The delegation and mission to Hamdan

Hamdan sent a delegation in 9 AH. The Prophet sent Khalid to call them for six months, then sent Ali, and they all became Muslim. When the news reached him, the Prophet fell down in prostration and said: "Peace be upon Hamdan" ¹.

The Hamdan delegation came in 9 AH after the Prophet's return from Tabuk. The Prophet wrote them a letter granting what they asked, and he appointed Malik ibn al-Namt over those of his people who became Muslim ². He sent Khalid ibn al-Walid to call the rest to Islam. Khalid stayed six months calling them, and they did not respond ³. Then he sent Ali ibn Abi Talib, ordering him to relieve Khalid. Ali came to Hamdan, read the Prophet's letter to them and called them to Islam, and they all embraced it ¹. Ali wrote to the Prophet with the good news of their Islam. When the Prophet read the letter he fell down in prostration, then raised his head and said: "Peace be upon Hamdan, peace be upon Hamdan" ⁴.

Ibn Hisham, not Ibn Ishaq, relates from a source he trusts, from Amr ibn Abd Allah ibn Udhayna al-Abdi, from Abu Ishaq al-Sabi'i, that the delegation of Hamdan came to the Prophet. Among them were Malik ibn al-Namt, who was also called Dhu al-Mash'ar and Abu Thawr, Malik ibn Ayfa, Dimam ibn Malik al-Salmani and Umayra ibn Malik al-Kharifi. They met the Prophet on his return from Tabuk, wearing striped cloaks and Adeni turbans, riding on pack saddles on Mahri and Arhabi camels. Malik and another man chanted verses on behalf of the people ^{5 6}. Editors establish that the reading "Ibn Ishaq al-Subay'i" in one copy is an error ⁵.

Malik stood before the Prophet and said, in verse: a sincere delegation from all of Hamdan, present and absent, has come to you on swift she-camels, bound to the cords of Islam, fearing no blame in God's cause, from the districts of Kharif, Yam and Shakir. They are the people of the black and the red lands, they have answered the call of the Messenger and left the idols and the altars. Their covenant will not be broken as long as La'la' stands and the gazelle runs over the smooth rock ^{6 7}.

The Prophet wrote them a letter for the district of Kharif, the people of the slope of al-Hadb and the dunes of sand. For them are its plains and valleys, as long as they establish the prayer and pay zakat. The Muhajirun and the Ansar witnessed it ⁷. Malik composed his poem about the Messenger of God, in which he mentions him in the darkness of night ^{7 8}.

• The account is in Ibn Hisham with its chain, not in Ibn Ishaq. The Sealed Nectar's account of Khalid's and then Ali's sending to them does not appear at this point in Ibn Hisham ⁵.
• In one copy, "Ibn Ishaq al-Subay'i" is an error for Abu Ishaq ⁵.