The Najran Pact,

Mobaahelah (Mubahilah)

Part 8

Now let us remember that as mentioned before, the ancient Book of Himyarites had stated that Umayya was in Najran, the christian area of the region of Yemen in south Arabia, about 520s CE. According to Idris Imaduddin, a historian, Hashim died before the year 500 CE in Shaam, returning from a business trip, while he was only in his early 30s; Allah knows whether he was killed directly or indirectly by Umayya, since as mentioned before, Umayya was one of the biggest enemies of Haashem … .

It is noteworthy to mention that Prophetic Successorship after Hadrat Ismael (SBUH) was divided, by Allah’s Command, into two branches: One side to the Prophet Es-haaq (Isaac) and then down to Ya’qoob (Jacob) and the bani Israel Prophets (SBUT); and the other side to a line of Allah Chosen monotheist children of Ismael, i.e. the Chosen of bani Ismael, down to the Allah Chosen of Quraysh, being of bani Hashim, until finally reaching the Prophet Mohammad and the AhlulBayt (SBUT). (The Beliefs of Islam in the Karim Qur’an, vol. 3, ‘Allaamah ‘Asgari; …) All these Chosen Ones of bani Ismael after Ismael down to the Prophet were the Hojjats (Proofs) of Allah and Chosen Awsiya. In addition as we have previously mentioned in other writings of this site such as ”Another Month of Safar departs while thought-provoking …” the Prophet Mohammad (SBUH&HA) has emphasized that all Prophets and their Awsiya (Successors), those who actually tasted death on this earth, were martyred; thus, unless Allah Willed otherwise, it can also be concluded that Hadrat Hashim, being of the Awsiya of Hadrat Ismael (SBUT), was also martyred … .

… Anyhow, according to the above mentioned dates, Umayya’s presence in Najran during the jews invasion, was after Hashim’s death. In this regard, let us look at the information provided by the renowned historian, scholar and author, Hosain ‘EmaadZaadeh Esfahaani (1284-1369, Iranian calendar S.A.H.; corresponding to 1906-1991 C.E.):

‘EmaadZaadeh in his renowned book Life of Sayyed al Shohada, Abi Abdellah al Hosain, writes that during the guardianship of Hashim, Muttalib was with Hashim. While ‘Abd Shams and Nawfal joined together in trade and Umayya was with them. ‘EmaadZaadeh states that, after the death of ‘Abd al-Shams Umayya wanted to get close to Hashim, but it was not possible; because Hashim was a prestigious man among the Arab, while Umayya was a notorious and criminal young man. Umayya was jealous of Hashim and started to defame Hashim, so much so that Hashim expelled Umayya from Mecca. People of Mecca called Hashim the Sayyed of Batha (master of Makkah), while they strongly disliked Umayya.

He writes that Umayya went to Yemen. Hashim passed away and ‘Abd Muttalib became the guardian of Ka’bah, attaining the same honor and prestige as Hashim, becoming the Sayyed of Batha.

So it seems that according to ‘EmaadZaadeh Umayya’s going to the region of Yemen was about the same time as Hashim’s passing away. Thus confirming the presence of Umayya in the indicated time in Najran as mentioned in the ancient Syriac book of Himyarites.

Book of Himyarites states that Umayya went from the christian Najran to the christian Abyssinia, and as the result a christian man named Abraha attacked Najran and thus became another “hero” in the history of the Najranites:

“The instigation to action was … caused by … the arrival at the court of the Abyssinian king of a refugee from Najran by the name of Umayya. Later, an army of 7,000 men led by Abraha al-Ashram, the Christian viceroy of the Negus of Abyssinia defeated Dhu Nuwas's forces and restored Christian rule in Najran.”

Thus the ancient christian source, the Book of Himyarites, provides this information that Umayya met Abraha in Abyssinia, and perhaps it was not the first time, for, as mentioned above, Umayya with ‘Abd Shams and Nawfal used to travel to the area in trade caravans. ‘EmaadZaadeh (vol. 1, p. 226) mentions that Umayya was the person who urged Abraha to attack Ka’bah:

Umayya instigated Abraha to attack and destroy Ka’bah, and make the temple (church) of San‘a to become as Arab’s destination of pilgrimage in place of the Ka’bah.

Let us keep in mind that as we mentioned before “The Byzantine emperors had long eyed the Arabian Peninsula … thereby to control the … trade”. And surely Abraha of Abyssinia, being under the influence of the Byzantine Empire, shared such desires. Another point to consider is the strong possibility of Umayya talking about Hashimites with the rulers of Najran while living in the area.

‘EmaadZaadeh states that when ‘Abd al Muttalib -i.e. after Hashim and Muttalib- was the guardian of Ka’bah, Umayya returned from the Yemen area (vol. 1, p. 153):

Umayya and his family returned to Mecca, and Harb disputed ‘Abd al Muttalib in regard to guardianship of Ka’bah. The more Harb argued the more it resulted in unfavorable notoriousness of Umayya and it actually added to the majesty of ‘Abd al Muttalib.

‘EmaadZaadeh then narrates a poem by an Arab poet called Naafar addressing Harb, which it seems that the poem was composed after Abraha’s attack to Ka’bah:

Your father was an adulterous man, his father, a virtuous man.

He drove away the Elephant from the Balad al Haraam …

To be continued …