In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
Treasures of the Prophetic biography (Seerah).
Hearts are in the hands of Allah.
Imam al-Bukhari, may Allah have mercy on him, narrated in his *Sahih*
from Sahl ibn Sa'd al-Sa'idi, may Allah be pleased with him,
that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
met the polytheists in battle and they fought.
When the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, withdrew
and the enemy withdrew to their camps,
there was among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
a man who did not leave any outlier or straggler among the enemy
except that he pursued and struck them down with his sword.
So it was said, "None of us has accomplished today
what so-and-so has accomplished."
Thereupon the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said,
"As for him, he is indeed among the people of the Fire."
A man from the people said, "I shall accompany him closely."
So he went out with him; whenever he stopped, he stopped with him,
and whenever he hurried, he hurried with him,
because he knew with absolute certainty that the Prophet, peace be upon him,
does not speak from his own desire.
Then the man was severely wounded and sought to hasten his death;
so he planted his sword in the ground with its tip between his breasts,
then leaned heavily upon his sword and killed himself.
The man who had been following him rushed to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
and said, "I bear witness that you are indeed the Messenger of Allah!"
He said, "And why is that?"
He replied, "Regarding the man whom you recently mentioned was among the people of the Fire,
which the people found distressing,
I said, 'I shall find out for you about him.'
So I went out in search of him.
Then he was severely wounded and sought to hasten his death;
so he placed the hilt of his sword on the ground with its point between his breasts,
then leaned heavily upon it and killed himself."
Thereupon the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said,
"Indeed, a man may do the deeds of the people of Paradise according to what appears to the people,
while he is actually among the people of the Fire;
and indeed, a man may do the deeds of the people of the Fire according to what appears to the people,
while he is actually among the people of Paradise."
And in some transmission routes of this hadith,
it is mentioned that this incident occurred at Khaybar.
On the authority of Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, who said:
"We were present at Khaybar,
and the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said
concerning a man among his ranks who claimed to be a Muslim,
'This one is among the people of the Fire.'
When the fighting commenced,
the man fought with the utmost ferocity,
until he suffered numerous wounds,
such that some people began to doubt.
Then the man felt the agony of his wounds,
so he reached his hand into his quiver,
drew out some arrows,
and slit his own throat with them.
Some men from among the Muslims hurried over and said,
'O Messenger of Allah!
Allah has verified your word;
so-and-so committed suicide,
he killed himself!'
Thereupon the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said,
'Stand up, O so-and-so,
and proclaim that none shall enter Paradise
except a believer;
and indeed, Allah may support this religion
even through a wicked man.'"
Therefore, a person must
never judge people based solely on their outward appearance.
Imam al-Bukhari has indeed established
a chapter in his *Sahih* titled:
"It is not to be said that so-and-so is a martyr."
This is because outwardly, such an individual appeared to be a martyr,
yet despite this,
the Prophet, peace be upon him, informed them
that his inner reality was contrary to his outward appearance.
It is narrated in some routes of the hadith
that it was said to him,
"You fought bravely and accomplished so much!"
He replied,
"I only fought in defense of my tribe."
Thus, one should not testify regarding a specific individual
that they are in Paradise or in the Fire,
or that they are a martyr, or the like.
Rather, one should say as the Prophet, peace be upon him, said:
"If any of you must inevitably praise his brother,
let him say, 'I consider so-and-so to be such,
and Allah is his reckoner,
and I do not sanctify anyone before Allah.'"
During this campaign,
there arrived to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
his cousin Ja'far ibn Abi Talib,
his wife Asma' bint 'Umays, and his companions,
and along with them came the Ash'arites:
'Abdullah ibn Qays,
Abu Musa, and his companions.
Abu Musa said:
"News reached us of the Prophet's emergence, peace be upon him,
while we were in Yemen.
So we set out as emigrants,
I and two of my brothers,
and I was the youngest of them;
one of them was Abu Ruhm,
and the other was Abu Burdah,
accompanied by over fifty men from my people.
We boarded a ship,
but our ship carried us off
to the Negus in Abyssinia.
There we met Ja'far ibn Abi Talib
and his companions in his presence.
Ja'far said,
'Indeed, the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
sent us here and instructed us to remain,
so stay with us.'
Thus we stayed with him,
until we all arrived together
and met the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
right when he conquered Khaybar.
So he allocated a share of the spoils for us,
although he did not assign anything to anyone who was absent
from the conquest of Khaybar,
except for the people of our ship."
Some people used to say to us,
"We preceded you in the emigration."
He said:
"Asma' bint 'Umays,
may Allah be pleased with her,
entered upon Hafsah, the Mother of the Believers,
may Allah be pleased with her.
'Umar entered upon her and asked,
'Who is this, O Hafsah?'
She replied,
'This is Asma'.'
'Umar said,
'We preceded you in the emigration;
thus, we have a greater right to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
than you do.'
She became angry and said, 'O 'Umar!
Not at all, by Allah!
You were with the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
who fed your hungry
and instructed your ignorant,
whereas we were in a remote and hostile land,
and that was solely for the sake of Allah and His Messenger!
By Allah,
I shall neither taste food nor drink anything
until I mention what you said to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him!'
She said,
'We were being harmed and living in fear;
I will surely report this to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
and by Allah, I will neither lie nor add anything to it.'
So when the Prophet, peace be upon him, arrived,
she said, 'O Messenger of Allah,
indeed 'Umar said such-and-such.'
He asked,
'What did you say to him?'
She said,
'I told him such-and-such.'
The Prophet, peace be upon him, then said,
'He does not have a greater right to me than you do;
he and his companions have a single emigration,
while you, the people of the ship, have two emigrations.'
Abu Musa and the people of the ship
used to come in groups asking about this hadith,
for there was nothing in this world that brought them greater joy
or held higher esteem in their hearts
than what the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, had said to them."
When Ja'far ibn Abi Talib arrived before the Messenger, peace be upon him,
he embraced him and kissed his forehead,
and said,
"By Allah, I do not know which of the two makes me happier:
the conquest of Khaybar, or the arrival of Ja'far!"
Treasures of the Prophetic biography (Seerah).
The attempt on the life of the Prophet, peace be upon him.
During this campaign, the Prophet, peace be upon him, was poisoned,
and that was because Zaynab bint al-Harith, the Jewish woman,
the wife of Sallam ibn Mishkam, gifted him
a roasted sheep that she had poisoned.
She had asked which cut of meat was most beloved to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
and they said, "The shoulder/foreleg."
So she put an excessive amount of poison into the shoulder.
When the Prophet, peace be upon him, took a bite from it,
the shoulder informed him that it was poisoned,
so he spat out the morsel.
Then he said,
"Gather for me those of the Jews who are present here."
So they were gathered before him,
and he said to them,
"I am going to ask you about something;
will you be truthful to me regarding it?"
They said, "Yes, O Abu al-Qasim."
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said to them,
"Who is your father?"
They said, "Our father is so-and-so."
He said, "You have lied;
your father is so-and-so."
They said, "You have spoken the truth."
He said,
"Will you be truthful to me regarding something if I ask you about it?"
They said, "Yes, O Abu al-Qasim,
and if we lie to you, you will recognize our lie just as you recognized it regarding our forefather."
Thereupon, he, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, asked,
"Who are the people of the Fire?"
They replied,
"We shall remain in it for a brief time, and then you will succeed us in it."
The Prophet, peace be upon him, said,
"Be disgraced and stay therein!
By Allah, we shall never succeed you in it."
Then he asked,
"Will you tell me the truth about something if I ask you concerning it?"
They said, "Yes."
He asked,
"Did you poison this sheep?"
They replied, "Yes."
He asked,
"What drove you to do that?"
They answered,
"We intended that if you were an impostor, we would be rid of you,
and if you were truly a prophet, it would not harm you."
The woman was then brought before the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
and she confessed, "I intended to kill you."
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said,
"Allah would never give you power over me."
The Companions asked, "Shall we not kill her?"
He replied, "No."
And the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, did not retaliate against her.
Yet in other narrations, the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, did execute her,
because Bishr ibn al-Bara' had eaten alongside the Prophet, peace be upon him, and died from the poison.
It is established in the Sahih that during his final illness, the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said,
"I continue to feel the painful effect of the food I ate at Khaybar; this is the moment when my aorta is severed because of that poison."
Al-Zuhri observed, "Thus the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, passed away as a martyr."
After the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, had dealt with the Jews of Khaybar,
word reached him that certain Arab tribes were gathering against him,
including the tribes of Anmar, Banu Tha'labah, and Banu Muharib, all belonging to the confederation of Ghatafan.
So the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, set out swiftly toward them with four hundred of his Companions.
This expedition is known as the Battle of Dhat al-Riqa'.
Most scholars date this campaign to the fourth year of the Hijrah,
but the stronger view—and Allah knows best—is that it occurred in the seventh year.
This is evidenced by the fact that Abu Musa al-Ash'ari, may Allah be pleased with him, mentioned participating in this battle,
yet he only arrived alongside the Ash'arites at the time of Khaybar,
and the same holds true for Abu Hurayrah.
It is narrated that Abu Musa al-Ash'ari, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
"We set out alongside the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
as a group of six men,
sharing a single camel that we took turns riding.
Consequently, our feet became blistered and split open;
both my feet split open and my toenails fell off,
so we would wrap rags and strips of cloth around our feet.
For this reason it was named Dhat al-Riqa' (the Expedition of Rags),
because of the rags we bound about our feet."
Treasures of the Prophetic biography (Seerah).
Allah protects His Messenger.
And on the authority of Jabir, may Allah be pleased with him, who said:
"We were with the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
during the campaign of Dhat al-Riqa'.
We came across a shady tree,
and we left it for the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, to rest under.
The Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, dismounted there,
and the people dispersed among the thorny acacia trees, seeking shade beneath them.
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, settled down
beneath that tree
and hung his sword upon one of its branches."
Jabir said:
"We fell into a brief slumber,
whereupon a man from among the polytheists crept up,
unsheathed the sword of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
and demanded,
'Do you fear me?'
He, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, replied—
he who had taken to heart the saying of Allah, the Exalted—
“O Messenger! Make known that which hath been revealed unto thee from thy Lord, for if thou do it not, thou wilt not have conveyed His message. Allah will protect thee from mankind. Lo! Allah guideth not the disbelieving folk.” (5:67)
'No.'
The man said, 'Who then will protect you from me?'
He answered, 'Allah.'
Jabir continued:
'Suddenly, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was calling out to us,
and when we came to him, behold, a Bedouin was seated before him.'
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said,
'This man drew my sword against me while I was asleep,
and I awoke to find it bare in his hand.
He said to me,
"Who will protect you from me?"
I answered,
"Allah."
And here he sits.'
And the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, did not reproach or punish him."
In another narration recorded by Abu 'Awanah:
when the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said to him,
"Allah will protect me from you,"
the sword instantly fell from the Bedouin's hand.
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, took it up and said to him,
"Who will protect you from me?"
The Bedouin replied,
"Be the best of captors."
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, asked,
"Will you bear witness that there is no god but Allah,
and that I am the Messenger of Allah?"
The Bedouin replied,
"I make a covenant with you that I shall never fight against you,
nor shall I ever join any people who fight you."
The narrator said:
So the Prophet released him.
The Bedouin then returned to his people
and proclaimed,
"I have just come to you from the best of all mankind!"
And beyond doubt, he is the best of mankind, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
in faith in Allah, absolute reliance upon Him, and unwavering trust,
crowned atop all of that
by pardoning when having the full power to retaliate.
And this Bedouin's
name was Ghawrath ibn al-Harith.
Treasures of the Prophetic biography (Seerah).