Sayyiduna Mahmood bin Rabee’ (may Allah be pleased with him) thought that he understood from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and it was the mouthful of water which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) spat from the bucket at his house. He said: I heard Sayyiduna ‘Itbaan bin Malik Al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him), who was one of the Banu Salim, saying: I used to lead my people, Banu Salim, in prayer. I came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: Indeed, my eyesight has gone, and floods come between me and my people, so I wish that you, O Messenger of Allah, would come and pray at a place in my house, so that I may take it as a mosque. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“I will do so, insha’Allah.”So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came in the morning when the sun had risen high, and Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) was with him. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sought permission, and I gave him permission. He did not sit until he said: Where would you like me to pray in your house? I pointed to a place where I liked him to pray. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stood up, and we formed rows behind him. Then he finished the prayer with salam, and we also finished with salam. When he had finished, we detained him for some khazeer (a dish made of meat and flour) which had been prepared. The people of the neighborhood heard about the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and they began to announce hospitality in their neighborhoods, so they gathered until the house was filled to capacity. A man said: Where is Malik bin Dukhshun? Another man said: He is a hypocrite, he does not love Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“Do not say that about him. He says la ilaha illallah, seeking only the Face of Allah, Mighty and Majestic.”He said: But we see his inclination and conversation with the hypocrites. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Do not say that about him. He says la ilaha illallah, seeking only the Face of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. They said: Why not, O Messenger of Allah! The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“Whoever comes on the Day of Resurrection saying la ilaha illallah, seeking by it the Face of Allah, Allah will certainly make the Fire forbidden for him.”Mahmood (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I narrated this hadith to some people among whom was Abu Ayyub (may Allah be pleased with him), the Companion of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), in the campaign in which he died with Yazid bin Mu’awiyah. He rejected it from me and said: I do not think that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) definitely said what you have narrated. This was hard on me, so I said: For Allah’s sake, I vow that if He returns me safely from the campaign, I will ask ‘Itbaan bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) about it. So I found him alive, and I entered ihram for Hajj or ‘Umrah from Ilya, until I came to Madinah and went to Banu Salim, where ‘Itbaan bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) was, very old, his eyesight gone, and he was the imam of his people. When he finished his prayer with salam, I came and greeted him and told him who I was, and he narrated to me this hadith just as he had narrated it to me the first time. Zuhri said: But it is not known whether this was before the obligations of the Qur’an were revealed, for Allah the Exalted has made many obligations in His Book upon those who say this word, which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned. We fear that the matter has shifted to those who are able not to be deceived, so he should not be deceived.