The Answer of Banū Shaybān

ʿAlī continued: "We went to a meeting in which you could see calm and dignity in the people, and Abū Bakr went to them and greeted them, and he asked them: 'Where are you from?' They said: 'We are from Banū Shaybān.'" Abū Bakr went and reported to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him): "These are people of experience and power." Abū Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) then went to the leaders of the group — Mafrūq ibn ʿAmr, Hāniʾ ibn Qabīṣah, al-Muthannā ibn Ḥārithah and al-Nuʿmān ibn Sharīk — the one closest to Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq being Mafrūq ibn ʿAmr, described as having two braids that came down to his chest.

Abū Bakr asked him: "How many are you in number?" Mafrūq replied: "We are more than a thousand strong, and a few men cannot beat a thousand, as they say." Abū Bakr asked: "And how is your protection?" He said: "We go to the limit, and every people has its limit." Abū Bakr then asked how it was when they made war with their enemies, assessing their strength. They said: "When we meet in battle, we are the angriest of men; we take greater pride in our steeds than in our sons, and care more for our swords than our camels. Victory rests with Allah — sometimes He grants it to us, sometimes to others over us." These were the words of Hāniʾ, and they then sought the opinion of al-Muthannā ibn Ḥārithah. Al-Muthannā said: "I heard and I liked what you said, but our answer should be that of Hāniʾ ibn Qabīṣah — for us to leave our religion and follow you after a single sitting would be like taking residence between two pools of stagnant water: al-Yamāmah, and al-Samāwah."

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) did not understand this, and asked what those pools of stagnant water might be. Al-Muthannā replied: "One of these is where our land borders the Arab world, and the other is that of Persia and the rivers of Kisrā. We would be reneging on a pact Kisrā has placed upon us, that we would not cause an incident and would not give sanctuary to a troublemaker. This policy you suggest for us is one thing that kings dislike. As for those areas bordering Arab lands, the blame of those so acting would be forgiven and excuses for them accepted; but for those areas next to Persia, those so acting would not be forgiven and no such excuses would be accepted. If you want us to help you and protect you from whatever relates to Arab territories alone, we would do so."

The land of Banū Shaybān bordered the Persian Empire, and their military leader — who knew the contracts between them and the Persian Empire, and this was al-Muthannā — said they had an agreement with the Persians that they would never give sanctuary to a troublemaker, and that this religion was something kings did not like. Here is the wisdom he had realised from his meeting with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him): that this was something kings would not really like, because kings want to have authority in their hands to abuse others, and this is a religion that is meant to free people. He said: "We cannot offer you protection from the Persian side, but we can offer you protection from the Arab side." So the land bordering the Arabs would be promised protection from them; but the area bordering Persia, nothing could be promised — they could not stand in front of the Persian Empire.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) responded: "Your reply is in no way bad — you have spoken eloquently and truthfully, and you have been honest. But the religion of Allah can only be taken up by those who encompass it from every side." The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) did not want to have half a deal; he did not want to have a compromise deal. He wanted to have complete protection. He said: "The religion of Allah needs to be surrounded from every direction. I want an absolute commitment to protect me — you cannot say you will protect me from one side but not the other."

What can be learned from this is that in negotiations and dealings, the religion of Allah must be held in high esteem: its terms are not to be bargained over or compromised, and if an agreement does not fulfil the terms of Islam, there is no need to enter into it. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) felt no need to join an agreement, even knowing how difficult his situation in Makkah was, and how badly he needed to leave — he did not want to enter into an agreement that was half-hearted, halfway through. This is where trust is placed in Allah (swt). The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) left the matter to Allah (azza wa jalla) and refused to accept that particular agreement from the people of Banū Shaybān.