Surah al-Hujurāt

In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Especially Merciful.

[Surah al-Hujurāt (49): verse 6]

“O you who believe, if an evildoer brings you news, verify it, lest you harm people out of ignorance and then regret what you have done.” (6)

This verse was revealed concerning al-Walīd ibn ‘Uqbah ibn Abī Mu‘ayt, whom Allah’s Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, sent to Banū al-Mustaliq after the battle as a zakat collector. There had been enmity between him and them during the pre-Islamic period of ignorance. When the people heard of his coming, they went out to meet him out of respect for the authority of Allah’s Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

Satan whispered to him that they intended to kill him. He became afraid of them and turned back along the road to Allah’s Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, who contemplated going to war against them. When the people learned that he had turned back, they came to Allah’s Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and said: “O Messenger of Allah, we heard that your envoy was coming, so we went out to welcome and honour him and to pay him what we owed as Allah’s due. Then a thought occurred to us, and we feared that he had turned back only because a letter from you had reached him expressing your anger with us. We seek refuge in Allah from His anger and the anger of His Messenger.”

Allah’s Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, suspected them and secretly dispatched Khālid ibn al-Walīd with a force. He instructed him to conceal his arrival from them and told him: “Observe them. If you see signs of faith in them, then take