they brought the letter, he said, ‘What is this, Hātib?’
He replied, ‘By Allah, O Messenger of Allah, I did not do this because I had apostatized or approved of disbelief. Rather, I was merely affiliated with Quraysh and was not one of their own. The Emigrants who were with you had relatives in Mecca who would protect their families. Since I lacked such ties, I wished to do the Quraysh a favor so that they would protect my relatives.’
Umar—may Allah be pleased with him—said, ‘Let me strike the neck of this hypocrite.’
He replied, ‘He took part in Badr. How could you know? Allah looked upon the people of Badr and said, “Do whatever you wish, for I have forgiven you.”’”
Allah Most High then revealed the opening of Sūrat al-Mumtahana:
“O you who believe, do not take My enemies and your enemies as allies, extending affection to them.”
[Sūrat al-Mumtahana: 1]
(1)
The scholars unanimously agree that this account is authentic, and they regard it as mass-transmitted. It is well known to scholars of Quranic exegesis and hadith (2), scholars of military campaigns, biographies, and history, scholars of jurisprudence, and others. Ali—may Allah be pleased with him—would narrate this hadith during his caliphate after the civil strife. His scribe, Abd Allah ibn Abī Rāfi, narrated it from him in order to show [them] (3) that the early forerunners had been forgiven, whatever may have occurred on their part (4).
For Uthman, Ali, Talha (5), and al-Zubayr are, by the consensus of the Muslims, superior to Hātib