He spoke with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about the alms-tax when he came to him as part of a delegation.The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Brother of Saba, alms-tax is unavoidable."He replied, "Messenger of Allah, all we cultivate is cotton. Saba has been scattered, and only a few remain at Marib."So the Prophet of Allah ﷺ reached an agreement with him to provide seventy garments of cloth each year, equal in value to the cloth of Maafir, on behalf of those of Saba who remained at Marib. They continued to deliver this until the Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed away.After the Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed away, the tax-collectors broke the agreement that Abyaz bin Hamal had reached with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ concerning the seventy garments. Abu Bakr then restored it to the arrangement that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had set, and it remained so until Abu Bakr died. When Abu Bakr died, the arrangement was overturned and it became part of the regular alms-tax.
حدثنا محمد بن أحمد القرشي وهارون بن عبد الله أن عبد الله بن الزبير حدثهم قال حدثنا فرج بن سعيد حدثني عمي ثابت بن سعيد عن أبيه سعيد يعني ابن أبيض
أنه كلم رسول الله ﷺ في الصدقة حين وفد عليه فقال يا أخا سبأ لا بد من صدقة فقال إنما زرعنا القطن يا رسول الله وقد تبددت سبأ ولم يبق منهم إلا قليل بمأرب فصالح نبي الله ﷺ على سبعين حلة بز من قيمة وفاء بز المعافر كل سنة عمن بقي من سبأ بمأرب فلم يزالوا يؤدونها حتى قبض رسول الله ﷺ وإن العمال انتقضوا عليهم بعد قبض رسول الله ﷺ فيما صالح أبيض بن حمال رسول الله ﷺ في الحلل السبعين فرد ذلك أبو بكر على ما وضعه رسول الله ﷺ حتى مات أبو بكر فلما مات أبو بكر رضي الله عنه انتقض ذلك وصارت على الصدقة
No references are available.
Its isnad is daif. Tabarani narrated it in Al-Kabir 277/1, 278, no. 807, from the hadith of Faraj bin Saeed, through him.Thabit bin Saeed and his father are both obscure narrators, not deemed reliable by anyone except Ibn Hibban. Despite this, Haythami graded it hasan in Majma al-Zawaid 106/4.