Majma al-Zawaid — Hadith 13897

Sayyiduna Kurz bin Alqamah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The delegation of the Christians of Najran presented themselves before the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). In that delegation were twenty-four of their leading men, and among those twenty-four were three men to whom those people referred their affairs. One of them was a man called al-Aqib, who was the commander of those people, their man of experience and the one who gave counsel; they would not depart from his opinion and his command. His name was Abdul Masih. One man was called al-Sayyid; he was their scholar and the overseer of their affairs. One man was Abu Harithah bin Alqamah, who belonged to Bakr bin Wa'il; he was their bishop, their great scholar, their leader and the overseer of their matters of study and teaching. Abu Harithah held a prominent position among them; he was thoroughly learned in the religion of those people. The kings of the Christians used to honour him and accept his word; those people had built places of worship for him, and because of his great striving in religion they had bestowed much honour and respect upon him. When these people set out from Najran to go to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), Abu Harithah mounted his mule to go to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). At his side was his brother, whose name was Kurz bin Alqamah; he was talking with him. Meanwhile Abu Harithah's mule stumbled, and Kurz said: "May the distant one be ruined!" By this he meant the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Abu Harithah said: "Rather, may you be ruined!" Kurz asked: "Why is that, O brother?" He said: "By Allah! He is the very Prophet we were waiting for." Kurz asked him: "When you know this, then what is stopping you?" He said: "What stops me is the treatment these (Christian) people have given us; these people have given us honour, they respect us, and these people will not accept that we follow him (that is, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)). If I do so, they will take from me everything that you see." His brother Kurz bin Alqamah kept this concealed in his heart. The narrator says: That is, he later accepted Islam.
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat; its chain contains a narrator, Buraydah bin Sufyan, and he is da'if (weak).