106 THE LIFE OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD"The old man put his hand to his head and said, 'Could your mistake be put
right? Can its consequences be reversed? I swear no descendant of Ishmael ever
made such a claim falsely. It has to be true. Where did your good judgement
go?"'
Miisa b. Wqba stated, quoting al-Zuhri, "The Messenger of God (SAAS) would
for the period of those years, present himself to the Arab tribes at each fair,
speaking with each tribal leader but asking them only for their protection and
support. He would say, 'I don't wish to force any one of you to do anything. Any
of you who agree to what I ask may do so, but I would not compel anyone not so
wishing. All I want is to guard myself against those wanting to kill me, so that I
may fulfil my Lord's mission and carry out whatever decree He wishes regarding
myself and those who support me.' But not one of them accepted him. Every one
of those tribes reached the following conclusion: 'The man's own tribe knew him
best; how could we accept as suitable for us someone who has subverted his tribe
and whom they have expelled.'
"This rejection too was due to the honour God had in store for the aqar (the
'Helpers') of Medina."
The hi$& Aba Nu%p related through 'Abd Allah b. d-Ajlah and Yahya b.
Sacid al-Umawi, who both took their information from Muhammad b. al-Sl'ib
d-Kalbi, from Abii Sdih, from Ibn 'Abbas, from 'Abbns, who said, 'LThe
Messenger of God (SAAS) told me, 'I don't consider myself receiving protection
from you or from your brother. Would you take me to the market tomorrow for
us to stay in the homes of some of the tribespeople?' It was the time for the
gathering of the Arab tribes.
"He (the Prophet (SAAS)) went on, 'These are Kinda and those who mix with
them. They are the best of those from Yemen who make the pilgrimage. Those
are the homes of Bakr b. Wa'il; those belong to the Banti 'Amir b. Sac?a%. Choose
for yourself."'
'Abbas continued "He began with Kinda, asking them, 'From whom are yon?'
'From Yemen,' they replied. 'From which tribe?' he asked. 'From Kinda.' 'From
which sub-tribe?' he next enquired. 'From the Banii 'Amr b. Muswiya,' they
told hi.
"'Would you lie to achieve good?'
"'How would that be?' they asked.
"'You would bear witness that there is no god but God, and would engage in
prayer and believe in God's message."'
'Abd Allah b. d-Ajlah quoted his father as having said, on the authority of the
elders of his people, that Kinda replied to him (the Prophet (SAAS)), "If you are
successful, will you grant us power after yourself?"
The Messenger of God (SAAS) replied, "Power rests with God; He places it
where He wishes."
They responded, "We don't need what you bring."