It has reached us that Musaylimah the Liar came to Medina and stayed at the house of the daughter of Harith. He was married to the daughter of Harith bin Kurayz, who was the mother of Abdullah bin Amir.The Messenger of Allah ﷺ came to him accompanied by Thabit bin Qays bin Shammas, the one called the orator of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and in the hand of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was a stick. He stopped before him and spoke to him.Musaylimah said to him, "If you wish, you may leave the matter between us, then assign it to us after you."The Prophet ﷺ replied, "Even if you asked me for this stick, I would not give it to you. I see you as the one I was shown concerning what I was shown. This is Thabit bin Qays, and he will answer you on my behalf."Then the Prophet ﷺ departed.
بلغنا أن مسيلمة الكذاب قدم المدينة فنزل في دار بنت الحارث، وكان تحته بنت الحارث بن كريز، وهي أم عبد الله بن عامر، فأتاه رسول الله ﷺ ومعه ثابت بن قيس بن شماس، وهو الذي يقال له خطيب رسول الله ﷺ، وفي يد رسول الله ﷺ قضيب، فوقف عليه فكلمه، فقال له مسيلمة: إن شئت خليت بيننا وبين الأمر ثم جعلته لنا بعدك. فقال النبي ﷺ: لو سألتني هذا القضيب ما أعطيتكه، وإني لأراك الذي أريت فيه ما أريت، وهذا ثابت بن قيس، وسيجيبك عني، فانصرف النبي ﷺ.
Bukhari reported it in the Book of Military Expeditions (4378), from Saeed bin Muhammad Jarmi, who said, Yaqub bin Ibrahim narrated to us, my father narrated to us, from Salih, from Ibn Ubayda bin Nashit, and so he related it.Muhammad bin Saad said, Muhammad bin Umar Aslami informed us, saying, Dahhak bin Uthman narrated to me, from Yazid bin Ruman. Muhammad bin Saad also said, Ali bin Muhammad Qurashi informed us, from those of his sources whom he named, who said, a delegation of Banu Hanifa came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, some ten-odd men, among them Rahhal bin Unfuwa, Salma bin Hanzala Suhaymi, Talq bin Ali bin Qays, Humran bin Jabir from Banu Shamr, Ali bin Sinan, Aqas bin Muslama, Zayd bin Abd Amr, and Musaylima bin Habib. Salma bin Hanzala led the delegation. They were lodged in the house of Ramla bint Harith, and hospitality was provided for them. They were brought breakfast and dinner, sometimes bread and meat, sometimes bread and milk, sometimes bread and ghee, and sometimes dates scattered out for them.They came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in the masjid, greeted him with peace, and bore witness to the testimony of truth, having left Musaylima behind with their baggage. They stayed for some days, going back and forth to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and Rahhal bin Unfuwa was learning the Quran from Ubayy bin Kaab.When they wanted to return to their land, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ ordered gifts for them, five ounces of silver for each man. They said, "Messenger of Allah, we left behind a companion of ours with our baggage, watching over it for us, and with our mounts, guarding them for us." So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ ordered for him the same as he had ordered for his companions, and said, "He is not the least of you in standing, for guarding your mounts and your baggage."This was reported to Musaylima, and he said, "He recognized that the matter belongs to me after him." They returned to Yamama, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ gave them a water-skin containing some leftover water from his ablutions, and said, "When you reach your land, tear down your church, sprinkle its place with this water, and take its place as a masjid." They did so, and the water-skin came to be with Aqas bin Muslama, and Talq bin Ali became the one who gave the call to prayer.He gave the call, and the monk of the church heard it and said, "A word of truth, and a call of truth!" and he fled, and that was the last that was known of him. Musaylima, may Allah curse him, then claimed prophethood, and Rahhal bin Unfuwa testified on his behalf that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had made him a partner in the matter, so the people were led astray by him through this.This is reported in his Tabaqat (1/306–317), and Muhammad bin Umar is Waqidi. In the second chain of transmission there are men who are not named. It can be gathered from it that their number was some ten-odd men.Ibn Ishaq said, their lodging was in the house of the daughter of Harith, a woman of the Ansar, from Banu Najjar. Some of our scholars among the people of Madinah related to me that Banu Hanifa brought him to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, covering him with garments, while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was sitting among his companions, holding a palm branch stripped of its leaves except for a few fronds at its tip. When he was brought before the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, while they were covering him with the garments, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ spoke to him and questioned him, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to him, "Had you asked me for this palm branch, I would not have given it to you."Ibn Ishaq said, an elder from Banu Hanifa among the people of Yamama related to me that his account was different from this. He claimed that the delegation of Banu Hanifa came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, having left Musaylima behind with their baggage, and when they embraced Islam they mentioned his position. They said, "Messenger of Allah, we left a companion of ours behind with our baggage and our mounts, guarding them for us." He said, so the Messenger of Allah ﷺ ordered for him the same as he had ordered for the group, and said, "Indeed, he is not the least of you in standing," meaning for his guarding of his companions' property, and that is what the Messenger of Allah ﷺ meant.He said, then they left the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and brought Musaylima what had been given to him. When they reached Yamama, the enemy of Allah apostatized, claimed prophethood, and lied to them, saying, "I have indeed been made a partner in the matter with him." He said to his delegation who had been with him, "Did he not say to you, when you mentioned me to him, 'Indeed, he is not the least of you in standing'? That was only because he knew that I had been made a partner in the matter with him."Then he began composing rhymed sayings for them, saying among what he said, in imitation of the Quran, "Allah has indeed bestowed favor upon the pregnant woman, bringing forth from her a living soul, from between the membrane and the belly." He permitted them wine and fornication, and lifted from them the obligation of prayer, while at the same time testifying that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was a prophet. So Hanifa rallied around him on that basis. Allah knows best which of these accounts was true.Sirat bin Hisham (2/576–577).Between the Prophet ﷺ and Musaylima the Liar the following letter was exchanged.