By Allah, there had been no land more detested by me than yours, yet today your land is the most beloved of all to me. Your cavalry captured me while I was on my way to perform ʿumrah—so what do you command?” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ gave him glad tidings and ordered him to perform the ʿumrah.

When he reached Mecca someone said to him, “Have you abandoned your religion?” He replied, “No; rather, I have embraced Islam with Muhammad ﷺ, and, by Allah, not a single grain of wheat will reach you from al-Yamāmah until the Prophet ﷺ permits it.”

Al-Bukhārī also records this report elsewhere, as do Muslim, Abū Dāwūd, and al-Nisāʾī, all of them through Qutaybah from al-Layth with the same chain.

There is room for reconsideration in al-Bukhārī’s listing of this incident under the heading of “Delegations,” for Thumāmah did not arrive voluntarily; he was taken prisoner, brought in chains, and tied to one of the pillars of the mosque. Likewise, placing it among the delegations of the ninth year raises another question, for the apparent context of the story shows that it occurred shortly before the Conquest, since the people of Mecca taunted him over his Islam and said, “Have you abandoned your religion?” He threatened them that no provision of wheat would reach them from al-Yamāmah until the Messenger of Allah ﷺ gave permission—clearly indicating that Mecca was still a land at war whose inhabitants had not yet embraced Islam. Allah knows best.

For this reason al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Bayhaqī related the story of Thumāmah ibn Uthāl among the events that took place before the Conquest of Mecca, and this appears more plausible; nevertheless, we have mentioned it here in deference to al-Bukhārī, may Allah have mercy on him.

Al-Bukhārī further said: “Abū al-Yamān narrated to us; Shuʿayb narrated to us; from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ḥusayn; Nāfiʿ ibn Jubayr narrated to us; from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said:

Musaylimah the Liar came during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and kept saying, ‘If Muhammad will grant me the authority after him, I will follow him.’ He arrived with a large group of his people. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ went to him, accompanied by Thābit ibn Qays ibn Shammas, holding a palm-leaf stalk in his hand, until he stood before Musaylimah among his companions and said:

‘Even if you asked me for this twig, I would not give it to you. You will never escape the decree of Allah concerning you. If you turn your back, Allah will surely destroy you. Indeed, you are the one about whom I was shown what I have been shown, and this is Thābit who will answer you on my behalf.’

He then turned away from him.

Ibn ʿAbbās said: I inquired about the Prophet’s statement, ‘Indeed, you are the one about whom I was shown what I have been shown,’ and Abū Hurayrah informed me that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

‘While I was asleep I saw two golden bracelets on my hands, and their matter weighed heavily upon me; then I was inspired in the dream to blow them away…’