Abū Bakr al-Hudhalī narrated to us, on the authority of Mālik ibn Anas, from al-Zuhrī, from Abū Salamah ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, who said:
“Qays ibn Ḥaṭāṭah came upon a circle in which were Ṣuhayb the Roman, Salmān the Persian, and Bilāl the Ethiopian. He said, ‘The Aws and the Khazraj have risen to support this man—so what business do these people have doing the same?’ Muʿādh ibn Jabal rose, seized him by the collar, and brought him to the Prophet—may God bless him and grant him peace—informing him of what he had said. The Prophet stood up in anger, dragging his cloak behind him, until he entered the mosque. Then the call was made: ‘Prayer in congregation!’ He ascended the pulpit, praised and extolled God, and said:
‘To proceed: O people, your Lord is One, your father is one, and your religion is one. Arabness is not conferred by father or mother; it is only a tongue. Whoever speaks Arabic is an Arab.’
Muʿādh ibn Jabal then asked, ‘What do you command us to do with this hypocrite?’ He replied, ‘Leave him to the Fire.’ Qays was among those who apostatized and was killed during the wars of apostasy.”
(1) Rawh—some say his name was Salma ibn Abd Allah ibn Salma—Abu Bakr al-Hudhali of Basra. He is weak and his hadith are abandoned; he belongs to the sixth tier of narrators and died in 168 AH. See: Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib al-Tahdhib 12/45–46, no. 180; al-Kuna.
(2) I have found no biographical entry for him; Tarikh Wasit calls him Qays ibn Ritatta (p. 192).
(3) The eminent Companion Suhayb ibn Sinan ibn Malik al-Rabii al-Namiri, nicknamed al-Rumi because the Byzantines once captured him. His kunya was Abu Yahya, granted by the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. He embraced Islam early in Mecca and was among those tortured for their faith. When he set out for Medina the Quraysh blocked him, so he surrendered his wealth to gain safe passage; the Prophet remarked, “A profitable bargain, Abu Yahya,” and the verse “Among mankind are those who sell themselves seeking Allah’s pleasure” was revealed about him. He took part in every campaign with the Prophet and, when Umar was stabbed, led the prayers in his stead. Suhayb died in Medina in 39 AH at the age of seventy-three. See: Usd al-Ghabah 3/30–33.
(4) The particle an is missing from MSS J and D.
(5) Aslam ibn Sahl al-Razzaz al-Wasiti records the report in his Tarikh Wasit (pp. 251–52). Its isnad includes Qurra, whose status is unknown, and Abu Bakr al-Hudhali, whose narrations are rejected, as noted above; the author also states explicitly that he is weak.