Hadith: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) sent some cavalry towards Najd. They captured a man from the tribe of Banu Hanīfah called Thumāmah ibn Uthāl, and tied him to one of the pillars of the mosque

عن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه ، قال: بعث رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم خيلا قِبَلَ نَجْدٍ، فجاءت برجل من بني حَنِيفة يُقَالُ لَهُ: ثُمَامَةُ بْنُ أُثَالٍ، سَيِّدُ أَهْلِ اليَمَامَةِ، فَرَبَطُوهُ بِسَارِيَةٍ مِنْ سَوَارِي المسجد، فخرج إليه رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ، فقال: «مَاذَا عِنْدَك يا ثمامة؟» فقال: عندي يا محمد خير، إِنْ تَقْتُلْ تَقْتُل ذَا دَمٍ، وَإِنْ تُنْعِمْ تُنْعِمْ عَلَى شَاكِر، وإن كنت تريد المال فَسَلْ تُعْطَ مِنْهُ مَا شِئْتَ، فَتَرَكَهُ رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم حتى كان بعد الغد، فقال: «ما عندك يا ثمامة؟» قال: ما قلت لك، إن تنعم تنعم على شاكر، وإن تقتل تقتل ذا دم، وإن كنت تريد المال فسل تعط منه ما شئت، فتركه رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم حتى كان من الغد، فقال: «ماذا عندك يا ثمامة؟» فقال: عندي ما قلت لك، إن تنعم تنعم على شاكر، وإن تقتل تقتل ذا دم، وإن كنت تريد المال فسل تعط منه ما شئت، فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : «أَطْلِقُوا ثمامة»، فَانْطَلَقَ إِلَى نَخْلٍ قَرِيبٍ مِنَ المَسْجِدِ، فاغتسل، ثم دخل المسجد، فقال: أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله، وأشهد أن محمدا عبده ورسوله، يا محمد، والله، مَا كَانَ عَلَى الْأَرْضِ وَجْهٌ أَبْغَضَ إِلَيَّ مِنْ وَجْهِكَ، فَقَدْ أَصْبَحَ وَجْهُكَ أَحَبَّ الْوُجُوهِ كُلِّهَا إِلَيَّ، والله، ما كان مِن دِين أبغَضَ إليَّ مِن دِينَك، فأصبح دينُك أحبَّ الدِّين كُلِّه إليَّ، والله، ما كان من بلد أبغض إلي من بلدك، فأصبح بلدُك أحبَّ البلاد كلها إليَّ، وإنَّ خَيلَك أخَذَتنِي وأنا أُرِيد العمرة فمَاذَا تَرَى؟ فبشَّره رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وأمره أن يَعْتَمِر، فلمَّا قدِم مكَّة قال له قائل: أصَبَوْت، فقال: لا، ولكنَّي أسْلَمت مع رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ، ولا والله، لا يأتِيكم مِن اليمامة حبة حنطة حتىَّ يأْذَنَ فيها رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم .
[صحيح] - [متفق عليه]

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) sent some cavalry towards Najd. They captured a man from the tribe of Banu Hanīfah called Thumāmah ibn Uthāl, and tied him to one of the pillars of the mosque. Then the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) went to him and said: "What do you think, Thumāmah?" He replied, "I have a good thought, O Muhammad! If you kill, you will kill someone with blood; if you do a favor, you will do a favor to a grateful person; and if you want money, then ask and you will be given whatever you wish." The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) left him until the next day, and then said to him: "What do you think, Thumāmah? He said: "As I told you before: if you do a favor, you will do a favor to a grateful person; if you kill, you will kill a person with blood; and if you want money, then ask and you will be given whatever you wish." The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) left him again until the following day and then said to him: "What do you think, Thumāmah?" He said: "I think what I have told you before: if you do a favor , you will do a favor to a grateful person; if you kill, you will kill a person with blood; and if you want money, then ask and you will be given whatever you wish." Thereupon, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Release Thumāmah." Thereupon, he went to a place of water near the mosque, took a bath, and then entered the mosque and said: "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. O Muhammad, by Allah! There was no face on the surface of the earth more hateful to me than yours; but now your face has become the most beloved of all faces to me. By Allah, there was no religion more hateful to me than yours; but now it is the most beloved religion to me. By Allah, there was no city more hateful to me than yours; but now it is the most beloved city to me. Your cavalry arrested me when I was intending to perform ‘Umrah. And now what do you think?" The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) gave him glad tidings and ordered him to go and perform ‘Umrah. So, when he went to Mecca, someone said to him: "Have you apostatized?" Thumāmah replied: "No, by Allah! I have embraced Islam along with the Messenger of Allah. Behold, by Allah, no single grain of wheat will come to you from Yamāmah unless the Messenger of Allah gives his permission for it."
[Authentic hadith] - [Narrated by Bukhari & Muslim]

Explanation

The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) sent horsemen to Najd, led by Muhammad ibn Maslamah, on 10 Muharram, 6 A.H., to fight the tribes of Banu Bakr, which included Banu Hanīfah. They raided them, defeated them, and took Thumāmah as a captive and brought him to Madīnah. They fastened him to one of the pillars of the Prophet's mosque. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) asked him: "What do you think?" In other words, what do you think I will do to you? He said: "I have a good thought." This means that: I only think about you in a good way, or I do not expect anything from you but good, regardless of what you will do to me. Thumāmah's statement, "If you kill, you will kill a person with blood," means that If you kill me, there are people who will take revenge for my blood because I am the leader of my tribe. Another interpretation is: If you kill me, this will be fair, and you have done to me what I deserve, because I have shed blood; Thus, if you kill me, you will be killing me in retribution, and this will not be an act of injustice at all. "If you do a favor, you will do a favor to a grateful person," means: If you do a favor to me by forgiving me, indeed forgiveness is an attribute of the noble people, and your favor will not go unpaid for, for you will be doing a favor to a noble person who recognizes and appreciates favors and never forgets them. "If you want money" means if you want me to ransom myself with money, then ask me whatever wealth you want, and you will be given what you ask for. After this dialogue, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) left him until the following day, on which he asked him again, about what he thought, and he replied, "what I have told you before..." This means that the Prophet left him fastened to the pillar until the next day, and then asked Thumāmah the same question to which he gave the same answer. Then, he left him until the third day, on which the Prophet asked the same question and Thumāmah gave the same answer. Then, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) gave his instructions to release Thumāmah, i.e. to untie him and set him free. Thumāmah then went to a place of water near the mosque, took a bath, and then entered the mosque and said: "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah...," i.e. he embraced Islam and uttered the two testimonies of faith. This is the version narrated by Al-Bukhāri and Muslim, and It relates that Thumāmah took a bath on his own without being requested by the Prophet to do so. Thereafter, Thumāmah expressed his feelings towards the Prophet, towards his great religion, and towards his beloved city, Madīnah. He said that there was no face which he disliked more than that of the Prophet. Yet, after he embraced Islam, the Prophet's face became the most beloved face to him, as hatred turned into intense and unmatched love. "By Allah, there was no religion more hateful to me than yours; but now it is the most beloved religion to me." Indeed, this is what happens when the sweetness of faith touches the heart. "By Allah, there was no city more hateful to me than yours; but now it is the most beloved city to me." This is because his love for the Prophet has led him to love the Prophet's city. Then, he said that Muslims captured him when he was intending to perform ‘Umrah, and asked the Prophet's permission to perform ‘Umrah. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) gave him glad tidings, i.e. gave him the good news that all his sins were forgiven and that he would obtain the good of both this world and the next. The Prophet then ordered him to go and perform ‘Umrah. When he came to Mecca, someone said to him, "Have you apostatized?" i.e. have deserted your religion and converted to another one. Thumāmah replied, "No, by Allah, but I have embraced Islam along with Muhammad the Messenger of Allah." In other words, in fact I have deserted a false religion and converted to the true one. "Behold, by Allah, no single grain of wheat shall come to you from Yamāmah unless the Messenger of Allah gives his permission for it," i.e. until the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) gives me the permission to send it to you. Then, he left to Yamāmah, the countryside of Mecca, and stopped sending them wheat until the people of Quraysh got exhausted. They wrote to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) asking him by kinship ties to intercede with Thumāmah on their behalf, which he did.