The Delegation of Ziyād ibn al-Hārith

Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Bayhaqī relates: Abū Aḥmad al-Asad Abādhī transmitted to us there; Abū Bakr ibn Mālik al-Qaṭīʿī narrated to us; Abū ʿAlī Bishr ibn Mūsā narrated to us; Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Muqriʾ narrated, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ziyād ibn Anʿam, who said: Ziyād ibn Nuʿaym al-Ḥaḍramī told me, “I heard Ziyād ibn al-Hārith al-Ṣudāʾī report:

I came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and pledged allegiance to him upon Islam. I was then informed that he had dispatched an army against my people, so I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, call the army back and I guarantee you the Islam and obedience of my tribe.’ He replied, ‘Go and turn them back.’ I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, my mount is worn out.’ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ therefore sent another man, and he turned the army back.

Al-Ṣudāʾī continues: I wrote a letter to my people, and their delegation soon arrived professing Islam. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to me, ‘Brother of Ṣudāʾāʾ, your word is obeyed among your people.’ I answered, ‘Allah alone guided them to Islam.’ He asked, ‘Shall I not appoint you over them?’ I replied, ‘Indeed, O Messenger of Allah.’

He then wrote a document appointing me as their leader. I added, ‘O Messenger of Allah, grant me something from their zakāt.’ He said, ‘Certainly,’ and wrote me another document.

Al-Ṣudāʾī says: That occurred during one of his journeys. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ halted at a certain encampment, and the people there came complaining about the agent he had set over them, saying, ‘He has exacted from us something related to a pre-Islamic dispute between his clan and ours.’ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ asked, ‘Did he really do that?’ They replied, ‘Yes.’

He then turned to his Companions, with me among them, and said, ‘There is no good in authority for a believing man.’ Al-Ṣudāʾī comments: Those words sank deep into my heart.

Later another man arrived and said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, give me something.’ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ replied, ‘Whoever begs from people while he is still solvent, his request is but a persistent headache and a pain in the stomach.’ The man said, ‘Then give me from the ṣadaqah.’ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Allah did not leave the ruling of ṣadaqah to a prophet or anyone else; He Himself ruled concerning it, dividing it into eight categories. If you belong to one of those categories, I will give you.’

Al-Ṣudāʾī continues: That too affected me, making me realize that I was well-off yet had asked him for ṣadaqah.

He goes on: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ remained awake in the early part of the night, and I stayed close to him. His Companions would fall back until no one remained with him but me. When the time for the dawn prayer approached he ordered me and I gave the adhān. I kept asking, ‘Shall I give the iqāmah, O Messenger of Allah?’ but he kept watching the eastern horizon for the break of dawn and saying, ‘Not yet,’ until the dawn appeared. He then dismounted, relieved himself, and returned to me while his Companions were catching up.

He said, ‘Brother of Ṣudāʾāʾ, is there any water?’ I replied, ‘Only a little—insufficient for you.’ He said, ‘Put it in a vessel and bring it to me.’ I did so, and he placed his hand in the water. I then saw between two of his fingers a spring