—because the blind man came to him. (1) [Abasa: 1–2].
Al-Waqidi reported: ʿUbayd Allah ibn Nuh related to me from Muhammad ibn Sahl ibn Abi Hathmah, who said:
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ appointed Ibn Umm Maktum as his deputy over Medina. He would gather the people for prayer and deliver the sermon beside the pulpit, placing it on his left. (2)”
Yunus ibn Abi Ishaq narrated from his father, from ʿAbd Allah ibn Maʿqil, who said:
“Ibn Umm Maktum lodged with a Jewish woman in Medina. She used to treat him kindly, yet she would revile him concerning the Prophet ﷺ. He seized her, struck her, and killed her. When the matter was referred to the Prophet ﷺ, he (Ibn Umm Maktum) said, ‘By Allah, she did show me kindness, but she insulted me regarding Allah and His Messenger.’ The Prophet ﷺ declared, ‘May Allah cast her away; I have annulled any claim to her blood. (3)’”
Abu Ishaq narrated from al-Baraʾ:
“When the verse ‘Those who remain behind are not equal…’ was revealed, the Prophet ﷺ summoned Zayd, who brought a shoulder blade and wrote it down. Then Ibn Umm Maktum arrived and complained of his impairment, so the revelation came: ‘except those who suffer a disability’ (4) [al-Nisaʾ: 95].”
(1) The report appears in Ibn Saʿd, al-Tabaqat, 4/1/153; all its transmitters are trustworthy, but the chain is formally broken. Al-Suyuti also quotes it in al-Durr al-manthur, 6/314, on the authority of Aisha, attributing it to Ibn al-Mundhir and Ibn Marduyah.
(2) The isnad is weak because of the weakness of al-Waqidi. Ibn Saʿd likewise records it, 4/1/153.
(3) All the narrators are reliable. Abu Dawud (no. 4362, section: Hudud) transmits it via Jarir, from al-Mughira, from al-Shabi, from ʿAli—may Allah be pleased with him—concerning a Jewish woman who used to revile the Prophet; a man strangled her until she died, and the Messenger of Allah waived any claim for her blood. The chain is sound. See Ibn Taymiyya’s detailed discussion in al-Sarim al-maslul, p. 60. Ibn Saʿd also records the narration, 4/1/154, through Qabisah b. ʿUqbah, from Yunus b. Abi Ishaq, from Abu Ishaq, from ʿAbd Allah b. Maʿqil; its transmitters are trustworthy. Note: the printed edition omits the word “Abi.”
(4) Reported by al-Bukhari (4593, 4594) and al-Tirmidhi (3034) in their Qurʾanic exegesis sections. In the word ghayra (“other than”), the manuscript vocalises the final ra with fathah, in accordance with the reading of Nafiʿ, Ibn ʿAmir and al-Kisaʾi; the remaining reciters read it with dammah (ghayru).