Wikipedia's first sentence called it “self-proclaimed prophet who rose up towards the end of muhammad 's life”. Today it says “claimant of prophethood from the banu hanifa tribe”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
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The opening as it read in 2005
Musaylimah , commonly given the epithet al-Kadhdhaab "the liar", was a self-proclaimed prophet who rose up towards the end of Muhammad 's life (about 11 AH) among the Arab tribe of Banu Hanifa in Yamamah , calling himself the "Merciful ( Rahman ) of Yamamah". During Muhammad's life, Musaylimah sent Muhammad an emissary named Ibn an-Nawwahah swearing that Musaylimah was a prophet and offering to divide the earth between the two of them; Muhammad replied that the earth was God 's to divide as God pleased, and was so angered by the statement that he said he would have executed Ibn an-Nawwahah if he hadn't enjoyed immunity as an emissary. After Muhammad's death, he rose up against the new Islamic state led by Abu Bakr , and defeated the first two generals sent against him, but was defeated by Khalid ibn al-Walid . Examples of his claimed revelations are quoted, largely for the purpose of ridicule, by some early Muslim authors; the best-known of them reads like a parody of the Qur'anic surat al-Fil : "The elephant . What is the elephant? And who shall tell you what is the elephant? He has a ropy tail and a long trunk. This is a [mere] trifle of our Lord's creations." Another, alluded to in Tafsir Ibn Kathir , where it is described as a response to surat al-Asr (it has a similar rhyme scheme to al-Asr, in Arabic), is: O hyrax (Wabr), O hyrax! You are only two ears and a chest, and the rest of you is digging and burrowing.1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 17030385.
The opening as it stood in 2010 9 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Musaylimah ( ) or Maslamah ibn Ḥabīb ( ) was one of a series of men who claimed to be a prophet around the same time as Muhammad .He is often viewed as a false prophet by traditional accounts, and frequently referred to by the epithet "the Liar" ( al-Kaḏḏāb ).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 369840033.
The opening as it stood in 2015 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Musaylimah ( ) or Musaylimah bin Ḥabīb ( ) was one of a series of people (including his future wife) who claimed prophethood in 6th century Arabia, which included the Islamic prophet Muhammad .He is considered by Muslims to be a false prophet, and is always referred to as "the Liar" ( al-Kaḏḏāb ).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 668685128.
The opening as it stood in 2020 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
one of a series of people who claimed prophethood in 7th-century Arabia Musaylimah ( ) short for Musaylimah al-Kadhdhāb (Musaylimah the Arch-Liar) otherwise known as Maslamah bin Ḥabīb ( ) d.633, was a preacher of Hanifism among the Hanafite Banū Ḥanīfah tribe and one of a series of people (including his future wife) who claimed prophethood in 7th-century Arabia.He is considered by current Muslims to be a false prophet ( al-Kadhāb ).Arabs, Islam and Arabian Khalifat in the middle ages (2nd ed.).Islam in Iran in VII–XV centuries .A Brief History of Iraq .Ibn Kathīr, Ismāʻīl ibn ʻUmar (2000). Ṣafī al-Raḥmān Mubārakfūrī (ed.). al-Miṣbāḥ al-munīr fī tahdhīb tafsīr Ibn Kathīr .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 963341571.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
7th-century Arabian prophet Musayliama the Liar ( ), otherwise known as Musaylima ibn Ḥabīb ( ) d.632, was a claimant of prophethood from the Banu Hanifa tribe, of which present day descendants include the House of Saud among other Najd tribes.Based from Diriyah in present day Riyadh, Saudi Arabia , he claimed to be a prophet and was an opponent of Islam in 7th-century Arabia.He was a leader during the Ridda wars .He is considered by Muslims to be a false prophet ( al-Kadhāb ).He is commonly called Musaylima al-Kadhdhāb (Musaylima the Arch-Liar). Arabs, Islam and Arabian Khalifat in the middle ages (2nd ed.). Islam in Iran in VII–XV centuries . A Brief History of Iraq . REGIME STABILITY IN SAUDI ARABIA : the challenge of succession .The son king : reform and repression in Saudi Arabia . OCLC 1192311816 . : CS1 maint: location missing publisher ( link ) Ibn Kathīr, Ismāʻīl ibn ʻUmar (2000). Ṣafī al-Raḥmān Mubārakfūrī (ed.). al-Miṣbāḥ al-munīr fī tahdhīb tafsīr Ibn Kathīr .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1177151509.
The opening as it stood in 2025 3 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
7th-century Arabian claimant of prophethood Musaylima ( Arabic : مُسَيْلِمَةُ ) , d.632, was a claimant of prophethood from the Banu Hanifa tribe. Based from Diriyah in present day Riyadh, Saudi Arabia , he claimed to be a prophet and was an enemy of Islam in 7th-century Arabia. He was a leader of the enemies of Islam during the Ridda wars . He is considered by Muslims to be a false prophet ( نبي كاذب ). He is commonly called Musaylima al-Kadhāb ( مسيلمة الكذاب , ' Musaylima the Arch-Liar ' ) by Muslims.Musaylima was said to have composed in saj' , a type of rhymed prose that was common in pre-Islamic artistic speech.E. ; van Donzel, E. ; Heinrichs, W.The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition . Arabs, Islam and Arabian Khalifat in the middle ages (2nd ed.). Islam in Iran in VII–XV centuries . A Brief History of Iraq . The Great Arab Conquest . Ibn Kathīr, Ismāʻīl ibn ʻUmar (2000). Ṣafī al-Raḥmān Mubārakfūrī (ed.). al-Miṣbāḥ al-munīr fī tahdhīb tafsīr Ibn Kathīr . There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or templates on this page, but the references will not show without a template or template (see the help page ).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1298040324. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “self-proclaimed prophet who rose up towards the end of muhammad 's life”. Today it says “claimant of prophethood from the banu hanifa tribe”. Read the current article and compare.
2005
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2005, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
self-proclaimed prophet who rose up towards the end of muhammad 's life
Now
claimant of prophethood from the banu hanifa tribe
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.