Ibn Isḥāq narrates, through Yazīd ibn Rūmān, who said:
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ led the people in the dawn prayer. Once he had entered into the prayer, Zaynab called out, ‘I have granted asylum to Abū al-ʿĀṣ ibn al-Rabīʿ.’ When the Prophet ﷺ completed the prayer with the salām, he said, ‘I had no prior knowledge of this; yet even the least of the people may bind all of them by granting protection.’ (1)
Al-Shaʿbī said: Zaynab accepted Islam and emigrated, then he (Abū al-ʿĀṣ) embraced Islam after that, and the Prophet did not separate the two of them. (2)
Qatādah said likewise, adding: ‘Later Sūrat al-Barāʾah was revealed; so if a woman accepts Islam before her husband, he no longer has any claim over her except by making a new proposal.’ (3)
Hajjāj also transmitted—through ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb, from his father, from his grandfather—that the Prophet ﷺ returned his daughter to Abū al-ʿĀṣ with a new marriage contract and a new dowry. (4)
Habar lived up to the caliphate of Muawiya.
See Ibn Hajar, Al-Isaba, 10/235–236.
Al-Hafiz remarks: I have found no mention of his companion among the Companions; perhaps he died before accepting Islam.
(1) Reported by Ibn Hisham, Al-Sira, 1/157–158; by Ibn Saʿd, 8/32, from Ibn Ishaq—who said: “Yazid b. Ruman informed me …”—and by al-Hakim, 4/45. Through the route of Ibn Wahb, who was told by Ibn Lahiʿa, from Musa b. Jubayr al-Ansari, from ʿImran b. Malik al-Ghifari, from Abu Bakr b. ʿAbd al-Rahman, from Umm Salama, the Prophet’s wife: Zaynab, daughter of the Messenger of Allah, sent word asking her to secure protection for Abu al-As b. al-Rabiʿ from her father. Umm Salama then put her head out of her room while the Prophet was leading the dawn prayer and announced, “People, I am Zaynab, the daughter of the Messenger of Allah, and I have granted protection to Abu al-As.” When the Prophet finished the prayer he said, “People, I had no knowledge of this until you heard it. Be aware that even the least of the Muslims may grant protection on their behalf.” All the men in this chain are reliable.
(2) Ibn Saʿd, Al-Tabaqat, 8/32.
(3) Ibn Saʿd, Al-Tabaqat, 8/32.
(4) Reported by Ahmad (no. 6938); al-Tirmidhi (1142); Ibn Saʿd, 8/32; Ibn Majah (2010); al-Daraqutni, p. 396; and al-Bayhaqi, 7/188, all through the isnad of al-Hajjaj b. Artat, from ʿAmr b. —