Hamdān

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) also sent Khālid ibn al-Walīd to Yemen, and he sent ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib. In al-Bayhaqī it says: ʿan al-Barāʾ, anna Rasūla Allāhi baʿatha Khālida bna al-Walīdi ilā ahli al-Yamani yadʿūhum ilā al-islām — the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) sent Khālid ibn al-Walīd to Yemen to call them to Islam. He stayed there for six months, and people were not very receptive to his daʿwah. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) called him back and sent ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib in his place, and he told ʿAlī to let whoever wanted to go back with Khālid go back, and whoever wanted to stay behind with ʿAlī — it was up to them. And then ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib — thumma taqaddama binā fa-ṣallā binā: ʿAlī — and this was in front of the tribe of Hamdān — had all of the Muslims line up, and then he prayed in jamāʿah; and then he had them line up again, and he stood in front of them, and he opened the letter of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and read it to them. Fa-aslamat Hamdānu jamīʿā — the whole of Hamdān, the entire tribe, became Muslim.

Fa-kataba ʿAliyyun ilā Rasūli Allāhi bi-islāmihim — ʿAlī wrote to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), giving him the good news. Fa-lammā qaraʾa Rasūlu Allāhi al-kitāba kharra sājidā, thumma rafaʿa raʾsahu fa-qāla: al-salāmu ʿalā Hamdān, al-salāmu ʿalā Hamdān. When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) received the letter from ʿAlī telling him the good news, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) fell into sujūd, and then said: peace be upon Hamdān; peace be upon Hamdān.

ʿAlī also says: baʿathanī Rasūlu Allāhi ilā al-Yaman. Qāla: fa-qultu: yā Rasūla Allāh, tabʿathunī ilā qawmin asanna minnī, wa ana ḥadathun lā ubṣiru al-qaḍāʾ? — O Messenger of Allah, you are sending me to a people who are older than me — because ʿAlī was very young, and he was appointed as judge over them — and I am young in age, and I have no experience of being a judge. Qāla: fa-waḍaʿa yadahu ʿalā ṣadrī wa qāla: Allāhumma thabbit lisānahu wa-hdi qalbah. Yā ʿAlī, idhā jalasa ilayka al-khaṣmāni fa-lā taqḍi baynahumā ḥattā tasmaʿa min al-ākhari mā samiʿta min al-awwal, fa-innaka idhā faʿalta dhālika tabayyana laka al-qaḍāʾ. So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) put his hand on ʿAlī's chest and said: O Allah, make his tongue firm and guide his heart. O ʿAlī, when the two disputing parties sit before you, do not judge between them until you hear from the other what you heard from the first; if you do that, it will become clear to you how to judge. Qāla: fa-mā ikhtalafa ʿalayya qaḍāʾun baʿd — I was never confused in making a judgement after that (Abū Dāwūd 3582). And ʿAlī is very famous as a judge: he was a judge in the time of ʿUmar, and he was a judge in the time of ʿUthmān; they used to trust his judgement very much, and they would appoint him to judge the delicate cases that were brought before the Islamic government.