It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent a group of ten men to find out the conditions of the Quraysh and what plans they were making these days. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) appointed Asim bin Thabit bin Abi Aqlah, the maternal grandfather of Asim bin Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), as their leader. These people set out on their mission, and when they reached a place called Al-Haddah between ‘Usfan and Makkah Mukarramah, their presence was reported to the Banu Lihyan, a tribe of Banu Hudhayl. About a hundred archers from this tribe pursued them. The Muslims had stopped at a place, and the people of Banu Lihyan saw that they had eaten dates there. They said,“These are the pits of the dates of Yathrib.”They followed their footprints until they reached them. When Asim (may Allah be pleased with him) and his companions were informed about them, they climbed a high hill. The enemy surrounded them and said,“Come down and give us whatever you have. We make a firm promise to you that we will not kill any of you.”So Asim bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him), the leader of the caravan, said,“By Allah! I will not accept the protection of any disbeliever. O Allah! Inform Your Prophet about us.”Then the disbelievers started shooting arrows at the Muslims and martyred seven of them, including Sayyiduna Asim (may Allah be pleased with him). The remaining three men—Sayyiduna Khubaib Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him), Sayyiduna Zayd bin Dathinah, and a third man—came down as a result of their promise. When the disbelievers captured the three, they untied the strings of their bows and tied them up with them. The third companion among them said to the disbelievers,“This is your deception. By Allah! I will not go with you. For me, there is the best example among these martyrs.”The disbelievers dragged him and tried their best to take him along, but he clearly refused to go, so finally, they killed him too. They took Sayyiduna Khubaib (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Zayd bin Dathinah (may Allah be pleased with him) with them and sold them in Makkah. This incident took place after Badr. Sayyiduna Khubaib (may Allah be pleased with him) had killed Harith bin ‘Amir bin Nawfal on the day of Badr, so his children bought Sayyiduna Khubaib (may Allah be pleased with him). Sayyiduna Khubaib (may Allah be pleased with him) remained as a prisoner with them until they planned to kill him. Before his execution, Sayyiduna Khubaib (may Allah be pleased with him) asked a daughter of Harith for a razor, and she brought it to him. During this time, the woman’s small son went to Khubaib (may Allah be pleased with him). She says,“I was unaware of the child, and I did not realize when he reached Khubaib (may Allah be pleased with him). When I saw Khubaib, he had the child sitting on his thigh and the razor in his hand.”She says,“I became frightened at this sight. Khubaib (may Allah be pleased with him) realized my anxiety and said, ‘Did you fear that I would kill him? I cannot do such a thing.’ She says, ‘By Allah! I have never seen a better prisoner than Khubaib.’ She narrates, ‘By Allah! I saw him one day eating grapes that were in his hand, even though he was bound in chains, and at that time there were no fruits in Makkah.’ She used to say that Allah Almighty had granted Khubaib (may Allah be pleased with him) special sustenance. When they took Sayyiduna Khubaib (may Allah be pleased with him) out of the Haram to kill him, he said to them, ‘Allow me to perform two rak‘ahs of prayer.’ So they allowed him, and he performed two rak‘ahs of prayer. Then he said, ‘By Allah! If I did not fear that you would think I was afraid of death, I would have prayed more. O Allah, count each one of them and destroy them, leaving none of them.’ Then he recited these verses:

FALASTU UBALI HINA UQTALU MUSLIMAN
‘ALA AY-YI JANBIN KANA LILLAHI MA A‘I
WA DHALIKA FI DHATIL-ILAHI WA IN YA A’
YUBARIK ‘ALA AWSALI ILWIN MUMAZZA‘I

(I do not care, when I am killed as a Muslim, on which side I fall for Allah’s sake. This is happening to me for the sake of Allah, because I have believed in Him and His Messenger. If He wills, He will bless the severed limbs of my body.)

After this, Abu Saru‘ah ‘Uqbah bin Harith advanced and martyred him. Sayyiduna Khubaib (may Allah be pleased with him) established the practice of performing prayer before being killed for every Muslim who is to be killed while tied up. Allah Almighty accepted the supplication of Sayyiduna Asim bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) on the day of his martyrdom, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) informed the Companions of their incident on the same day. When the Quraysh learned that Asim bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) had been killed, they sent some Quraysh men to cut off some parts of Asim’s body so that they could be sure he was really dead. In fact, Asim (may Allah be pleased with him) had killed a chief of the Quraysh on the day of Badr. So Allah Almighty sent swarms of hornet-like poisonous insects, which shaded Asim (may Allah be pleased with him) like an umbrella and protected him from the evil intentions of the people sent by the Quraysh. They did not dare to cut any part of his body.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) sent the brother of Sayyida Umm Sulaym (may Allah be pleased with her), my maternal uncle Haram, with a group of seventy men, and these people were killed on the day of Bi’r Ma‘unah. In those days, the leader of the polytheists was ‘Amir bin Tufayl bin Malik al-‘Amiri. He came to the service of the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) and made an offer that you accept one of three things from me: (1) The rural areas be yours and the urban areas be mine, or (2) After you, the caliphate be given to me, or (3) I will join the Banu Ghatafan and fight you with a thousand camels and a thousand she-camels. (On this occasion, you prayed: O Allah, help me against ‘Amir.) So, he was in a household of Banu Sulayl when he was afflicted with plague. He said: This is just like the swelling of camels in the house of such-and-such woman of Banu so-and-so. Bring my horse to me. His horse was brought to him, he mounted it, and he died right on its back.

The brother of Sayyida Umm Sulaym (may Allah be pleased with her), Sayyiduna Haram (may Allah be pleased with him), along with two men—one of whom was from Banu Umayyah and the other was lame (a‘raj)—set out together. He said to the two of them: Stay close to me until I reach them. If they do not do anything to me, that is better, but if something else happens, you will be near me, and if they kill me, at least you will be able to inform your companions behind. So, Haram (may Allah be pleased with him) approached them and said: Will you allow me to convey the message of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) to you? They said: Yes. He began to speak to them, and they signaled to one of their men from behind him, who struck him with a spear that passed through his body. Sayyiduna Haram (may Allah be pleased with him) at that moment said: Allahu Akbar! By the Lord of the Ka‘bah, I have succeeded! Then they killed the other two except for the lame one, who was on the top of the mountain, so he was saved.

Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) says: In connection with this incident, this verse was revealed to us, and it used to be recited regularly, but it was later abrogated: بَلِّغُوا قَوْمَنَا أَنَّا لَقِینَا رَبَّنَا فَرَضِیَ عَنَّا وَأَرْضَانَا. (Convey to our people that we have met our Lord, and He is pleased with us and has made us pleased.) The Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) invoked curses for forty days upon Ri‘l, Dhakwan, Banu Lihyan, and Banu ‘Usayyah, who had disobeyed Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family).

It is narrated from Thabit, who says: We were in the service of Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him). He sat among his family and wrote a letter, and said: O group of reciters! Come forth. Thabit says: I did not like this word much, so I said: O Abu Hamzah! It would have been better if you had called these people by their names. Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: There is no harm in my calling you reciters. Shall I not tell you about those brothers of yours whom we used to call reciters in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)? Then he narrated that they were seventy individuals. Their condition was such that when night fell, they would go to their teacher in Madinah and spend the whole night until morning learning the Qur’an. And when morning came, whoever was able would bring sweet water (and sell it), and someone would bring firewood and sell it, and whoever was able, they would together buy a goat, prepare it well, slaughter it, and hang it near the chambers of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). When Sayyiduna Khubaib (may Allah be pleased with him) was martyred, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent these reciters on an expedition. They went to a tribe of Banu Sulaym, and with them was my maternal uncle, Sayyiduna Haram bin Milhan (may Allah be pleased with him). Sayyiduna Haram (may Allah be pleased with him) requested his leader to allow him to go and inform those people that we have not come to fight them, so that they would not block our way. So Sayyiduna Haram (may Allah be pleased with him) went and said to them: We have not come to fight you, so do not block our way. A man came forward with a spear and struck Sayyiduna Haram (may Allah be pleased with him) with it, and the spear passed through his body. When he felt the blow of the spear on his stomach, he cried out loudly: Allahu Akbar! By the Lord of the Ka’bah, I have succeeded! Then those people turned towards the rest of the caravan and not one of them was left alive. Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I never saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) as grieved on any occasion as he was by this incident. I saw that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would raise his hands in the Fajr prayer and supplicate against those oppressors. Sayyiduna Abu Talhah Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) used to say to me: Shall I tell you about the killer of your uncle, Sayyiduna Haram (may Allah be pleased with him)? I said: Allah has done with him what He willed. He said: He has accepted Islam. In the narration of ‘Affan, it is mentioned that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) raised both his hands and supplicated against them. And Abu al-Nadr said that he raised both his hands.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Jews of Banu Nadir and Banu Qurayza fought against the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) exiled Banu Nadir from Madinah Munawwarah and allowed Banu Qurayza to remain there, showing them kindness. However, when Banu Qurayza engaged in battle, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had their men killed and distributed their women, children, and wealth among the Muslims. Some of them came and joined the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him); the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) granted them protection and they accepted Islam. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) exiled all the Jews from Madinah Munawwarah, including Banu Qaynuqa, who were the people of Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Salam (may Allah be pleased with him), and the Jews of Banu Harithah, and all the remaining Jews who were present in Madinah; the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) exiled them all.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) burned and cut down the date palms of the Buwaira orchard of Banu Nadir. Then Allah Almighty revealed these verses: {مَا قَطَعْتُمْ مِنْ لِینَۃٍ أَوْ تَرَکْتُمُوہَا قَائِمَۃً عَلٰی أُصُولِہَا فَبِإِذْنِ اللّٰہِ وَلِیُخْزِیَ الْفَاسِقِینَ} … Whatever date trees you cut down or left standing on their roots, it was by Allah’s command, and so that He might disgrace the transgressors. (Surah Al-Hashr: 5)

It is narrated from Umm al-Mu’minin Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her), she says: My husband Abu Salamah (may Allah be pleased with him) once returned from the presence of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say something that made me very happy. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: When any Muslim is afflicted by a calamity and at that time he says (INNA LILLAHI WA INNA ILAYHI RAJI’UN) and recites this supplication: ALLAHUMMA’JURNI FI MUSIBATI WAKHLUF LI KHAIRAN MINHA (O Allah! Reward me for my affliction and grant me something better in exchange for it), then Allah grants him these things. Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) says: I remembered this statement of his, and when Sayyiduna Abu Salamah (may Allah be pleased with him) passed away, I said (INNA LILLAHI WA INNA ILAYHI RAJI’UN) and recited this supplication: ALLAHUMMA’JURNI FI MUSIBATI WAKHLUF LI KHAIRAN MINHA. But at the same time, I thought in my heart: Who could be better and more virtuous than Abu Salamah (may Allah be pleased with him)? (Nevertheless, I continued the supplication.) So, when my waiting period (‘iddah) was completed, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sought permission to enter my house. At that time, I was tanning leather. I quickly washed my hands and allowed him (peace and blessings be upon him) to enter. I placed a leather pillow filled with palm fibers for him (peace and blessings be upon him). He (peace and blessings be upon him) sat on it and proposed marriage to me. When he (peace and blessings be upon him) finished speaking, I said: O Messenger of Allah! There is nothing that makes me disinclined towards you, in fact, the matter is that I have a strong sense of jealousy. I fear that perhaps you may see something in me because of which Allah may punish me. Also, I am now an old woman and I have children. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: As for the jealousy you mentioned, Allah will soon remove it. As for your age, I am also in a similar state. And as for your children, they will be my own children. Thus, I accepted the words of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) married me. Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) says that Allah granted me a better husband than Abu Salamah (may Allah be pleased with him), that is, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).

It is also narrated from Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) that Sayyiduna Abu Salamah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: When any of you is afflicted by a calamity, he should say: "Indeed, we belong to Allah and indeed to Him we shall return. O Allah, I seek reward for my calamity from You, so reward me for it and grant me something better in exchange for it." When my husband Abu Salamah (may Allah be pleased with him) was about to pass away, he said: "O Allah! Appoint a good successor for my family after me." When he passed away, I said: "Indeed, we belong to Allah and indeed to Him we shall return. O Allah, I seek reward for my calamity from You, so reward me for it and grant me something better in exchange for it." Sayyidah (Umm Salamah) says: I wanted to say, "and grant me something better in exchange for it," but at the same time I thought, who could be better than Abu Salamah (may Allah be pleased with him)? I kept thinking this, but eventually I said these words as well. When my waiting period (iddah) was completed, Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) sent me a marriage proposal, but I refused him. Then Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) sent me a marriage proposal, but I refused him as well. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent me a marriage proposal, so I said: "Welcome to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and his messenger, but go and mention to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that I am very jealous, I am a woman with children, and none of my guardians are present here." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent back a reply: "As for your saying that you are a woman with children, do not worry about that, Allah will help you with your children. As for your saying that you are very jealous, I will pray to Allah to remove this intensity of jealousy from you. And as for your saying that none of your guardians are present here, remember that any of your guardians, whether present or absent, will only express approval regarding me." Upon hearing this, I said to my son Umar, "Get up and marry me to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I will not give you less than what I gave to your such-and-such sister; I gave her two millstones, two water jars, and a leather pillow stuffed with palm fiber." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would come to her house, and she would be nursing her daughter Zaynab in her lap. Since the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was extremely modest and kind, when he saw her in that state, he would return. This situation occurred several times. Sayyiduna Ammar bin Yasir (may Allah be pleased with him), who was her maternal brother, found out about this. One day, Sayyiduna Ammar (may Allah be pleased with him) came and took Zaynab from her lap and said, "Leave this child, because of whom you are troubling the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to the house, looked around, and said: "Where is Zanab? Where has Zanab gone?" He meant Zaynab. Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) informed him that Ammar (may Allah be pleased with him) had come and taken her away. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) spent time with his family and said: "If you wish, I will stay with you for seven days, but remember, after that I will visit each of my wives for seven days before coming to you again."

It is narrated from Sayyida Umm Salama (may Allah be pleased with her) in a manner similar to the previous hadith, except that in this narration it is mentioned that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) married her. When he (peace and blessings be upon him) came to her, he saw that she was breastfeeding her daughter, so he returned. After that, he (peace and blessings be upon him) came again and saw that she was breastfeeding her daughter, so he (peace and blessings be upon him) returned again. When Sayyiduna Ammar bin Yasir (may Allah be pleased with him) learned of this, he came to her and said: "You are coming between the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and his need. Give this child to me." So she gave her to him, and he arranged for a wet nurse for her. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to Sayyida Umm Salama (may Allah be pleased with her) and asked, "Where is Zanab (i.e., Zainab)?" Sayyida Umm Salama (may Allah be pleased with her) replied, "O Messenger of Allah! Ammar has taken her." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stayed with Sayyida Umm Salama (may Allah be pleased with her) and said, "You are honored and respected among your family." He (peace and blessings be upon him) stayed with her until the latter part of the day, then said, "If you wish, I can stay with you for seven days, but if I stay with you for seven days, I will have to spend seven days with each of my wives. Or if you wish, I can assign your turn to you." She (may Allah be pleased with her) replied, "Please assign my turn to me."

It is narrated from Abu Bakr bin Abdur Rahman (may Allah be pleased with him) that the wife of the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), Sayyida Umm Salama (may Allah be pleased with her), informed him that when she came to Madinah Munawwarah, she told the people: I am the daughter of Abu Umayyah bin Mughirah. The people thought she was lying and said: What a strange and astonishing lie this is! Until some people set out from there for Hajj, they said: Will you not write a letter to your family? So she wrote them a letter, then when they returned to Madinah, they confirmed her words (that she was indeed the daughter of Abu Umayyah), thus her status among the people increased further. Sayyida Umm Salama (may Allah be pleased with her) says: When I gave birth to my daughter Zainab, the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to me and proposed marriage to me. I said: A woman like me is not married; now there is no hope of children from me, and I am very jealous and I also have children. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: I am older than you, as for jealousy, Allah will remove it, and as for children, that is up to Allah and His Messenger. Thus, he (peace and blessings be upon him) married her. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to come to Umm Salama (may Allah be pleased with her) and would say: Where is Zanab? Until one day, Sayyiduna Ammar bin Yasir (may Allah be pleased with him) came and took the girl, and he said: This girl is coming between the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and Umm al-Mu’minin Sayyida Umm Salama (may Allah be pleased with her), because Sayyida Umm Salama (may Allah be pleased with her) used to be nursing her. After that, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came and asked: Where is Zanab, that is, Zainab? The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came at a time when Qureibah bint Abi Umayyah was also visiting her sister. She said: Ammar bin Yasir (may Allah be pleased with him) has taken the girl. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: I will come to you at night. Sayyida Umm Salama (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: I got up and took out some barley from a pot, extracted its kernel, and prepared food for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) spent the night, and when morning came, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: You are honored and respected among your family; if you wish, I will spend seven nights with you, and if I spend seven nights with you, then I will spend seven nights with each of my wives.