The Messenger of Allah ﷺ made a peace agreement with the people of Najran on the terms that they would pay two thousand garments, half in Safar and half in Rajab, to be delivered to the Muslims. They were also to lend thirty coats of mail, thirty horses, thirty camels, and thirty of every type of weapon to be used in military expeditions. The Muslims would guarantee the return of these items if there were any treachery or plot in Yemen. The terms also stipulated that none of their churches would be demolished, no priest of theirs would be expelled, and they would not be turned away from their religion, so long as they did not commit any new offense or consume usury.Ismail said, "They have indeed consumed usury."Abu Dawud said, "If they violate any of the conditions stipulated upon them, then they have committed a new offense."
صالح رسول الله ﷺ أهل نجران على ألفي حلة: النصف في صفر والنصف في رجب، يؤدونها إلى المسلمين، وعارية ثلاثين درعا وثلاثين فرسا وثلاثين بعيرا، وثلاثين من كل صنف من أصناف السلاح يغزون بها، والمسلمون ضامنون لها حتى يردوها عليهم إن كان باليمن كيد أو غدرة: على أن لا تهدم لهم بيعة، ولا يخرج لهم قس، ولا يفتنوا عن دينهم ما لم يحدثوا حدثا أو يأكلوا الربا، قال إسماعيل: فقد أكلوا الربا. قال أبو داود: إذا نقضوا بعض ما اشترط عليهم فقد أحدثوا.
Abu Dawud (3041), Bayhaqi (9/187), and Diya Maqdisi in Mukhtarah (9/508) all narrated it, all from the hadith of Yunus bin Bukayr, who said, Asbat bin Nasr Hamdani narrated to us, from Ismail bin Abdul-Rahman Qurashi, from Ibn Abbas, and he mentioned it. Its chain is hasan due to the discussion surrounding Asbat bin Nasr.Diya Maqdisi said, "Muslim narrated from both Ismail and Asbat in his Sahih, though the reports about their reliability and the criticism of them differ."I say, as for Ismail, who is Suddi, his hadith is hasan, for Ahmad and others deemed him reliable. As for Asbat, weakness predominates in him, even though Bukhari thought well of him. As for Ibn Main, the reports about him differ, for he said once, "He is nothing," and another time, "He is reliable." Musa bin Harun said, "There was nothing wrong with him." Muslim relied on their being deemed reliable and included his narrations in his Sahih, even though Abu Zura criticized him for it. So someone like him, when he narrates alone, must be examined, and if his narration shows clear abnormality, it is rejected.The peace treaty with the people of Najran has also been narrated through several mursal routes. There is some discussion concerning some of them, but taken together they strengthen one another, and success comes from Allah.It can be deduced from the hadith that a peace settlement may be made using something other than the dinar and dirham, and this is the view of Shafii, while Ahmad's view is close to it. See for more, Minna Kubra (8/414).As for the letter that Bayhaqi mentioned in Dalail (5/385) to the people of Najran, transmitted through routes from Abu Abbas Muhammad bin Yaqub, who said, Ahmad bin Abdul-Jabbar narrated to us, who said, Yunus bin Bukayr narrated to us, from Salama bin Abd Yasu, from his father, from his grandfather. Yunus said, and he had been a Christian who converted to Islam, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ wrote to Najran before Ta Sin Sulayman, meaning Surah Naml, was revealed to him, saying,"In the name of the God of Ibrahim, Ishaq, and Yaqub. From Muhammad the Prophet, Messenger of Allah ﷺ, to the bishop of Najran and the people of Najran. If you submit, then I praise to you Allah, the God of Ibrahim, Ishaq, and Yaqub. Now then, I call you to the worship of Allah instead of the worship of servants, and I call you to the guardianship of Allah instead of the guardianship of servants. If you refuse, then the jizya, and if you refuse that, then I have declared war upon you. And peace."This is not sahih. It contains Salama bin Abd Yasu, his father, and his grandfather, none of whom are known, and its text also contains an oddity. That oddity is his statement, "before Ta Sin," that is, Surah Naml, had been revealed to him. For it is a Makkan surah by the consensus of the scholars, and Hafiz bin Qayyim noted this in Zad Mad. As for Ibn Kathir, he included it in Bidayah wal-Nihayah (7/263–269) and remained silent about it. Abu Naeem referred to this letter in Marifat Sahabah (5633) in the biography of Ghaylan bin Amr, for he was among those who witnessed it alongside Abu Sufyan bin Harb. It can be deduced from this that it was written after the conquest.As for the story of the delegation of Najran praying in the masjid of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, when the time for their prayer came and they stood up in the masjid of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to pray, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Leave them," so they prayed facing the east, this is daif. Ibn Ishaq narrated it, Sirat bin Hisham (2/574), Muhammad bin Jafar bin Zubayr narrated to me, he said, when they came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in Madinah, they entered his masjid after he had prayed Asr, wearing striped Yemeni garments, cloaks, and mantles, with the fine appearance of the men of Banu Harith bin Kaab. He said, some of the companions of the Prophet ﷺ who saw them that day said, "We have never seen a delegation like them," and their prayer time came... and he narrated it. It contains Muhammad bin Jafar bin Zubayr, who did not witness the event himself.