It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that once the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) sent me, Sayyiduna Zubair (may Allah be pleased with him), and Sayyiduna Miqdad (may Allah be pleased with him) to a certain place and said: "You people set out, when you reach Rawdat Khakh, there you will find a woman who will have a letter with her. Take that letter from her and return." So we set out, our horses were almost slipping from our hands, until we reached Rawdat Khakh. There, indeed, we found a woman. We said to her, "Hand over the letter you have." She said, "I have no letter." We said to her, "Either you hand over the letter yourself, or we will strip you naked." Compelled, she took out a letter from her hair braid and handed it over to us. We took that letter and presented it to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). When the letter was opened, it was found to be from Hatib bin Abi Balta'ah to some polytheists of Makkah, in which news of one of the Prophet's (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) decisions was conveyed. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) asked him, "Hatib! What is this?" He replied, "O Messenger of Allah! Do not be hasty in my matter. I do not belong to the Quraysh, but I have joined them. All the emigrants with you have relatives in Makkah who protect their families. I thought that I have no blood relatives there, so I would do them a favor so that in return they would protect my relatives. I did not do this as a disbeliever, or as an apostate, or preferring disbelief after Islam." The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "He has told you the truth." Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), overcome with emotion, said: "Allow me to strike the neck of this hypocrite?" The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "He participated in the Battle of Badr, and what do you know, perhaps Allah looked upon the people of Badr from the heavens and said: 'Do whatever you wish, I have forgiven you.'"