the caliphates of Abū Bakr and Umar, less six months. How, then, does he know (1) that his killing resulted from a supplication made during that period?
If someone supplicates against a Muslim by asking that an unbeliever kill him, this would actually be a supplication (2) for him, not against him. The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—would similarly supplicate for his Companions, saying, “May Allah forgive so-and-so,” whereupon they would say, “If only you had allowed us to enjoy his company longer!” [And whenever] (3) he supplicated in this way for someone, that person would be martyred. (4)
If someone were to say, “Ali wronged the people of Siffīn and the Kharijites until they invoked against him the fate Ibn Muljam inflicted upon him,” this would be no more unreasonable than the present claim. The same would apply if someone said, “The family of [Sufyān ibn] Harb (5) invoked against al-Husayn the fate that befell him.”
(1) (N) and (M) read: “knows.”
(2) (R), (H), and (Y) read: “the supplication.”
(3) “And he would” is absent from (N).
(4) The hadith is narrated at length and in abridged form, with variations in wording, from Salama ibn al-Akwa—may Allah be pleased with him—in al-Bukhārī, 5/130–131, Kitāb al-Maghāzī, “The Battle of Khaybar”; 9/7–8, Kitāb al-Diyāt, “When Someone Accidentally Kills Himself, No Blood Money Is Due for Him”; Muslim, 3/1427–1429, Kitāb al-Jihād wa-l-Siyar, “The Battle of Khaybar”; and 3/1433–1441, in the preceding book, “The Raid of Dhū Qarad and Other Battles.” The latter is the fullest version and the one that most clearly supports Ibn Taymiyya’s intended point. It states at 3/1440: “My uncle Āmir began chanting rajaz verses for the men. The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—asked, ‘Who is this?’ He replied, ‘I am Āmir.’ He said, ‘May Allah, your Lord, forgive you.’ Whenever the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—specifically prayed for someone’s forgiveness, that person would be martyred. Umar ibn al-Khattāb, who was riding a camel of his, then called out, ‘O Prophet of Allah, if only you had allowed us to enjoy Āmir’s company longer!’”—and the hadith continues. It also states: “Marhab’s sword struck Āmir’s shield, and Āmir attempted to strike him from below. His sword recoiled against him and severed a major vein in his forearm, and the wound proved fatal.” The hadith is also found in al-Musnad, al-Halabī ed., 4/46, 47–48, 50, 51–52.
(5) (N) and (M) read: “Indeed, the family of Harb.”