Is it true that the Prophet, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, said, upon the arrival of Jarir al-Bajali: "The people of Yemen have come to you, and they are the softest of hearts. Faith is Yemeni, and wisdom is Yemeni, while harshness, cruelty, arrogance, pride, and coarseness are found among the owners of camel hair and wool, towards this eastern side, in Rabi'a and Mudar"?

The hadith was narrated by Bukhari, Muslim, and others with similar wordings, and the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said it when the delegation of the people of Yemen came to him in Tabuk. Al-Nawawi mentioned that what was meant by "Yemen" was Mecca and Medina, because at that time they were in the direction of Yemen. Al-Munawi stated that the intended people of Yemen were the delegation of the Ash'aris, and then the delegation of Himyar. The preponderant view is that Jarir ibn Abdullah was not among the delegation of the people of Yemen in the Battle of Tabuk, because his conversion to Islam was in the tenth year of Hijra, while the Battle of Tabuk was in the ninth year.