The delegation of Najran

Sixty riders of the Christians of Najran came to Medina in 9 AH; when they refused Islam the Prophet called them to mutual imprecation (mubahala), so they asked for peace — and he made peace with them on two thousand garments a year, the protection of God and His Messenger, and freedom in their religion ¹.

Najran was a large country seven stages from Mecca toward Yemen, comprising seventy-three villages, its people on the Christian religion ². The delegation numbered sixty men, twenty-four of them nobles, led by three: al-Aqib Abd al-Masih, master of rule; al-Sayyid al-Ayham, master of cultural and political affairs; and the bishop Abu Haritha ibn Alqama, master of religious leadership ². They asked the Prophet what he said of Jesus, and the mubahala verses came down upon him: Al Imran 61 ³. When they refused Islam he called them to mubahala and came forward embracing al-Hasan and al-Husayn, Fatima walking at his back ⁴. Al-Aqib and al-Sayyid said to each other: do not do it — by God, if he is a prophet and we imprecate him, neither we nor our descendants after us will prosper — and they agreed to accept his judgment over their affair ⁵. The Prophet accepted the jizya from them and made peace on two thousand garments, a thousand in Rajab and a thousand in Safar, an uqiyya with each garment; he gave them the protection of God and His Messenger and left them complete freedom in their religion, and sent Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah (may God be pleased with him), "the trusted man of this community", to collect the peace payment ⁵. They relate that al-Sayyid and al-Aqib became Muslim after returning to Najran ⁵.