حَدَّثَنَا عَلِيُّ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ حَدَّثَنَا عَمْرُو بْنُ دِينَارٍ سَمِعْتُهُ مِنْهُ مَرَّتَيْنِ قَالَ أَخْبَرَنِي حَسَنُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ قَالَ أَخْبَرَنِي عُبَيْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ أَبِي رَافِعٍ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ عَلِيًّا رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ يَقُولُ بَعَثَنِي رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّی اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَنَا وَالزُّبَيْرَ وَالْمِقْدَادَ بْنَ الْأَسْوَدِ قَالَ انْطَلِقُوا حَتَّی تَأْتُوا رَوْضَةَ خَاخٍ فَإِنَّ بِهَا ظَعِينَةً وَمَعَهَا کِتَابٌ فَخُذُوهُ مِنْهَا فَانْطَلَقْنَا تَعَادَی بِنَا خَيْلُنَا حَتَّی انْتَهَيْنَا إِلَی الرَّوْضَةِ فَإِذَا نَحْنُ بِالظَّعِينَةِ فَقُلْنَا أَخْرِجِي الْکِتَابَ فَقَالَتْ مَا مَعِي مِنْ کِتَابٍ فَقُلْنَا لَتُخْرِجِنَّ الْکِتَابَ أَوْ لَنُلْقِيَنَّ الثِّيَابَ فَأَخْرَجَتْهُ مِنْ عِقَاصِهَا فَأَتَيْنَا بِهِ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّی اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَإِذَا فِيهِ مِنْ حَاطِبِ بْنِ أَبِي بَلْتَعَةَ إِلَی أُنَاسٍ مِنْ الْمُشْرِکِينَ مِنْ أَهْلِ مَکَّةَ يُخْبِرُهُمْ بِبَعْضِ أَمْرِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّی اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّی اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَا حَاطِبُ مَا هَذَا قَالَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ لَا تَعْجَلْ عَلَيَّ إِنِّي کُنْتُ امْرَأً مُلْصَقًا فِي قُرَيْشٍ وَلَمْ أَکُنْ مِنْ أَنْفُسِهَا وَکَانَ مَنْ مَعَکَ مِنْ الْمُهَاجِرِينَ لَهُمْ قَرَابَاتٌ بِمَکَّةَ يَحْمُونَ بِهَا أَهْلِيهِمْ وَأَمْوَالَهُمْ فَأَحْبَبْتُ إِذْ فَاتَنِي ذَلِکَ مِنْ النَّسَبِ فِيهِمْ أَنْ أَتَّخِذَ عِنْدَهُمْ يَدًا يَحْمُونَ بِهَا قَرَابَتِي وَمَا فَعَلْتُ کُفْرًا وَلَا ارْتِدَادًا وَلَا رِضًا بِالْکُفْرِ بَعْدَ الْإِسْلَامِ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّی اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ لَقَدْ صَدَقَکُمْ قَالَ عُمَرُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ دَعْنِي أَضْرِبْ عُنُقَ هَذَا الْمُنَافِقِ قَالَ إِنَّهُ قَدْ شَهِدَ بَدْرًا وَمَا يُدْرِيکَ لَعَلَّ اللَّهَ أَنْ يَکُونَ قَدْ اطَّلَعَ عَلَی أَهْلِ بَدْرٍ فَقَالَ اعْمَلُوا مَا شِئْتُمْ فَقَدْ غَفَرْتُ لَکُمْ قَالَ سُفْيَانُ وَأَيُّ إِسْنَادٍ هَذَا
صحیح بخاری · Hadith 3007
Narrated 'Ubaidullah bin Abi Rafi`: I heard `Ali saying, "Allah's Apostle sent me, Az-Zubair and Al-Miqdad somewhere saying, 'Proceed till you reach Rawdat Khakh. There you will find a lady with a letter. Take the letter from her.' " So, we set out and our horses ran at full pace till we got at Ar-Rawda where we found the lady and said (to her). "Take out the letter." She replied, "I have no letter with me." We said, "Either you take out the letter or else we will take off your clothes." So, she took it out of her braid. We brought the letter to Allah's Apostle and it contained a statement from Hatib bin Abi Balta a to some of the Meccan pagans informing them of some of the intentions of Allah's Apostle. Then Allah's Apostle said, "O Hatib! What is this?" Hatib replied, "O Allah's Apostle! Don't hasten to give your judgment about me. I was a man closely connected with the Quraish, but I did not belong to this tribe, while the other emigrants with you, had their relatives in Mecca who would protect their dependents and property . So, I wanted to recompense for my lacking blood relation to them by doing them a favor so that they might protect my dependents. I did this neither because of disbelief not apostasy nor out of preferring Kufr (disbelief) to Islam." Allah's Apostle, said, "Hatib has told you the truth." `Umar said, O Allah's Apostle! Allow me to chop off the head of this hypocrite." Allah's Apostle said, "Hatib participated in the battle of Badr, and who knows, perhaps Allah has already looked at the Badr warriors and said, 'Do whatever you like, for I have forgiven you."
Translated by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan · Reviewed by Islamic University of Madinah · Published March 2020