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ays b. im b. Sinn b. Khlid b. Minar b. Ubayd b. Muis, Ab Al
(according to other versions: Ab ala or Ab aba), a mukharam chief of
the Ban Muis and leader of his tribe. Tribal tradition emphasised his generosity,
care for people under his protection, mildness and leniency. Al-Anaf b. ays reported
the story, recorded in the compilations ofadab, of how ays b. im received calmly
the news about the murder of his son and magnanimously pardoned the murderer who
was brought fettered into his presence. A poet of Sulaym, Abbs b. Mirds, praised his
noble behaviour towards his djr. He is counted among the magnanimous ones
(ulam) and the nobles of the Djhiliyya who abstained from drinking wine. His re-
introduction of the practice of burying alive female infants is connected with a story of a
woman of his family who, when captured in a raid on the tribe, preferred to remain
with her captor and refused to return to her tribe. In order to prevent the recurrence of
such an ignominy he decided to bury his daughters alive; verses 8-9 of Sra LXXXI are
said to have been revealed in connexion with this practice of ays b. im.
ays is recorded as a leader of his tribe in the stories of the battles which took place in
the first decade of the 7th century. He was victorious in all of his battles, except that of
Abra al-Kibrt where he was captured with his mother and two of his sisters. In the
battle of al-Sitr he is said to have killed atda b. Salama al-anaf; if this report is
true, atda must have been a very old man when ays killed him, as he had already
been a tribal leader during the Expedition of the Elephant and had been warned by
arafa of the advancing troops of Abraha (see Muammad b. abb, al-Munamma, ed.
Khursheed Amad Fariq, Hyderabad 1383/1964, 69). The attack on the Abd ays at
Djuwtha, in which ays distinguished himself, seems to have been led by al-Ahtam.
The attack on the Lahzim (see W. Caskel, amharat an-Nasab, Leiden 1966, ii, 26-
27) at Nibdj-Thaytal was a joint action undertaken by ays at the head of the Muis
and Salma b. arib, chief of the Adjrib (see Caskel, op. cit., 144). His rapid action and
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his effective tactics assured them of victory. In the battle of al-Kulb II (where the tribal
units of Tamm gathered after the slaughter of al-Mushaar) ays became the leader
of the troops of Sad and by his energetic action and bravery helped to win the battle;
the Tamm attacked by allied Yaman tribes took spoils and captives. It was at this
battle, which took place at the beginning of the second decade of the 7th century, that
ays clashed with al-Ahtam. The animosity between these two leaders and the rancour
between ays and al-Zibrin b. Badr are echoed in the recorded verses of hidjand in
the stories about the deputation of Tamm to the Prophet. A mathalstory reports the
part played by Zayd al-Khayl (who left his tribe for some time and dwelt in the camp ofays) in repelling an attack of the Idjl against the Muis; ays denied Zayd's
meritorious deed and because of this gained the epithet the liar.
Tamm tradition stresses the role of ays in the deputation of Tamm to the Prophet,
emphasising that the Prophet was impressed by him and named him the chief of the
nomad people (sayyid ahl al-wabar). A spurious tradition records a conversation
between the Prophet and ays, in which ays told the Prophet that the first man who
applied radjaz in driving camels (id) was the ancestor of the Prophet, Muar; the
first man who received information about the appearance of a prophet named
Muammad was Sufyn b. Mudjshi al-Drim, who accordingly named his new born
son Muammad. It is apparent that the tendency of this tradition is to stress the
Prophet's link with Muar and Tamm. The alleged sincerity of ays' belief is indicated
in a story of his divorce of his beloved wife from the Ban anfa, because she refused
to embrace Islam. The Prophet exhorted ays to donate some of his flocks to the poor
and needy, and is said to have forbidden tribal alliances to be formed in Islam. The
Prophet appointed ays tax collector of the Muis and the Bun (see Caskel, op. cit.,
230).
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After the death of the Prophet, ays seems to have wavered in his loyalty to Medina.
He doubted the stability of the Medina establishment and preferred to divide the taxes
collected for Medina among his tribe. This he apparently did according to some kind of
agreement with al-Zibrin; when al-Zibrin later hurried to Ab Bakr with the taxes
levied from his tribal units, ays felt himself deceived and accused al-Zibrin of
treacherous behaviour. Both leaders showed no hostility towards Medina at the
beginning of the ridda: they escorted Amr b. al- in their territories when he was on
his way from Umn to Medina; they took a neutral stand towards Medina while
waiting to see whether Medina would stand fast against the tribal revolts.
ays further aided Sadj, but no war action of his on her behalf is recorded. After the
revolt of the Ban anfa was crushed, ays joined Al al-aram when he was on
his way to Barayn, but even then he simply escorted him through the territories of the
Sad; only later did he decide to fight on his side. He fought bravely, and is credited
with the killing of al-uam and Abdjar b. Budjayr.
ays settled in Bara. He is said to have had 33 sons and many daughters. alaba b.
ays was known for his generosity; Mutil b. alaba was in the deputation of the
nobles of Tamm and mir b. aaa sent by Ibrhm b. Arab to Abd al-Malik.
Mayya, the daughter of Mutil b. alaba, was the beloved of Dh l-Rumma.
According to Ibn Kathr, ays died in 47/667. He enjoined his sons not to reveal his
place of burial, because he feared the Ban Bakr b. Wil, whom he had fought and who
hated him. Following the example of the Prophet, he gave orders to refrain from
lamentations at his funeral. He was eulogised by Abda b. al-abb in his famous elegy
in which he said The death of ays was not the death of one man: it was [as if] the
edifice of a people had fallen down.
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(M. J. Kister)
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al-Zadjdjdj, al-Aml, ed. Abd al-Salm Hrn, Cairo 1382, 29, 88-9
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[Print Version: Volume IV, page 832, column 1]
Citation:
Kister, M. J. ays b. im b. Sinn b. Khlid b. Minar b. Ubayd b. Muis, Ab
Al (according to other versions: Ab ala or Ab aba). Encyclopaedia of Islam,
Second Edition. Edited by: P. Bearman; Th. Bianquis; C. E. Bosworth; E. van Donzel;
and W. P. Heinrichs.
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