I was (1) with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in the year of Jiʿirrāna when he was distributing some silver that lay in Bilal’s cloak among the people. A man said, “Messenger of Allah, be fair!” The Prophet replied,
“Woe to you! Who will be fair if I am not? I am surely ruined if I am not just.”
ʿUmar said, “Messenger of Allah, allow me to kill this hypocrite.” He answered,
“Allah forbid that people should say Muhammad kills his Companions. This man and his followers recite the Quran, yet it does not go beyond their throats—indeed, beyond their collarbones; they will dart out of the religion as (2) an arrow darts through its quarry.”
Ahmad (3) also said: “ʿAli ibn ʿAyyash narrated to us; Ismaʿil ibn ʿAyyash narrated to us; Yahya ibn Saʿid narrated to me; Abu al-Zubayr informed me. He said: I heard Jabir say, ‘My very eyes saw and my very ears heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ at Jiʿirrāna. In Bilal’s cloak was silver, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was handing it out to the people. A man said, ‘Be just.’ He replied,
‘Woe to you! Who will be just if I am not?’
ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab said, ‘Let me kill this foul hypocrite.’ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
‘Allah forbid that people should say Muhammad kills his Companions. This man and his companions recite the Quran, yet it does not pass beyond their collarbones. They will shoot out of the religion just as an arrow shoots through its target.’ ”
Ahmad (4) likewise transmitted it through Abu al-Mughira, from Muʿadh ibn Rifaʿa: “Abu al-Zubayr narrated to us, from Jabir ibn ʿAbd Allah, who said: When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ divided the spoils of Hawazin at Jiʿirrāna, a man from Banu Tamim stood up and said, ‘Be just, O Muhammad.’ He replied,
‘Woe to you! Who will be just if I am not? I would have failed and lost were I not just.’
ʿUmar said, ‘Messenger of Allah, shall I rise and kill this hypocrite?’ He said,
‘Allah forbid that the nations should hear that Muhammad kills his Companions.’ Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ added,
‘This man and his followers recite the Quran, yet it does not pass beyond their collarbones. They will burst out of the religion just as the arrow-shaft (5) flies through its prey.’ ”
Muʿadh continued: “Abu al-Zubayr then told me: I presented this hadith to al-Zuhri, and he disagreed with me only in that he used the word al-naḍī (6); I had said al-qudḥ. He said, ‘Are you not an Arab (7)?’ ”
Muslim (8) also recorded it through Muhammad ibn Rumh from al-Layth, and through Muhammad ibn al-Muthanna from ʿAbd al-Wahhab al-Thaqafi. Al-Nasaʾi likewise produced it from al-Layth and from Malik ibn Anas, all of them via Yahya ibn Saʿid al-Ansari, with wording to the same effect.