The Delegations
The number of delegations listed in Ahl Al-Maghazi were over seventy. Investigating such a large number is not an accessible thing; besides stating them in detail is not of a great benefit. Therefore, I am going to reveal an expose about what is historically wonderful or highly significant. Anyway a reader should always keep in mind that whilst the majority of tribes arrived in Madinah after the conquest, there were also pre-conquest delegations.
1. The delegation of ‘Abdul Qais: This tribe had two arrivals. The first was in the fifth year of Al-Hijra or before that date. Munqidh bin Haiyan, a member of that tribe, used to trade in Madinah. So, as soon as he heard of Islam when he had arrived in it for trading — that was after the migration — he embraced Islam and carried a pledge from the Prophet [pbuh] to his people who eventually became Muslims too. Thirteen or fourteen of them came to the Prophet [pbuh] in one of the Hurum Months. It was then that they asked the Prophet’s advice about the Faith and drinks. Their chief was Al-Ashaj Al-Usri, to whom the Messenger of Allâh [pbuh] said: "You have two qualities that Allâh likes: They are deliberatenessandclemency."
Their second arrival was in the Year of Delegations. They were forty men. Al- Jarud bin Al-‘Alâ’ Al-‘Abdi, who was Christian but turned to be a good Muslim, was one of that group. [Explanation of Sahih Muslim by An-Nawawi 1/33; Fath Al-Bari 8/85,86]
2. Daws Delegation: The arrival of this tribe was in the early times of the seventh year and that was when the Messenger of Allâh [pbuh] was in Khaibar. At-Tufail bin ‘Amr Ad-Dawsi, that we have already talked about and explained how he became a Muslim at the time the Messenger of Allâh [pbuh] was in Makkah. He went back home to his people where he kept calling people to Islam but they tarried till he despaired of them and returned to the Messenger of Allâh [pbuh] and asked him to invoke Allâh against Daws but the Messenger of Allâh [pbuh] invoked Allâh to guide Daws. Later on, Daws embraced Islam. So At-Tufail arrived in Madinah accompanied by seventy or eighty families of his people in the early times of the seventh year of Al-Hijra, at the time that the Messenger of Allâh [pbuh] was at Khaibar, so he overtook him there. 3. Farwah Bani ‘Amr Al-Judhami’s messenger: Farwah was an Arab leader in the Byzantine army. He was a Byzantine agent ruler by proxy on the Arabs allied to the Byzantines. His home was at Mu‘an and the surrounding area of Ash-Sham lands. Seeing the stamina and courage of the Muslims he became a Muslim. The battle of Mu’tah — which took place in the eighth year of Al- Hijra — compelled his admiration. He sent a white mule gift with a messenger of his to the Messenger of Allâh [pbuh] to inform him of his conversion into Islam. When the Byzantines learnt of his embracing Islam, they sent him to prison. At first they gave him an opportunity to choose one of the two — "either he defects from Islam or death shall be his punishment." Refusing to defect they crucified him and cut his neck at a water (fountain) called ‘Afra’ in Palestine. [Za'd Al-Ma'ad 3/45; Tafheem-ul-Qur'an 2/169] 4. Sudâ’ Delegation: The arrival of this delegation was after the departure of the Messenger of Allâh [pbuh] from Al-Ji‘ranah in the eighth year of Al-Hijra. It was because the Messenger of Allâh [pbuh] had already dispatched a