We came as a delegation to the Prophet ﷺ, pledged our allegiance to him, prayed with him, and informed him that we had a church in our land. We asked him to give us some of the water left over from his ablution. He called for water, performed wudu, rinsed his mouth, and then poured it into a water-skin. He instructed us, saying, "Set out, and when you reach your land, demolish your church, sprinkle this water on its site, and take it as a mosque."I said, "The land is far, the heat is severe, and the water will dry up."He replied, "Add more water to it, for that will only increase its goodness."So we set out and traveled until we reached our land. We demolished our church, sprinkled the water on its site, took it as a mosque, and called the adhan in it.The monk was a man from the tribe of Tayy. When he heard the adhan, he said, "A call of truth." He then turned toward one of our hills, and we never saw him again.
خرجنا وفدا إلى النبي ﷺ فبايعناه، وصلينا معه، وأخبرناه أن بأرضنا بيعة لنا فاستوهبناه من فضل طهوره، فدعا بماء فتوضأ، وتمضمض ثم صبه في إداوة، وأمرنا فقال: اخرجوا فإذا أتيتم أرضكم فاكسروا بيعتكم وانضحوا مكانها بهذا الماء واتخذوها مسجدا، قلت: إن البلد بعيد، والحر شديد، والماء ينشف فقال: مدوه من الماء، فإنه لا يزيده إلا طيبا فخرجنا حتى قدمنا بلدن فكسرنا بيعتنا، ثم نضحنا مكانها، واتخذناها مسجدا فنادينا فيه بالأذان. قال والراهب رجل من طيء فلما سمع الأذان قال: دعوة حق، ثم استقبل تلعة من تلاعنا فلم نره بعد.
Nasai (701) narrated it from Hannad bin Sari, from Mulazim, who said, "Abdullah bin Badr told me, from Qays bin Talq, from his father Talq bin Ali," and he related something similar. Its chain is sahih. Mulazim is Ibn Amr bin Abdullah bin Badr al-Yamami al-Hanafi, whose nickname was Luzaym. Abu Hatim and Ibn Main deemed him reliable, and Ahmad said, "He is among the trustworthy narrators."The hadith was also recorded by Ibn Hibban in his Sahih (1123, 1602) as the hadith of Musaddad, from Mulazim bin Amr, in the same manner.The hadith has another chain, and the one I have mentioned is better than what Imam Ahmad (16293) mentioned from Musa bin Dawud, who said, "Muhammad bin Jabir told us, from Abdullah bin Badr, from Talq bin Ali," and he related something similar in a shortened form. Muhammad bin Jabir is Ibn Sayyar al-Hanafi al-Yamami. Abu Zura said, "His hadith is worthless." Bukhari said, "He is not strong, they criticize him." Abu Dawud said, "He is nothing." Ajli, Ibn Hibban, Ahmad, and others also criticized him.Also in this chain, Abdullah bin Badr al-Hanafi did not hear directly from Talq bin Ali, for his son Qays bin Talq is between them, as mentioned above.As for his saying "biya" (with a kasra on the ba), it means a place of worship for Christians or Jews. And "talah" (with a fatha on the ta and a sakin on the lam) refers to the channel through which water flows from the upper part of a valley, and it is also said to mean a low-lying stretch of land.