Welcome back to episode 180, I think. We're getting there, inshallah ta'ala.
And I keep being asked, like, when are you going to stop? We'll see what happens. Maybe, inshallah ta'ala, this will continue until, you know, another 10 years or so. As many biographies as we can get in, as many themes as we can touch,
bi-idhnillah, may Allah allow us to continue to benefit from this companionship of the companions of the Prophet ﷺ and raise us with them and with our beloved one ﷺ. Allahumma amin.
There is a theme now that we're coming into, though, that I am very excited about. Because it's very different from all of the other themes.
Sometimes when you're studying the Sahaba of the Prophet ﷺ, you feel like they're inaccessible. They're too good. They're too perfect. They don't make mistakes.
They just seem to be so far out of our league. We can never reach the companions of the Prophet ﷺ. And that can feel demoralizing, right?
But this next group of people that we're going to cover fit a very unique category. And I'm going to tell you exactly who they are.
They're not al-tulaq'a, those who fought the Prophet ﷺ for a very, very long time and came to Islam at the very end. Like when you talk about Abu Sufyan and Suhail ibn Amr and those companions at the very, very, very end.
May Allah be pleased with them that embraced Islam after they were forgiven by the Prophet ﷺ. Or even those that had at one time claimed prophethood like Tulaiha, a very unique person, right?
Who repented after claiming to be a nabi after the nabi ﷺ. They're not that group of people. But at the same time, they have another distinction to them.
They're early Muslims that are from the most praised of the companions of the Prophet ﷺ who made serious mistakes
after living a life with the Prophet ﷺ and being praised by the Prophet ﷺ for that life with him. So I want you to think about this. There are people that were with the Prophet ﷺ through and through. There were most difficult moments and then they made catastrophic mistakes
by which we as a community would probably cancel them. We'd be like, that's the end of you. Because of how bad those mistakes were. But the Prophet ﷺ made a path forward for them of redemption.
And so it's actually the imperfection that is at the heart of all of the stories that we're going to cover. And the first two that we're going to cover actually have the worst type of sin
that you could commit in not just the personal sense but the political sense with the Prophet ﷺ which is to actually do something which reaches the level of treason, khiyanah, betraying the Prophet ﷺ.
Like actually compromising the Prophet ﷺ politically. So it's not Sahaba that embraced Islam and that fell into a weak moment and committed adultery or drank alcohol.
It's that their mistakes actually almost undermined the very mission of the Prophet ﷺ. And there are very specific lessons to learn in terms of tawbah, in terms of repentance from these mistakes.
Okay, so this is the category of the condemned that weren't actually condemned. But that you would think and I want you to think in the practical sense,
in the modern sense, how we would treat people that fall into this category. And the very first person that we're going to talk about, he showed up in the story of Marya al-Qibtiyyah radiallahu ta'ala anha.
We talked about the mawali, the freed slaves of the Prophet ﷺ and we finished that category. There's one more person I'll talk about him in the theme that will follow this one, Rabi' al-awwal inshallah ta'ala.
But he is the man that the Prophet ﷺ sent as an ambassador to Egypt. He is the one that stood in the court of al-Muqawqis and gave da'wah to one of the most powerful men in the world.
He is the one who actually brought Marya back to the Prophet ﷺ and did da'wah to Marya and to Sirin on the way to Medina. And he is Hatib ibn Abi Balta'a radiallahu ta'ala anhu.
Hatib ibn Abi Balta'a who unanimously Muslims know for a mistake. He's actually famous for his mistake, right? And there's something deeply profound about being famous for that mistake.
But I want to actually talk about him inshallah ta'ala in the deeper sense and then we contextualize the mistake that he made with who he actually was. I want you to imagine if you were a companion who embraced Islam in Mecca
from as-sabiqun al-awwalun min al-muhajirun. So those that would be praised in that verse, the first Muslims. You went through Badr with the Prophet ﷺ. You were chosen by the Prophet ﷺ to be an ambassador.
You have this huge resume but you're only famous in Islamic history for your sin. That is Hatib. If you find the chapter of Hatib in any book of sira,
often the only paragraph about him will be his sin radiallahu ta'ala anhu. But let's talk about him inshallah ta'ala. And there's actually a lot to unpack with Hatib radiallahu ta'ala anhu.
His name is Hatib ibn Abi Balta'a ibn Arbi ibn Jazila ibn Lakhm. He is from the tribe of Lakhm in Yemen. So he's actually Yemeni.
Comes from Yemen. Settles in Mecca. He's Qahtani. He's not Qurayshi which is actually important here because he doesn't have the history in Mecca. And he's very unique in the sense that he's not a slave that embraced Islam in Mecca.
He wasn't the slave of anyone else. There's a narration that suggests he might have been a client, a mawla, a halif in some way, allied because he doesn't have status. He needs some sort of protective structure.
But he's a foreigner that lives amongst Quraysh in Mecca and he doesn't fit the typical muhajir personality. The early muhajirin, those that embraced Islam in Mecca. Most of the muhajirin fit one of two profiles.
They're either slaves and they belong to the downtrodden and the oppressed. And Islam had massive appeal with that class for good reason. Or they belong to the Quraysh, those that were friends of the Prophet ﷺ
and the da'wah spreading through the window of Abu Bakr As-Siddiq radiallahu ta'ala anhu for example. Right? And that class that's coming into Islam. He's very different. He's a foreigner amongst Quraysh who embraced Islam very early on.
He has no tribal roots in Mecca. And because of that, he doesn't have the same protection structures that other people in Mecca do. Some of the scholars would even argue, I mean scholars from a historical perspective,
that those who were enslaved, still their masters had some level of protection over their fate. That there was some sort of system, even in Jahiliyyah,
that they were entrenched in to where they couldn't be plucked off of the map. That doesn't mean that they're less likely to be persecuted. In fact, they'll be beaten more severely. They'll be punished more severely.
But the one who, quote-unquote, owns that slave will be protective over his property. A person who's a complete foreigner is like Abir as-sabil, is like the wayfarer that the Prophet ﷺ talks about. No one's really got my back. I'm here as a stranger.
I'm making my money. I'm living amongst the people. I know that I can't slip with the wrong person. Sounds like a lot of Muslim countries today, right? I can't slip with the wrong person because the system is always going to be unfair to me. Because I don't have any roots. I have no protection.
I have no structure that's going to protect me in this regard. And this is going to be key to the story of Hatib ibn Abi Balta'a radiallahu ta'ala anhu. His name is Abu Abdullah. Some of the narrations mention him as Abu Muhammad.
He embraced Islam before his tribe from Yemen, which would embrace Islam later. His tribe was one of those tribes that the Prophet ﷺ renamed. Prophet ﷺ used to like good names.
The tribe that he comes from is Banu Khalifa. And a mukhalif is someone that holds back or who's disagreeable. The Prophet ﷺ actually changed the name of the whole tribe to Banu Rashida, the tribe that is rightly guided.
So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ elevated the identity of the entire tribe, not just Hatib. But Hatib preceded his people to Islam, which is already a sign of his sincerity. Right?
Early Muslim, no protection, is going to go through all of the tests and trials of a muhajir without any protection that a muhajir might have. He had a very specific physical description.
Hatib was a man who was well built. And he was khafif al-lihya. He was very handsome. He had a very light beard.
He had a slight curve in his posture. Anytime they get very specific with the description of a person, that means he struck you when you saw him. He was shorter than average.
But he had these really big hands, thick fingers. And he was elite in the craft of archery. So he was an archer. He was a horseman.
He was someone that used to be able to work with his hands. Like when you saw his hands, they're really distinct hands. You know, when you say like basketball hands or something like that, he had very distinct hands. He worked well with his hands. So he was an elite horseman.
He was an elite archer in Jahiliyyah. He was elite with the trades of the hands. He could work with his hands. On top of that, he was literate. And he was considered one of the poets of Quraysh.
So he got around with his diplomacy, with his skills. But he's someone that could work his way in a society. And that explains how he was able to sort of carve a place out for himself in Mecca,
despite not having any structure that would protect him in Jahiliyyah. His most beautiful quality, ironically, because it contradicts the one story
that any Muslim who knows the name Hatib knows about him, is his wafa'. He's incredibly loyal. Loyal to his tribe. Loyal to his family. Loyal to the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, al-wafa'.
He was trustworthy in business. People liked to hire him. He was someone that would not cheat a person with one dirham. This is the description. When the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, says, "Khiyarukum fil Jahiliyyah, khiyarukum fil Islam." That people are like precious stones.
The best of you in the days of ignorance are the best of you in Islam. If they have understanding, Hatib, radiallahu ta'ala anhu, he fits all these qualities. So you can imagine. Imagine walking into Mecca. He's a foreigner. Very distinct physical appearance.
Works well with his hands. Eloquent, diplomatic, but very, very loyal. Very, very trustworthy. So he embraces Islam. And he appears to be amongst those that kept his Islam quiet in Mecca
and was not found out, which would explain why he wasn't heavily persecuted in Mecca. There's no documentation of his initial persecution. So people perhaps didn't suspect him and they left him alone.
But when the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, made hijrah to Medina, he makes hijrah as well. And he migrates with his own freed slave, Sa'd, mawla Hatib. So he has a freed man that migrates with him and is also Muslim.
They come into Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah. They stay with a man by the name of Al-Munzir Ibn Muhammad. And when I was looking into the history of Al-Munzir Ibn Muhammad,
I was looking at his lineage. And he's from the family of Uhayhah. Uhayhah is one of the leaders of the Aus. He's one of the heads of the tribes of the Ansar. Uhayhah dies before Islam.
But he's someone that generally has a lot of power and a lot of protection because of who his family is when he comes to Medina. So Hatib comes into a house where he's going to be protected in Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah in the status of al-muakha.
And then eventually the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, does muakha. He pairs him off with a companion by the name of Rakhilah Ibn Khalid, radiallahu ta'ala anhu. Wa fi riwayah Uwaym Ibn Sa'idah, radiallahu anhu, the very famous companion from Masjid Al-Quba.
We did a story, a biography of Uwaym Ibn Sa'idah, radiallahu ta'ala anhu. Now, let's get into his life here. You got the profile. Shahida Badran wa Uhud wa al-Khandaq wa al-Mashahid kullaha.
He attended every single mashhad, every single battle with the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Rare, right? Beautiful quality in and of itself. So when Allah talks about being pleased with the people of Badr, he's there. When Allah talks about Bayt al-Ridwan,
the people that took the pledge with the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, under the tree, he's there. He managed to be in every single campaign. However, there are no stories about him in any of the battles. Can anybody tell me why?
Why do you think there would be no stories about him in battle? Well, what is it? He was canceled? No, he wasn't canceled yet. He gets canceled later on. Are you saying that because he would be canceled, people wouldn't want to tell the stories about him? I didn't think about that.
But he was an archer. You know how in certain sports, there are certain positions where if you don't hear the player's name, it's good. That's the archer.
The archer keeps the battlefield honest from afar. He doesn't go into the battlefield with his sword or wave his sword. He doesn't have any of these epic tales. But they are absolutely crucial to the battle.
They play defense in many ways. And Hatib was one of the elite rumat of the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, the most elite archers of the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
And these archers actually determine the pace of battles. And that's why the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, mentions it's a Sunnah for Muslims to learn archery. And you could think about the equivalence of archery in battlecraft or warcraft or in tech today.
But this idea of Muslims having that mindset of that strategic role that the archers play. In Badr, the archers always allowed the Muslims to punch above their weight. Of course, it was the barakah, the blessing from Allah, Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
But in terms of numbers, archers played a significant role. And they often determine the outcome of, or were part of determining the outcome of a battle. Muslims use them in every single battle. They would be positioned.
The Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, has a very consistent strategy. Get to the place first, set up the archers in a strategic place to where they can keep the battlefield honest. So that when you have numbers on that side that overwhelm you,
the archers are able to slow the pace of that army and take people out. So there are archers and subhanAllah you get into the science
of this in terms of military strategy. There are archers that look to the key figures on the side of the Muslims and they specifically protect them. So the rumat for example that are watching the
qa'id, they're watching the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, they're watching the heads of the army to make sure that they're hitting anyone that comes around them from afar. You understand? So Hatib is
considered from the elite of the archers of the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Now we know that in Islamic history there is one setting, one mashhad, where archers actually are
particularly frowned upon. Which one? Uhud, right? In Uhud, the entire story of the failure and
strategy is that you had 50 archers on the Mount of Rumah under Abdullah Ibn Jubair, radiallahu ta'ala anhu.
40 of them came down prematurely, right? And of the beauty of the Qur'an and the beauty of the sirah of the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, is that we do not have the name of a single one
of the 40 archers that made that mistake. Look at the sitr, the covering that Allah gave them in Islamic history and the covering that the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, gave them in the community to where it never comes up again. Like weren't you one of the 40 that
fled when a conflict happens or when someone shows weakness? Weren't you one of the 40 that made the mistake? Why? Because Allah, Subhanahu wa ta'ala, says,
Allah mentions that those people who turned away when the two armies met, right? They were caught in a moment by the shaytan with something that they did. Allah forgave them.
Allah completely forgave them and pardoned them because Allah, Subhanahu wa ta'ala, is forgiving and forbearing. Meaning what? Was Hatib one of the 40 or was he one of the 10? We will never know,
right? We will never know. But Allah forgave all of those companions who in a moment of weakness made that mistake to where those 40 thought that the battle was over. They came down
leaving the Muslims vulnerable in this regard, okay? There is one narration about him in Uhud with a weak isnad but I'll share it. Al-Dhahabi mentions it and then he quotes the fault in its
isnad because it does match the personality of Hatib which is that the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, he came to Hatib or rather Hatib came to the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam after
the battle of Uhud and he saw the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam's teeth were knocked out and the blood was running down the face of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and Ali radiyAllahu ta'ala anhu was holding a bowl of water in his hand and they were cleaning
up the face of the Messenger of Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. So this is sort of in the immediate aftermath of Uhud that the Messenger of Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was struck and that the blood was flowing. Okay, stay with me because this is important.
Hatib sees the Messenger of Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and he says, who did this? Who did this? Now the one who did this, subhanallah, when you even say it, it sounds
awkward. It's like you have to review the name. The one who caused the greatest damage to the face of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam that Hatib was at least seeing was Utbah ibn Abi Waqas,
the brother of Sa'd ibn Abi Waqas radiyAllahu ta'ala anhu, al-Mubashshir bi-l-jannah who is guaranteed paradise, who's one of the greatest commanders of Islamic history, who opened Persia, who governed Iraq, one of the most loyal companions of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, his brother
at some point, Abdullah ibn Qamiyya was hitting the face of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and hitting his helmet into his face. At some point Utbah ibn Abi Waqas took a stone, he was on the other side, and he smashed the face of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam with that stone.
And Hatib asked who did that and they said it was Utbah ibn Abi Waqas and in this narration, Hatib rushed and he basically apprehended Utbah ibn Abi Waqas on the outskirts before they had
fled and killed Utbah ibn Abi Waqas and came back to the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam carrying the spoils and the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam says, radiyAllahu anka ya Hatib, radiyAllahu anka, may Allah be pleased with you. Hatib may Allah be pleased with you. It fits the personality. There is a weakness in the
isnad and it fits the personality but it gives you the idea of a man that was a loyal confidant to the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and that hated seeing the Messenger of Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam in that way and wanted to do something in this particular way.
Hatib radiyAllahu ta'ala anhu, that loyal lover of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, also is the one who the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam sends his proposal to Um Salamah radiyAllahu ta'ala anha through. So in the hadith of Sahih Muslim, when Um Salamah radiyAllahu ta'ala
anha says she was wondering what she will do after Abu Salamah radiyAllahu ta'ala anhu passed away. The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam sent to me Hatib ibn Abi Balta'a
in proposing on his behalf. So Hatib, it wasn't the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam making the proposal directly. Some of the ulama say that the earlier part of the narration, because I was reading the sharh of this hadith, the earlier part of the narration, there's direct conversation
between the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and Um Salamah. When Abu Salamah died, the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam came to Um Salamah and said to her to say,
Say to Allah we belong and to Allah we return. Oh Allah compensate me in regards to my tragedy and give me something better than that which was taken away from me. And Um Salamah wondered
who's better than Abu Salamah. So the beginning of the hadith is a direct conversation between the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and Um Salamah. So why would he send Hatib? Can anybody tell me why would he send Hatib to propose on his behalf?
Yes, it's okay. Why doesn't he just go do it himself Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam? To honor Hatib?
So that's one way of looking at it, that because the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam told her to make this du'a, one way that the scholars say that perhaps the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam did not want
to embarrass Um Salamah, should she have rejected the proposal as a widow who loved her husband and she turned down Abu Bakr and Umar by the way because she thought Abu Bakr and Umar are not even better than Abu Salamah
that perhaps the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam did not want to cause her ihraj, to cause her embarrassment. Should she choose? Like it's not like she's a sinner. The choice is for you. The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was offering this and Um Salamah is an older woman, widowed with children.
Like this is something that the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam did not want to do. Um Salamah is an older woman, widowed with children. Like this is something that the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
is doing as a mercy and of course Um Salamah is who she is. Incredible woman, incredible woman in Islamic history. Right? Some of the scholars say perhaps the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam did not want to cause her ihraj, did not want to cause her discomfort.
So that's why he sent Hatib to Um Salamah to make the proposal on his behalf.
So Um Salamah says, I responded to Hatib and I said, and this is actually very important, she said,
I have a daughter and I'm a very jealous woman. So like almost saying to Hatib and maybe she would have been too shy to have that conversation with the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam directly. Meaning what? Like I have a daughter and I can't be another wife. Like I'm worried that I'm going
to be too jealous of your other wives, Ya Rasulullah. So Hatib went back to the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, told the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam what Um Salamah said and the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam sent Hatib back and said, say to her,
and ask for her daughter. May Allah Azawajal empower her daughter because she's speaking about this in terms of needing her. In one narration the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam even says like, your daughter is my daughter, right? Like she's my daughter, I'll take care of her,
do not worry about that. And the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam says, I'll make du'a to Allah to remove the ghirah from you, to remove that jealousy that you have. So she accepted
the proposal through Hatib to the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. So Hatib played that role like carrying out a proposal on behalf of the Messenger of Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
And then we have the diplomat role, going as an ambassador with his intelligence, with his eloquence, with his loyalty to the Messenger of Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, carrying the letter
to al-Muqawqis, the leader of Egypt. And when he entered into the courtyard of al-Muqawqis, by the way, to give him the message of al-Islam, to give him the message of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam,
I purposely saved this conversation from the lecture of Maria for this time. Al-Muqawqis, who was obviously moved by the letter of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam,
and felt like something is to this, that this might be him, alayhis salatu wa assalam, he said to Hatib,
he's challenging him. He says, if the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is sent by Allah, and he has this power from Allah, why didn't he make du'a against his people in Mecca when they kicked him out? Why didn't he just end the affair? He could have just made du'a and
Allah would have given him victory over his people. So Hatib, he responded brilliantly.
He said, aren't you the same people, Christians, you believe that Jesus is the Messenger of Allah? He said, yeah. He said, Isa did not make du'a against his people.
To the point that Allah raised Isa to him, Isa alayhis assalam to him and spared him from the crucifixion when his people plotted against him and tried to kill him. So how are you going to say the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is weak because he didn't make du'a against his people for
Allah to crush them? And the one you call, not just the Messenger of Allah, but the son of Allah, right? That he did not make du'a against his people and he was pursued by his people, and according to your narrative, crucified, right? According to what we know from Allah,
spared from crucifixion, but the point still stands. So al-Muqawqis was taken aback by what
he said. And then Hatib said to him, he's speaking to al-Muqawqis on a throne, which shows you courage
by the way. This takes courage here. Again, things that aren't going to match up to the famous story of Hatib, right? He said, you know, in this land of Egypt, there used to be a man who like you
was in this position, but he used to claim that he is the exalted Lord. But Allah took him and humiliated him in this life and the next.
So beautiful. He said, listen, Allah took revenge on him. So let him be an example for you before
Allah makes an example of you. Al-Muqawqis was taken aback. So he said to him,
He was impressed. He said, you're a wise man. That's clearly come from a wise man. Like you're
showing literacy and the people of the book and what they have. And he said to him, but I have no intention of accepting your religion when I feel completely sufficed by my religion.
Christianity is good enough for me. He said to him, you have a religion that should not be abandoned except for something better than it. And that is Islam. And then he went on to say,
as for the bishara of Musa and Isa, the glad tidings of Isa and Musa, it is the bishara. It is the glad tidings of Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. And Allah Azawajal has gathered the
truth and made Islam sufficient and complete for us. And when we call you to the Qur'an, we are calling you to affirm the truth that you know from the Torah and the Injil.
So al-Muqawqis says like, I examined the matter. I respect this man that sent you. And that's when he sent the gifts, right? With Hatib ibn Abi Balta'a. And of course, there's an element of fear too,
that he has a feeling that the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is who he is, and he knows that that power is going to grow. And so let me send the best of skins, the best of clothes, and the best of bondswomen as gifts to the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. And that's when he sent
Marya and Sireen with the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. And of course, on the way, Hatib did da'wah to Marya and Sireen, and they both embraced Islam. Okay, now all of this,
now we come to the sin, the fall of Hatib. That tends to contradict everything that we just said about him. Hatib radiyAllahu ta'ala anhu is a man of loyalty, a man of courage, a man of truth,
a man who witnessed the most difficult moments with the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. So what happened? Remember the initial part of the story that Hatib did not have a tribe
to protect him in Mecca. And sometimes the same quality that's a good quality can actually strike
you and be made into something negative for a moment. What does that mean? Hatib felt guilty
about his family that was in Mecca, that as the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was preparing now to march on Mecca, Fath Mecca, that his family would be the first to go,
that he left behind in Mecca, because they wouldn't have anyone to protect them. Vulnerability, weakness. So what is the story of Hatib? It shows up in the chapter, actually,
in al-Bukhari, because there's an ayah of Qur'an that now when you read it, inshallah, you will come to the story. When Allah says, do not take my enemy and your enemy as protective
friends, right? And it is the hadith of Ali radiyAllahu ta'ala anhu, who says,
The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam called me, az-Zubair and al-Miqdad, three very serious horsemen from the companions, trusted ones from the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam's companions. And he said to us,
Go until you reach the area of Khakh on the way from al-Madinah to Mecca. Go until you reach this garden of Khakh. فإن بها امرأة معها كتاب فخذوه منها
You will find a woman there, and she has with her a letter. Take that letter from her. So Ali radiyAllahu ta'ala anhu says that myself, az-Zubair and al-Miqdad, we went quickly, right?
We struck the horses, we went quickly because we understood the urgency of what the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was saying. He didn't tell us what was in the letter. He gave us the description of the woman. He gave us the description of the location. He said, go and get the letter that is with her.
So he said, we reached Rawdah Khakh and we saw a woman with the exact description of what the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said. So I said to her, Ali radiyAllahu ta'ala anhu said, I said to her, give us the letter.
She said, what letter? Ali radiyAllahu ta'ala anhu said, listen.
And he has to do this. He says, either you bring the letter out or we're going to have to search you. The clothes will go until we find the letter. We don't want to go that route. Just give us the letter. She was not Muslim, by the way.
The woman was not Muslim. That's an important part of the sharh of this hadith. Not that it means that the sahaba were going to abuse a woman or strip search a woman unjustly. They know that she has the letter because they believe the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and they know what the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said.
And Ali radiallahu ta'ala anhu was saying, we don't want to go about it that way. So give us the letter. Ali radiallahu ta'ala anhu said, she unbraided her hair. Her hair was in braids.
She unbraided her hair and she took out a rolled up letter from her hair and she handed it to us. And the biggest surprise ever.
I open up the letter and it's a letter written from Hatib ibn Abi Balta'ah to the leaders of Mecca informing them of the plans of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
Whoa. They're shocked. Imagine knowing Hatib for all these years. And this is principal treason here.
And this is going to basically, I mean like in a state of law here, this is execution. This is the type of treason that gets you killed. You're potentially undermining the Fatah of Mecca.
After all these years, what a way to fall. So we came back to the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and I mean you can imagine the shock. They didn't know what they were going to find with that letter.
They handed it to the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam calls Hatib. This is worse than your parents calling you to the room.
This is worse than someone catching you with something. He puts the letter in front of Hatib. He says, What is this, O Hatib?
I mean, I feel like I want to shrink on behalf of Hatib. He's the son of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and you got caught in treason. Twenty years. You were my loyal confidant.
You went through Badr. You went through Uhud. You went through Khandaq. I sent you to Egypt. All of these things. You proposed on my behalf. I trusted you. What is this, O Hatib?
Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam says it to him and he doesn't say anything else. He said, O Messenger of Allah, don't rush to judgment on me. He said, listen, O Messenger of Allah, hear me out.
I lived amongst Quraysh, but I was never considered amongst them. I lived amongst them, but I was never actually one of them. I dressed like them. I look like them. I talk like them.
I learned how to function in that society, but I never became Qurayshi. I never got treated like a Qurayshi. وَكَانَ مَنْ مَعَكَ مِنَ الْمُهَاجِرِينَ لَهُمْ قَرَابَاتٌ يَحْمُونَ بِهَا أَهْلِيهِمْ وَأَمْوَالَهُمْ بِمَكَّة
Your companions have people in Mecca with family ties that will protect their loved ones and protect their wealth. They will protect their loved ones and their wealth if things go a certain way.
He said, but I have absolutely nothing to protect my family if the kuffar of Quraysh want to make an example out of them.
So he said, Wallahi, Ya Rasulullah, مَا فَعَلْتُ ذَلِكَ كُفْرًا وَلَا ارْتِدَادًا عَنْ دِينِي O Messenger of Allah, I swear by Allah,
I did not do what I did out of disbelief or out of apostasy from my religion. This wasn't nifaq. This wasn't hypocrisy. This wasn't because I hate Islam.
This wasn't because I don't believe in Islam. But it was only because I was worried about my relatives. And Subhanallah, there's something very important here in the subtext too.
That Ya Rasulullah, I knew you were going to be given victory by Allah anyway. Like it's actually very interesting because you can see how Shaytan can play a person to make a mistake here.
I knew that Allah was going to give you victory and that this letter actually was not going to compromise you. But at the end of the day, perhaps it would hold off my relatives, hold them off from my family once they became informed of your plans. Because Allah was going to give you idhar ala qawmik.
Allah was going to give you victory over your people. But maybe just along the way before that happens. Because if they find out and then they go and they try to cut down our relatives, my people would be the first ones to be killed.
So I knew Allah was going to give you victory anyway. This wasn't actually going to ruin your plans. Umar radiallahu ta'ala anhu is there. Umar radiallahu ta'ala anhu says, Ya Rasulullah,
It's actually very painful because I think about this from the perspective of Hatib. Umar radiallahu ta'ala anhu does not say, let me kill Hatib. He says, let me finish off this hypocrite.
Let me finish off this hypocrite. Because what he did is the actions of the munafiqeen. That's what the munafiqeen did.
They pretended to be Muslim and they compromised the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam behind the scenes. And the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, you know what he says? He said, Laqad sadaqakum.
He said, Hatib is actually telling the truth. Hatib is telling the truth. And he said, Ya Umar, Innahu shahida Badran. He witnessed Badr.
Wama yadreeka la'allahu azzawajal ittala'a ala ahli Badr faqal i'malu ma shi'tum faqad ghafartu lakum. Don't you know that Allah looked to the people of Badr? And he said to the people of Badr on that day,
Do what you will and I have forgiven you for everything. I have forgiven you for everything. Shahida Badr, Ya Umar. Shows you the position of Ahl Badr.
That stood with the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam in the hardest of times. And why? Jibril alayhi assalam says, They're the best people. The angels say the best angels are the ones that fought on the day of Badr.
The best people are the people of Badr. So it may be that Allah forgave the people of Badr for everything. That they would come to do. And that is when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala revealed,
Ya ayyuha alladhina amanu la tatakhidhu aduwi wa aduwakum awliya. O you who believe, do not take my enemies and your enemies as close ones. As protective friends. And the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam forgave Hatib.
Did he boycott him for two months? Did he strike him? Did he flog him? Did he call him to the front of the masjid? And say, look at this munafiq? Or you have to wear your clothes inside out for the next two weeks?
No. You know what makes this actually so significant? One of the narrators of this narration, the ones who preserved this narration, is Abdur Rahman ibn Hatib the son of Hatib.
Who was living in Mecca and was one of those that Hatib wanted to protect. He narrates the story about his father and he became a student of Umar a narrator of hadith and a narrator from Umar when he's thiqah in hadith.
He's considered of the trustworthy in hadith. I mean, he narrates the mistake his father made. Allah spared him. So much to talk about here. Number one.
The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam did not judge him by his lowest moment. He judged him by his entire life. And that is one of the ways in which we are so unfair to each other. We judge people by their lowest moments.
We judge people by their lowest points. We don't look at the entirety of what they've done. And that is not how Allah deals with us and that's not how we should deal with each other. Very good people can make very bad mistakes
and they should not be frozen by and defined in that mistake. That's number one. Number two. Do you have a Badr moment? This is actually really interesting.
Is there something that you would have done in your life? Because the ulama talk about this. That is the equivalent of your Badr moment. That you did something so good that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said you have Jannah. That you did something so good
that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said you have Jannah. You're forgiven for everything that you're gonna do and everything that you've done. That's number two. Do you have a Badr moment? Tell me how you found out.
Because I want to talk to that angel that's telling you that you had your Badr moment. None of us will know. That's why Abdullah ibn Umar, radiallahu ta'ala, used to say, if I knew that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala accepted from me two rak'ahs or one sujdah,
tammanaytu al-mawt. I would wish for death at that point because "Innama yataqabbalu Allahu mina al-muttaqeen"— Allah accepts from the people of taqwa. That is all I need: Allah to accept that from me. Do I have a Badr moment? There's something deeply profound about this:
that you live your whole life with this husn al-dhann in Allah. I'm gonna do this Laylat al-Qadr, I'm gonna do this Ramadan, I'm gonna do this 'umrah, I'm gonna do this hajj, I'm gonna pray this prayer, I'm gonna make this istighfar— this seeking forgiveness—but you don't know when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala deposits it
and says to the angels, "This person right here is bound for Jannah." They're gonna still have some of the falls that are destined for a person— they're not gonna be perfect human beings— but at the same time,
this person is destined for Jannah. Allahumma ja'alna minhum. Allahumma ja'alna minhum. May Allah make us amongst those people. The third lesson from this is that Umar is from Ahl al-Badr, Hatib is from Ahl al-Badr, Ali is from Ahl al-Badr,
Zubayr is from Ahl al-Badr, Miqdad is from Ahl al-Badr. Did any of these people then hear that and go, "If Hatib got away with what he got away with and we're people of Badr too, then why are we doing all this?"
Retire? Does Umar sound like a man who ever retired? Sounded like a man who feared Hellfire and feared nifaq until the very last moment of his life. Ali? Did they ever
retire? They never retired. They are amongst those that witnessed this scene, and none of them did what was the equivalent of what Hatib did in this regard. Number four, I bring it to the modern day. What Hatib did was not a
personal sin. It was a political—it was something that actually hurt the community as well. I will say this, and I know that some people will not like it: that there are Muslims that perhaps have taken positions
and done things that actually harmed the Muslim community in the past. They too have a door to tawbah, and they should be welcomed through that door of tawbah and not be frozen in their past mistakes if that's the case— perhaps not understanding how what they were doing was harmful,
perhaps whatever it may be. None of them would have done what is the equivalent of what Hatib did in this moment. But the Prophet forgave him. Now you can make the argument, "Well, none of them were from Badriyyun." Fair point. Very fair point.
But why are we studying this hadith? Why are we studying this fall? To say the Prophet did not define him by that fall. By the way, there is another hadith from Abu Zubayr, from Jabir that there was a servant that came to the Prophet
complaining about Hatib. And while he was complaining about Hatib, it was a very normal complaint—like people throwing words around when they're mad— he said, "Ya Rasulullah, he said, O Messenger of Allah, la yadkhulanna Hatib an-nar.
Hatib is going to go to Hell." The Prophet said, "Kathaba!" You lied! La yadkhuluh—fa innahu qad shahida Badran wa al-Hudaybiyyah. He will not enter Hellfire because he witnessed Badr
and al-Hudaybiyyah. So the Prophet still defends Hatib even after the letter incident, and he still took Hatib with him to Mecca and he still resumed with Hatib, radiallahu ta'ala anhu,
in that particular place and in that noble place with the community. And Hatib, radiallahu ta'ala anhu, maintained a position amongst the companions of the Prophet, not known by his mistake, but known by his legacy of serving
the Messenger of Allah, salallahu alayhi wa sallam. This is important. This is one of those things. It's like I always tell people: you can read the story of Yusuf, alayhi assalam, with his brothers and say, "Masha'Allah, Yusuf forgave all of his brothers," and you would not forgive your siblings, your loved ones, for something
that is a fraction of what the brothers of Yusuf did to him. You could admire it, but can you actually implement it? Can you practice it? Hatib, radiallahu ta'ala anhu, saw this from the Messenger of Allah, salallahu alayhi wa sallam. And the Messenger of Allah,
who would have been the most hurt person by this— who would be more hurt than him? "You compromised me after everything I did for you"— and the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, said, "Laqad sadaqakum"—he's telling the truth. He has a good heart. He made a mistake,
and he didn't define him by it— a catastrophic mistake by a righteous person. Hatib, radiallahu ta'ala anhu, went on and he lived the life. His son 'Abd al-Rahman who is also a sahabi, by the way— because he was young but he lived to see
the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, as a young boy— grew up and became one of the trustworthy narrators—trustworthy students—and Subhanallah, Umar, radiallahu anhu, wanted Hatib Hatib is narrating to his
son Abdurrahman other narrations from the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam and that's being documented and that is the legacy that moves forward, he died radiyallahu ta'ala anhu in the year 30 after hijra in the time of Uthman radiyallahu ta'ala anhu
His son, he died in the year 68 after hijra in the time of Umayyad rule. His son died in the year 68 after hijra which is why he was able to tell the story and narrate the story and it was documented in the books of hadith
that is Hatib ibn Abu Balta'ah radiyallahu ta'ala anhu
