Story-telling of Tamim e Dari and Promotion of Christianity

The Jewish and Christians scholars resorted to story-telling inside the mosques and the Christian clerics preached Christianity with the pretext of their narrations.

It is written in the book ‘Israeliyaat wa Tatheer e Aan…’:

          ‘The clerics of the ‘People of the Book’ played this crucial role under the supervision of the official rule and made the Muslim mosques, specially the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina, the center of their activities with the intention of keeping the people busy with recounting the stories of the sons of Israel and all that was in accordance with the people’s interest and their own motives.[1]

          Tamim e Dari, a Christian who had newly accepted Islam and was considered one of the greatest men of Madina[2], requested Umar to grant him permission for story-telling. He was permitted by Umar and began to narrate stories on Fridays in the Prophet’s Mosque for the people.[3] Umar himself used to sit in the gatherings of Tamim and listen to his narrations.[4]

          In fact, the most significant evidence for the link between story-telling and Israelite stories is this very point that Tamim e Dari, someone who newly converted from Christianity to Islam, becomes the first person to narrate stories and Ka’ab ul Ahbar, who converted from Judaism to Islam, resorts to the same in Syria. Even his wife’s son from another husband, Tabee bin Aamir, who grew up under Ka’ab ul Ahbar himself and had studies the heavenly books, began to narrate stories for the people.

          The researches have clarified this point that the act of story-telling in the beginning of Islamic era, was a movement that emerged as an effect of the tradition of ‘People of the Book’, and for centuries, the original source of these stories were those narrated by the ‘People of the Book’ regarding the Prophets and others.

          The movement of story-telling initiated a culture that stood against the Islamic culture and even after the opposition of a few religious clerics, it managed to deeply influence the society and leave a dreadful imprint on the Islamic culture with the aid and support of some of the Caliphs and reporters’.[5]

          Dr. Mustafa Husain writes: ‘The conditions that were prevalent in Syria after the Islamic victories, played a significant role in the propagation of Israelite stories inside the Islamic society and the likes of Tamim e Dari, who had newly converted from Christianity to Islam, had an important part to play in this movement (propagation of Israelite stories). Although Tamim was originally Christian, but the effect of the Israelite tradition on his personality and his narrations is a fact that isn’t unknown to anyone; specially his story of ‘Jassasah’ which is falsely associated to the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) by the narrators.’[6]

          Dr. Ahmad Amin also writes about the condition of Syria after the arrival of Islam:

          ‘In Syria, there was a large group of Christians who did not forsake their religion and disagreed to pay the Jizya tax. Another group accepted Islam but entered the knowledge that they had gained from the Christian creed, in Islam. Mosques were made adjacent to the churches and the blend of Muslims and Christians took place swiftly.’[7]

          Therefore, we can appropriately name Syria as ‘The green pasture for Israelite stories’.

          After attaining power, Mu’awiyah chose a group of Christians as his advisors and consultants. Amongst them was his minister ‘Sirjaun’, who was also the official writer of his court, and ‘Ibne Aathaal’, who was the official royal doctor and ‘Akthal’ - the royal poet of the Umayyad court.

          It is clear that these weren’t amongst those who had forsaken their beliefs and faith, but they had gained access to the Umayyad court and organized it according to their own preference.[8]

          The historians have registered vast details regarding the relationship and link between these Christians and Mu’awiyah, some of which are indicated in the following points:

1. Sirjawn bin Mansoor e Rumi: It is said about him that he was the writer of Mu’awiyah and knew all his secrets. He served Yazid after the death of Mu’awiyah.

It is written in the book ‘Al Aghaani’ that Yazid used to sit and drink along with Sirjawn, the Christian, and he was the one who advised Yazid to appoint Ibn e Ziyad as the ruler of Kufa upon hearing the news of Muslim bin Aqeel.[9] In addition to this, his son served as a writer for Abdul Malik bin Marwan.[10]

2. Ibne Aathaal: According to the historians, he was a Christian doctor of Mu’awiyah’s court and his personal doctor in Syria.

Ahmad Amin says: Mawiyah showed extreme kindness towards him and had faith in him and used to have regular conversations with him.[11]

Yaqoobi also writes in his history: It was Mu’awiyah who appointed ‘Ibn e Aathaal’, who was a Christian, as the tax collector for the land of Hums, whereas no other Caliph gave any administrative position to a Christian before him’.[12]

3. Akhtal: He was a Christian poet of Mu’awiyah’s royal court.

Jahiz writes about how he attained nearness to the Umayyad administration: Mu’awiyah wished to humiliate the Ansaar (those Companions of the Prophet who lived in Medina) because majority of them were the companions of Ali bin Abi Talib (a.s.) and stood against Mu’awiyah in the case of Caliphate. His son Yazid asked Ka’ab bin Ju’ayl to mock the Ansaar but he refrained from this act saying, ‘I can recommend a Christian slave who has the tongue of a cow and will not hesitate in mocking them, then he introduced Akhtal’.[13]

It has also come in ‘Al Aghani’ with reference to him that: ‘He was a Christian infidel who used to ridicule the Muslims and wore clothes made of fur and a golden chain with a golden cross around his neck, in such a state that drops of wine used to spill from his beard and he used to enter in this condition without seeking permission from Abdul Malik bin Marwan. He was the courtier of Yazid and used to drink along with him. Likewise, he wrote a poetry that was hanged on the door of the Kufah Mosque.[14]

Another scholar writes about him: ‘There were evidences in his poetry that indicated towards the fact that some of the old Arabic Traditions of idol-worship were present even at the time of the Umayyad rule. In addition to this, such poems are narrated from him that depict the extent of religious mistakes committed by them.

Akhtal used to severely denounce those people who had forsaken the religion of their forefathers which was Christianity or idol-worship for the sake of seeking proximity to those who were in power. The best of his poems are those in which he has praised the Umayyad dynasty. He was supported by Abdul Malik knowing that he used to ridicule the Muslims.[15]’

These events clearly prove that Syria and the royal court of Mu’awiyah turned into a place where all those tribes and people who had a common motive, gathered. That motive was nothing but weakening the roots of the powerful Islamic tree and confronting the Islamic traditions with mighty effort.

Mu’awiyah, who considered all the ways of reaching his political motives to be legal, made full use of the falsified and concocted narrations of those Jewish and Christian clerics who had newly accepted Islam (or claimed to be Muslims outwardly) and all the other hoaxers of narrations and those self-centered people who lived on the mercy of his gifts and grants.[16]