ثُمَامَةُ بْنُ أُثَال
رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ
Thumamah ibn Uthal
Chief of Yamamah · Held in the mosque · Freed before he believed
may Allah be pleased with him
Banu Hanifah, of Yamamah · Yamamah and Madinah, in the Madinan years
A tribal chief taken prisoner and tied to a pillar of the mosque. He was asked three times what he had to say, gave the same answer, and was then released without conditions — at which point he accepted Islam.
Known for
He was tied to a pillar in the mosque, and then let go
He was asked on three successive days what he had to say, and was released unconditionally on the third. The report is in both Sahih collections.
He was a chief of Banu Hanifah
He accepted Islam only after he was freed
He cut off Yamamah's grain to Makkah
He stopped the supply until the Prophet ﷺ was asked to intervene, and he resumed it when asked.
Story
His story in moments
Short episodes from his life, in order. Read one at a time.
In full
Life & legacy
The pillar
Thumamah was a chief of Banu Hanifah, in Yamamah, and an enemy of the Muslims. A patrol out of Madinah took him without knowing who he was, and brought him back.
He was tied to one of the pillars of the mosque — inside the building, in full view of everyone using it — and what happened over the next three days is set out in the moment below.
Afterwards
Having accepted Islam he went to Makkah to perform the pilgrimage, and told Quraysh that not a grain of wheat would reach them from Yamamah again.
Yamamah supplied Makkah. The pressure worked quickly, and the Makkans wrote to the Prophet ﷺ asking him to have the supply restored. He did, and Thumamah resumed it.
He remained a figure of standing among his own people afterwards. The sources say little about the rest of his life and do not settle when he died.
How the sources describe him
He gave the same answer three days running
Once he changed, he changed completely
Connect
People around him
Alongside
- The Prophet Muhammad ﷺCompanion
He questioned him three days running and then ordered him released.
Full timeline
- The Madinan years
Captured and held at a pillar of the mosque
- The Madinan years
Released, and then accepts Islam
- The Madinan years
Cuts off Yamamah's grain to Makkah, and later restores it
Part of
Sources & review
Draft content — undergoing reviewThis content was written for SahabaMate and has not yet been checked by a reviewer against the works below. Treat it as a starting point, not a citation.
Sahih al-Bukhariصحيح البخاري
Hadith collection · Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Bukhari
Sahih Muslimصحيح مسلم
Hadith collection · Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj
As-Sirah an-Nabawiyyahالسيرة النبوية
Classical biography · Ibn Hisham, from the recension of Ibn Ishaq
Kitab at-Tabaqat al-Kabirالطبقات الكبرى
Classical biography · Ibn Sa'd
Al-Isabah fi Tamyiz as-Sahabahالإصابة في تمييز الصحابة
Classical biography · Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani
Companions of the Prophet
Modern biography · Abdul Wahid Hamid
SahabaMate editorial summary
Editorial summary
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