Shuʿbah narrated through al-Ḥakam, from Ibn Abī Rāfiʿ, from his father:
The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) sent a man in charge of collecting the charity-tax. The man said to Abū Rāfiʿ, “Come with me so that we may receive a share of it.”
I replied, “Let me first ask the Messenger of Allah for permission.”
So I sought his leave, and he said, “O Abū Rāfiʿ, the client (mawlā) of a people is reckoned as one of them, and charity is not lawful for us (1).”
Sulaymān ibn Yasār reported:
Abū Rāfiʿ said, “The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) did not instruct me to camp at al-Abṭaḥ when he departed Minā; I simply went there and settled, and then he came and settled there as well (2).”
- Ṣuhayb ibn Sinān Abū Yaḥyā al-Namirī * (ʿA)
He was from the clan of al-Namir ibn Qāsiṭ.
He was known as ‘the Roman’ because he had lived for a time among the Byzantines.
Originally from the Jazīrah region, he had been captured from the village of Nineveh, in the district of
(1) The hadith is also narrated by Ahmad, 6/8, 10, 39; Abu Dawud (1650) in Zakat, “Chapter on Giving Sadaqa to the Banu Hashim”; al-Tirmidhi (657) in Zakat, “Chapter on the Dislike of Charity for the Prophet ﷺ, his family, and his freedmen”; and al-Nasaʾi (507) in Zakat, “Chapter: A people’s freedman counts as one of them.” Al-Tirmidhi graded it hasan sahih, and it was declared sahih by Ibn Khuzayma and Ibn Hibban. Al-Hakim, 1/204, also authenticated it, a judgment endorsed by al-Dhahabi and accepted as sound.
(2) Reported by Muslim (1313) in Hajj, “Chapter on the Recommendation of Halting at al-Muhassab on the Day of Departure and Praying There,” and by Abu Dawud (2009) in Manasik, “Chapter on al-Tahsib,” through several chains from Sufyan ibn ʿUyayna, from Salih ibn Kaysan, from Sulayman ibn Yasar, from Abu Rafiʿ.
Al-Abtah is the portion of the valley that spreads out broadly; it is linked both to Makka and to Mina because it lies at an equal—or even slightly shorter—distance from Mina. It is also known as al-Muhassab and al-Muʿarras. For the juristic discussion on encamping at al-Muhassab, see Fath al-Bari, 3/471.
(*) Musnad Ahmad, 4/332 and 6/15; Tabaqat Ibn Saʿd, 3/226; Tabaqat Khalifa, 19, 62; al-Tarikh al-Kabir, 4/315; al-Jarh wa-l-Taʿdil, 4/444; Muʿjam al-Tabarani, 8/33, 53; al-Mustadrak, 3/397–402; al-Istiyab, 5/147; Ibn ʿAsakir, 8/186/2; Usd al-Ghaba, 3/36; Tahdhib al-Kamal, 613; Tarikh al-Islam, 2/185-186; al-ʿIbar, 1/44; Majmaʿ al-Zawaʾid, 9/305; Tahdhib al-Tahdhib, 4/438-439; al-Isaba, 5/160; Khulasa Tadhhib al-Kamal, 175; Kanz al-ʿUmmal, 13/437; Shadharat al-Dhahab, 1/47; Siyar, 2/2.