The delegation of Abd al-Qays

Abd al-Qays came to the Prophet ﷺ twice: about fourteen men in 5 AH, and then forty men in the Year of Delegations, among them al-Jarud ¹.

A man of Abd al-Qays called Munqidh ibn Hayyan used to come to Medina for trade. He became Muslim and took a letter from the Prophet to his people. They too became Muslim, and in a sacred month they set out as a delegation of thirteen or fourteen men ¹. The delegation asked about faith and about drinks. Their leader was al-Ashajj al-'Asri, of whom the Prophet said: "In you are two qualities that God loves: forbearance and deliberateness" ². The second delegation came in the Year of Delegations, forty men, among them al-Jarud ibn al-Ala al-Abdi, who had been a Christian; he became Muslim and his Islam was sound ¹.

Ibn Ishaq names the head of the delegation al-Jarud ibn Amr ibn Hanash, brother of Abd al-Qays. Ibn Hisham says al-Jarud ibn Bishr ibn al-Mu'alla, and that he was a Christian ³. Ibn Ishaq relates, from a source he does not doubt, from al-Hasan, that the Prophet offered him Islam and encouraged him to it. Al-Jarud said that he had a religion and was leaving it for another; would the Prophet guarantee him his religion? The Prophet said: "Yes, I guarantee that God has guided you to what is better than it." He became Muslim, and his companions did too ³. They then asked for mounts, and the Prophet had none to give them. They asked to provision themselves from strayed animals on the road, and he forbade it, saying they were embers of the fire ³. Al-Jarud returned firm in his good Islam and steadfast in his faith. He lived to see the apostasy, and when some of his people apostatised with al-Ghurur ibn al-Mundhir, he called them back ⁴. Ibn Ishaq appends to the report the dispatch of al-Ala ibn al-Hadrami to al-Mundhir ibn Sawa before the conquest of Mecca and his Islam; see the Islam of al-Mundhir ibn Sawa ⁴.

• The name of al-Jarud differs between Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Hisham and the Sealed Nectar ^{3 1}.
• The name "al-Hasan" appears in the chain; in two copies it reads "al-Husayn" ³.