Volume 4 – Page 27 – The Situation in Yemen
Amr ibn Shahr, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ emerged as a prophet. The people of Hamdan said to me, "Go to this man (the Prophet) and investigate his situation for us. If you are satisfied with something from him, we will accept it. And if you dislike something from him, then we will also dislike it." I replied, “Yes, I will go.”
I came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and accepted the religion he brought. My tribe also accepted Islam. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ wrote a letter to Umayr ibn Zura.
Amr said: Malik ibn Miraara ar-Rawahi was sent to Yemen. Akk, who bore the nickname Zü Hayavan, embraced Islam. It was said to Akk, "Go to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and seek safe passage (aman) for your village and property." Akk came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ wrote this to him: “In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. From Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, to Akk from Zü Hayavan – if this man is truthful in his claim regarding his land, property, and slaves, then safe passage (aman) and the covenant of Allah are with him; the aman of the Messenger of Allah is for him.” Khalid ibn Sa’id ibn ‘As wrote the document of safe passage.
EXPLANATION:
Murtad: This means one who requests [something]. Umayr's nickname is Zü Mervân, and Akk’s nickname is Zi Hayavân.
It is narrated from Ebyaz bin Hamal, may Allah be pleased with him:
That when he came as an emissary to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, regarding zakat, he spoke with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, about it. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “O brother of Saba, giving zakat is certainly obligatory.” Ebyaz said, "O Messenger of Allah, we planted cotton, and the people of Saba dispersed. Only a few remained from them in Ma’rib. Those who remained of the people of Saba in Ma’rib made an agreement with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, each year to pay seventy sets of clothing worth the value of a Muafir village cloth.”
They continued paying until the death of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. After the death of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, the collectors broke the agreement that Ebyaz bin Hamal had made with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, reverted it to what the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, had established. This continued until his death. When Abu Bakr died, this agreement was broken, and (it returned to) the standard zakat amount.