Tirmidhi

Hadith Commentary: Benefits and Issues:

In Safar, 4 AH, Abu Bara’ Amir bin Malik, who was known as Mulā‘ib al-Asinnah and was the chief of his tribe, came from the region of Najd to the service of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam invited him to Islam, but he neither accepted nor rejected it, and he sincerely advised the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam to send some of his companions to his region, hoping that the people would accept Islam, and assured that the Prophet’s sallallahu alayhi wa sallam people would be under his protection.

The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam sent seventy reciters (qurra’) for teaching and propagation, so that they could fulfill the duty of being teachers and callers (da‘is). The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam appointed Mundhir bin Amr as their leader. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam had given a letter to Abu Bara’s nephew, Amir bin Tufayl. When this delegation reached a place called Bi’r Ma‘unah, Haram bin Milhan set out from there with the letter of the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam towards Amir bin Tufayl. Without even looking at the letter, Amir bin Tufayl signaled his man to kill him.

Then he told his tribe, Banu Amir, to attack the people coming from Madinah, but they were not willing to break the pledge of their chief, Abu Bara’. So he incited the branches of Banu Sulaym, namely Ri‘l, Dhakwān, Lihyān, and ‘Usayyah, to carry out this act. These people martyred the Muslim reciters, and only two men survived.

When the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was informed of this incident, he was extremely grieved, and he invoked qunut (supplication) against these tribes for a month. At the wish of these martyrs, Allah, the Exalted, informed the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam of this incident and conveyed their message, which was recited temporarily and then abrogated. Since the abrogated verses are no longer in the Qur’an, they are not established by tawatur (continuous transmission).

Note:
This incident of Bi’r Ma‘unah proves that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam did not possess knowledge of the unseen (ilm al-ghayb), otherwise he would not have sent seventy selected individuals to that region at the suggestion of Abu Bara’. However, Allamah Sa‘idi gives an extremely ridiculous answer to this, saying that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam did know of their martyrdom, but sent them to Najd at the request for propagation from the people of Najd, so that on the Day of Resurrection they could not say, “We had asked your Prophet for a preacher to accept Islam, but he did not send any.” (: Sharh Sahih Muslim: 2/332)

Whereas it is written above that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam sent the noble Companions radi Allahu anhum ajma‘in at the suggestion of Abu Bara’, and he had given a guarantee of their protection. They were sent on his guarantee. Then, if the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam knew, why did he express such grief and sorrow, and why did he supplicate against them for a month, until Allah, the Exalted, stopped him? Moreover, these people did not even reach the people of Najd. Bi’r Ma‘unah is in the region of Hudhayl between Makkah and ‘Usfan. Amir bin Tufayl intercepted them on the way.

For details, see Hadith: 3910.