دراسات في تاريخ عمان

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ple، and therefore had no great influence on them. At his meeting with the Prophet he did not promise to work for the spread of Islam in al-Bahrayn but rather asked the Prophet to write a letter to the people of that region. The Prophet agreed and the letter was sent with Al-'Ala' b. al-Hadrami who returned with the delegation to al-Bahrayn. The letter was delivered to Al-Mundhir b. Sawa. al-Tamimi who was the ruler of al-Bahrayn at that time and exercised great influence. Tabari calls al-Mundhir al-Tamimi 'Sa- hib al-Bahrayn'. Other sources call him the king or the governor ("amil) of al-Bahrayn." He probably had some ties with the Sasanids، whose author- ity was only nominal and limited to some coastal parts of the region. It is noticeable that our historical traditions do not speak of the role played by al-Ashaj al-Abdi and his delegation in spreading the Islamic da wa. This substantiates the theory that they were of no influence in the region. Al- Ashaj himself with some members of the delegation immigrated to Basra in al-Iraq shortly after his return to al-Bahrayn. It is known that most of the tribe of Abd al-Qays immigrated to Basra when this new city became the centre of the Islamic conquests eastwards into south-western Persia. The second delegation from al-Bahrayn was headed by al-Jarud Bishr b. Hanash al-Abdi who was an influential chief among 'Abd al-Qays. This delegation took place in 10 A.H. Al-Jarud became a real Muslim and his role in spreading Islam among his people was said to be great. Al- Jarud's influential position was instrumental during the ridda wars in de- terring his tribe from apostasy and he backed the governor of al-Bahrayn، al-Ala' b. al-Hadrami، against the apostates from Banu Bakr and other tribes who were led by Al-Hatam b. Dubay a. al-Jarud not only backed Is- lam against the apostates، but he also succeeded in winning over a section of Bakr led by Al-Muthanna al-Shaybani who joined the Muslim armies

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