I say: From what has already been shown, this wording is not sound; it is weak and therefore cannot be cited as evidence in the present discussion, all the more so because it contradicts the unrestricted tenor of the verse mentioned earlier. Allah knows best.
- Tying a prisoner to a pillar. This is based on the ḥadith quoted under paragraph (7): “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ dispatched a cavalry detachment toward Najd. They returned with a man from Banū Ḥanīfah called Thumāmah ibn Uthāl—the chieftain of al-Yamāmah—and they fastened him to one of the pillars of the mosque….”
The ḥadith is authentic and agreed upon; its full chain and wording were cited above. Both al-Bukhārī and al-Nasā’ī entitle the chapter as we have indicated, and al-Bukhārī adds: “Shurayḥ used to order that a debtor be confined to a pillar of the mosque.” Al-Ḥāfiẓ comments: “This statement is transmitted in connected form by Maʿmar from Ayyūb, from Ibn Sīrīn, who said: ‘Whenever Shurayḥ ruled that a man owed a rightful claim, he would have him held in the mosque until he discharged what was due; if he paid, he was released, otherwise he was sent on to prison.’”
The Prophet ﷺ also said: “An ʿifrīt from among the jinn kept lunging at me last night trying to break my prayer, but Allah enabled me to overpower him, so I seized him”—in another narration: “so I throttled him”—“and I seriously considered tying him to one of the pillars of the mosque so that all of you could see him at daybreak. Then I remembered the prayer of my brother Solomon: ‘My Lord, forgive me and grant me a dominion such as none shall have after me’ (Ṣād 38:35), whereupon Allah drove him away in disgrace.”