دراسات في تاريخ عمان

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The Messenger of God (God bless and preserve him) wrote to al-Mundhir b. Sawa. 'Furthermore، my messengers have praised you. In so far as you act well، I shall act well towards you، and reward you for your work; and you shall deal uprightly with God and His messenger. Peace be upon you.' He sent it by al-Ala b. al-Hadrami. He [al-Mundhir] wrote to the Mes- senger of God … announcing his acceptance of Islam and his belief in him [or it]: 'I have read your letter to the people of Hajar. Some of them like Is- lam and admire it and have entered it; and some dislike it. In my country there are Magians and Jews. Tell me your command about that.' The Mes- senger of God … wrote to him: In so far as you act well، we shall not re- move you from your position as ruler. He who remains a Jew or a Magian is obliged to pay the tax [jizyah].

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The people of al-Bahrayn also sent delegations (wufud) to the Prophet Muhammad. Sources give many different accounts of these delegations. It is most probable that there were two delegations of the tribe of "Abd al- Qays to Madina. The first took place in 9 A.H. headed by Al-Ashaj al- Mundhir b. A'idh al-Abdi. The delegation consisted of about twenty men including Al-Jarud Bishr b. Hanash al-'Abdi. The latter was Christian and 20 accepted Islam on this occasion at the hands of the Prophet. Ibn Hisham relates the story of the meeting as follows:

When he [Al-Jarud] came to the apostle he spoke to him، and the apostle explained Islam to him and invited him to enter it with kindly words. He replied: 'Muhammad I owe a debt. if I leave my religion for yours will you guarantee my debt?' The apostle said، 'Yes، I guarantee that what God has guided you to is better than that'، so he and his companions accepted Is-

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It seems، however، that Al-Ashaj al-Abdi was not a chief among his peo-

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