absent as well as those who are present, their camels, messengers and images.^[10] The state they previously held shall not be changed, nor shall any of their religious services or images be changed. No attempt shall be made to turn a bishop from his office as a bishop, a monk from his office as a monk, nor the sexton of a church from his office, whether what is under the control of each is great or little. They shall not be held responsible for any wrong deed or blood shed in pre-Islamic time. They shall neither be called to military service nor compelled to pay the tithe. No army shall tread on their land. If some one demands of them some right, then the case is decided with equity without giving the people of Najrân the advantage over the other party, or giving the other party the advantage over them. But whosoever of them has up till now^[11] received usury, I am clear of the responsibility of his protection.^[12] None of them, however, shall be held responsible for the guilt of the other. And as a guarantee to what is recorded in this document, they are entitled to the right of protection from Allah, and to the security of Muhammad the Prophet, until Allah's order is issued, and so long as they give the right counsel [to Moslems] and render whatever dues are bound on them, provided they are not asked to do anything unjust. Witnessed by abu-Sufyân ibn-Ḥarb, Ghailân ibn-ʿAmr, Mâlik ibn-ʿAuf of banu-Naṣr, al-Aḳraʿ ibn-Ḥâbis al-Ḥanẓali and al-Mughîrah. Written by—'"^[13]

Yaḥa ibn-Âdam adds, "I have seen in the hands of the people of Najrân another statement whose reading is similar to that of this copy, but at the close of it the following words occur: Written by ʿAli ibn-abu-Ṭâlib.'^[14] Concerning this I am at a loss to know what to say."

ʿUmar expels them. When abu-Bakr aṣ-Ṣiddîḳ became caliph he enforced the terms agreed upon and issued another statement similar to that given by the Prophet. When ʿUmar ibn-al-Khattab became caliph, they began to practise usury, and became so numerous as to be considered by him a menace to Islâm. He therefore expelled them and wrote to them the following statement:

"Greetings! Whomever of the people of Syria and al-ʿIrâḳ they happen to come across, let him clear for them tillable land; and whatever land they work, becomes theirs in place of their land in al-Yaman." Thus the people of Najrân were dispersed, some settling in Syria and others in an-Najrâniyah in the district of al-Kûfah, after whom it was so named. The Jews of Najrân were included with the Christians in the terms and went with them as their followers.

The Najranites under ʿUthmân. When ʿUthmân ibn-ʿAffân became caliph, he wrote to his ʿâmil in al-Kûfah, al-Walîd ibn-ʿUḳbah ibn-abi-Muʿaiṭ, as follows:

"Greetings! The civil ruler, the bishop and the nobles of Najrân have presented to me the written statement of the Prophet and showed me the recommendation^[15] of ʿUmar. Having made inquiry regarding their case from ʿUthmân ibn-Ḥunaif, I learned that he had investigated their state and found it injurious to the great landlords^[16] whom they prevented from possessing their land. I have, therefore, reduced their taxation by 200 robes—for the sake of Allah and in place of their old lands. I recommend them to thee as they are included among the people entitled to our protection."

Another source for ʿUmar's statement. I heard it said by one of the learned that ʿUmar wrote them the following statement:—"Greetings! Whomsoever of the people of Syria or al-ʿIrâḳ they pass by, let him clear for them tillable land". Another I heard say, "waste land".

One reason for their expulsion. ʿAbd-al-Aʿla ibn-Ḥammâd an-Narsi from ʿUmar ibn-ʿAbd-al-ʿAziz:—The Prophet said during his illness, "There shall not remain two religions in the land of Arabia." Consequently, when ʿUmar ibn-al-Khaṭṭâb became caliph, he expelled the people of Najrân to an-Najrâniyah and bought their properties and possessions.

Al-ʿAbbâs ibn-Hishâm al-Kalbi from his grandfather:—The Najrân of al-Yaman received their name from Najrân ibn-Zaid ibn-Saba ibn-Yashjub ibn-Yaʿrub ibn-Ḳaḥṭân.

ʿUmar and ʿAli refuse to reinstate them in the land. Al-Ḥusain ibn-al-Aswad from Sâlim ibn-abi-l-Jaʿd:—The people of Najrân having increased in number to 40,000, became jealous of one another and came to ʿUmar ibn-al-Khaṭṭâb saying, "Transplant us from the land". ʿUmar had considered them a menace to the Moslems, so he took this opportunity and expelled them from the land. Later, however, they repented, and returning to ʿUmar said, "Reinstate us in the land", but ʿUmar refused. When ʿAli ibn-abi-Ṭâlib became caliph, they came to him and said, "We plead with thee by thy right-hand writing and thy intermediacy on our behalf with thy Prophet that thou mayst reinstate us in the land." To this ʿAli replied: "ʿUmar was a man of sound judgment, and I hate to act differently."^[17]

The number of robes received by Muʿâwiyah. Abu-Masʿûd al-Kûfi from al-Kalbi:—The chief of an-Najrâniyah at al-Kûfah used to send his messengers to all the people of Najrân who were in Syria and other districts and to gather money assessed evenly on them for raising the required robes. When Muʿâwiyah (or Yazîd ibn-Muʿâwiyah) came to power, they complained to him because of their dispersion, the death of some of them, and the conversion to Islâm of others. They also presented the statement issued by ʿUthmân ibn-'Affân for the reduction of the number of robes. To this they added, "And now we have still more decreased, and become weaker." He then reduced the number by another 200 robes, thus reducing the original number by four hundred.

Al-Ḥajjâj restores the number. When al-Ḥajjâj ibn-Yŭsuf was made governor of al-ʿIrâḳ and ibn-al-Ash'ath revolted against him, the former charged the non-Arab landlords and the people of Najrân with siding with the latter, and, therefore, he raised the number to 1,800 robes, and ordered that the robes be of the kind adorned with figures.

ʿUmar ibn-ʿAbd-al-ʿAzîz reduces the number. When ʿUmar ibn-ʿAbd-al-ʿAzîz came to power, they complained to him that they were in danger of extinction, that they were decreasing in number, that the continuous raids of the Arabs overburdened them with heavy taxes for revictualling them, and that they suffered from the unjust treatment of al-Ḥajjâj. By ʿUmar's orders their census was taken, and it was found that they were reduced to one-tenth of their original number, upon which ʿUmar said, "I consider that the terms of this capitulation impose a tax on their heads and not on their lands. The poll-tax of the dead and the Moslems, however, is annulled." He therefore held them responsible for 200 robes of the value of 8,000 dirhams.

Yûsuf ibn-ʿUmar restores the original tax. In the time of al-Walîd ibn-Yazîd, when Yûsuf ibn-ʿUmar was made governor of al-ʿIrâḳ, he [Yûsuf], moved with partisanship to al-Ḥajjâj, charged them the original tax.

Abu-l-ʿAbbâs reduces the number of robes. When abu-l-ʿAbbâs was proclaimed caliph, they met him on the way as he appeared in al-Kûfah and strewed myrtle branches on the road and threw some on him as he was going home from the mosque. With this the caliph was greatly pleased. Later they brought their case before him and told him of their paucity in number and of their treatment by ʿUmar ibn-ʿAbd-al-ʿAzîz and Yûsuf ibn-ʿUmar. To this they added, "We are somehow related to thy uncles (on the mother's side), the banu-l-Ḥârith ibn-Kaʿb." ʿAbdallâh ibn-ar-Rabîʿ al-Ḥârithi spoke in their favor; and al-Ḥajjâj ibn-Arṭât confirmed what they claimed. Therefore, abu-l-ʿAbbâs held them responsible only for the 200 robes previously given by them, having a value of 8,000 dirhams.

Ar-Rashîd writes them a favorable statement. Abu-Masʿûd said, "When ar-Rashîd Hârûn became caliph and started for al-Kûfah on his way to the Pilgrimage, they brought their case before him and complained of the harsh treatment of the ʿâmils. By the caliph's orders there was written to them a statement fixing the number at 200 robes. The statement I myself saw. Moreover the caliph ordered that they be freed from dealing with the ʿâmils, and that they pay the dues directly to the treasury."

ʿAmr an-Nâḳid from ibn-Shihâb az-Zuhri:—The following text was revealed against the unbelievers among the Ḳuraish and the Arabs,^[18] "Fight therefore against them until there is no more civil discord, and the only worship be that of Allah," and the following against the "People of the Book."^[19] "Make war upon such of those to whom the Book has been given as believe not in Allah, or in the last day, and who forbid not that which Allah and his Messenger have forbidden, and who profess not the profession of the truth," etc. to "humbled." Thus the first among the "People of the Book" to pay poll-tax, so far as we know, were the people of Najrân who were Christian. Then, the people of Ailah, Adhruḥ and Adhriʿât paid it in the battle of Tabûk.

Footnotes

1. Hishâm, p. 401.
2. Cf. Yûsuf, pp. 40–41.
3. Yâḳût, vol. iv, pp. 751–757.
4. Kor., 3: 51.
5. Cf. Kor., 3: 54.
6. mubâhalah. Bukhâri, vol. iii, pp. 167–168; abu-l-Faraj, Aghâni, vol. x, p. 144.
7. The text here is probably corrupt; cf. Wellhausen, Skizzen und Vorarbeiten, vol. iv, pp. 25 and 132; Yûsuf, p. 41.
8. Sent to bring the kharâj.
9. Ar. ḥâshiyah = Jews. Sprenger, vol. Hi, p. 502.
10. amthilah crosses and pictures used in churches.
11. Yaʿḳûbi, vol. ii, p. 62, has "after this year".
12. Caetani, vol. ii, p. 352; Sprenger, vol. iii, p. 502; Athîr, vol. ii, p. 223.
13. ʿAbdallâh ibn-abi-Bakr; abu-Yûsuf, p. 4; see H. Lammens' comment on this protocol, Mélanges de la Faculté Orientale, vol. v², p. 346.
14. And not "abi" as required by the rules of the Arabic grammar.
15. Lammens, MFO, vol. v², p. 677.
16. dihḳâns; Âdam, pp. 42–43.
17. Âdam, p. 9.
18. Kor., 2: 189.
19. Kor., 9 : 29.