Setting
The Messenger of Allah dispatched a secret troop of ten men under the leadership of ‘Āsim ibn Thābit al-Ansāri
The Messenger of Allah dispatched a secret troop of ten men under the leadership of ‘Āsim ibn Thābit al-Ansāri
Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) dispatched a secret troop of ten men under the leadership of ‘Āsim ibn Thābit al-Ansāri (may Allah be pleased with him). They proceeded until they reached Al-Had'ah, a place between ‘Usfān and Makkah, when the news reached a branch of the tribe of Hudhayl called Banu Lihyān. About one hundred of their archers hurried to track them. When ‘Āsim and his companions sensed them, they took refuge in a safe place. Their trackers circled them and said: "Come down and surrender. We give you our pledge and covenant that we will not kill any of you." ‘Āsim ibn Thābit (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "O people, as for me, I will not go down to be under the protection of disbelievers. O Allah, let your Prophet know what has happened to us." The disbelievers then shot arrows at them until they killed ‘Āsim. Three of the men went down trusting their pledge and covenant; Khubayb, Zayd ibn Ad-Dathinnah, and a third man. When the disbelievers captured them and tied them up with the strings of their bows, the third companion said: "This is the start of a betrayal. By Allah, I will not go with you. I have a clear example in these (killed companions)." So they dragged him and tried to force him to accompany them, but he refused, so they killed him. They took Khubayb and Zayd ibn Ad-Dathinnah with them and sold them as slaves in Makkah. This incident took place after the battle of Badr. Khubayb was bought by the children of Al-Hārith ibn ‘Āmir ibn Nawfal ibn ‘Abd Manāf. It was Khubayb who had killed Al-Hārith in the battle of Badr. Khubayb remained as their prisoner for a several days, until they decided to kill him. Khubayb borrowed a razor from one of Al-Hārith’s daughters to shave his pubic hair. Without her being aware, her little son crawled towards Khubayb. When she saw her son on Khubayb's knee and he had the razor in his hand, she was so alarmed that Khubayb noticed the agitation on her face. He said: "Are you afraid that I will kill him? No, I will never do that." She later commented: "By Allah, I never saw a prisoner better than Khubayb. By Allah, I once saw him eating a bunch of grapes from his hand while he was chained up, but there was no such fruit at that time in Makkah. It must have been a blessing that Allah had bestowed upon Khubayb." When they took him out of the Sacred Precincts, so they could kill him outside its boundaries, Khubayb asked them to let him pray two Rak‘ahs. They allowed him to do so, so he offered the two Rak‘ahs. Then he said: "Had I not reckoned that you would think that I was anxious, I would have prayed more. O Allah, remove them altogether; slay them one by one and spare none of them." He then recited these poetic verses: "I do not care how I will be killed as long as I will die in the cause of Allah, as a Muslim. This is for Allah's sake, and if He so wills, He may bless torn and amputated limbs." It was therefore Khubayb who established the Sunnah (practice) for any Muslim who is about to be killed to pray two Rak‘ahs. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) related to his Companions what had happened to the ten Companions on the day that it happened. Later, when some disbelievers from the Quraysh were informed that ‘Āsim had been killed; they sent people to fetch a recognizable part of him to confirm his death. They did so, because ‘Āsim had previously killed one of their chiefs. So Allah sent a swarm of bees, resembling a shady cloud, to hover over the body of ‘Āsim to shield him from their messengers, so they could not cut off any part of him.
Explanation
The story of ‘Āsim ibn Thābit al-Ansāri and his companions (may Allah be pleased with all of them) shows a clear miracle that was granted to a group of the Companions of the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him). The Prophet dispatched ten of his Companions to spy on the enemy and report their news to him. As they approached Makkah, some of the Hudhayl tribe came to know about them, so they sent a hundred master archers to deal with them. They tracked them down until they were able to surround them. They pledged not to kill them if they surrendered, but ‘Āsim swore that he would never believe the pledge of a disbeliever, because the disbelievers betrayed Allah, the Exalted, and anyone who betrayed Allah could also betray Allah's servants. They shot at them with their arrows, leaving ‘Āsim and six others dead. The remaining three companions agreed to surrender. The raiders captured them and tied their hands up. Upon seeing this, one of the Companions said that this was the start of them breaking their pledge and swore that he would never go with the raiders; so they killed him. They sold Khubayb and his comrade as slaves in Makkah. A family, whose leader had been killed by Khubayb in the battle of Badr, bought Khubayb believing that this was their opportunity to avenge their leader's death and they kept him as a prisoner. One day, one of the children from the family came up to Khubayb, may Allah be pleased with him. Khubayb felt compassion towards the child, so he lifted him up onto his knee, because the mother was busy with something else. He had previously borrowed a razor from the family to shave his pubic hair, so when the mother saw her child with Khubayb, she was afraid that he would kill him. However, he (may Allah be pleased with him) sensed her fear and assured her that he would never harm him. That mother used to say that she swore by Allah that she had never seen a prisoner better than Khubayb. She said that she saw him eating a bunch of grapes one day, at a time when Makkah had no grapes. She knew this was a blessing granted by Allah to Khubayb while he was a prisoner in Makkah. Nonetheless, the family whose leader had been killed by Khubayb decided to kill him, but out of respect to Makkah, they decided to kill him outside the Sacred Precincts. He asked them to let him pray two Rak‘ahs. After he had finished praying, he told them he that he had wanted to pray more but only prayed two Rak‘ahs because he did not want them to think he was prolonging the prayer because he was afraid of death. He then made the following supplication against them: "O Allah, remove them altogether; slay them one by one, and spare none of them." Allah accepted his supplication and they all died within a year. He recited the following poetic verses: "I do not care how I will be killed as long as I will die in the cause of Allah, as a Muslim. This is for Allah's sake, and if He so wills, He may bless torn and amputated limbs." As for ‘Āsim ibn Thābit (may Allah be pleased with him) who had been killed; a family from the Quraysh whose leader had been killed by ‘Āsim heard about his death. They sent some people to bring a identifiable part of his body [to ensure that he was dead], but Allah, Exalted and Glorified, sent a swarm of bees to hover over his body like a cloud to protect him from them; so they couldn't get close to him and their attempt was vain. This was another miracle that Allah, the Exalted, granted to ‘Āsim (may Allah be pleased with him). Allah, the Exalted, protected his body after his death from the enemies who wanted to mutilate his corpse.