…Asim perceived that the enemy were upon them, so he and his companions withdrew to a spot that was immediately surrounded. They called out: “Come down, surrender, and we pledge our solemn word that none of you will be killed.” Asim ibn Thabit replied, “People, as for me, I will never descend under the guarantee of a disbeliever.” Then he prayed, “O Allah, convey our plight to Your Prophet.” They then shot arrows at them and Asim was killed. Three men descended on the basis of the pledge: Khubayb, Zayd ibn al-Dathina, and another man. When the captors gained full control over them, they untied the bow-strings and used them to bind the prisoners. The third man said, “This is the first act of treachery! By God, I will not accompany you—I have an example in those who have already been slain.” They dragged him and struggled with him, but he refused to go along. Khubayb and Zayd ibn al-Dathina were taken away and sold after the Battle of Badr. The sons of al-Harith ibn Amir ibn Nawfal bought Khubayb—he had killed their father on the day of Badr—and kept him captive until they resolved to execute him. Khubayb borrowed a razor from one of al-Harith’s daughters in order to shave; she lent it to him. While she was inattentive, her young child toddled over to Khubayb, who was sitting with the child on his thigh and the razor in his hand. She panicked, and Khubayb noticed her alarm and said, “Do you fear that I would kill him? I would never do that.” She later said, “By Allah, I never saw a captive better than Khubayb. Once I found him eating a bunch of grapes while he was manacled in iron, and there was no fruit at all in Mecca. It was sustenance that Allah had granted Khubayb.” When they led him out of the sacred precinct to kill him in the hil (the area outside the sanctuary), Khubayb said, “Allow me to pray two rak‘as.” They gave him leave, and after he had prayed he said, “By Allah, were it not that you would think I am prolonging it out of fear of death, I would have lengthened the prayer.” He then supplicated: “O Allah, count them one by one, destroy them utterly, and leave none of them alive,” and recited: I do not care, when I am killed as a Muslim, On which side of my body I fall for Allah; And that is for Allah’s sake—and if He wills, He will bless the severed limbs of a torn body. Abu Saru‘a ‘Uqba ibn al-Harith advanced and killed him. In this way Khubayb established the sunnah of performing two rak‘as before execution for every Muslim who is put to death while captive. The Prophet informed his Companions, on the very day they were killed, of what had happened. Later, Quraysh dispatched men to retrieve some part of Asim ibn Thabit—he had slain one of their chiefs—but Allah sent a swarm of hornets like a canopy that protected Asim’s corpse, so they were unable to cut off anything from him. See Ibn Hisham, 2/169–183, and al-Sira of Ibn Kathir, 3/139, 144. Al-Tan‘im is a locality outside the sanctuary of Mecca, situated between Mecca and Sarif, about two parasangs from the city.