[Reply to the Rāfidī’s claim that the Messenger—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—expelled al-Hakam and his son from Medina, and that Uthmān brought them back and honored them]

His statement:

“The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—expelled al-Hakam ibn Abī al-Ās, Uthmān’s paternal uncle, from Medina together with his son Marwān. He and his son remained exiles throughout the time of the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—Abū Bakr, and Umar. When Uthmān assumed authority, he gave him refuge, brought him back to Medina, and appointed Marwān as his secretary and the administrator of his affairs.

“This was despite Allah’s statement:

‘You will not find a people who believe in Allah and the Last Day having affection for those who oppose Allah and His Messenger’

[the verse]

(1)

[Surah al-Mujādala: 22].”

The answer is that al-Hakam ibn Abī al-Ās was among those who embraced Islam at the Conquest, and they numbered two thousand men. His son Marwān was still young at the time, for he was about the same age as Ibn al-Zubayr and al-Miswar ibn Makhrama. At the time of the Conquest, he was at the age of discernment: either seven years old, slightly older, or slightly younger. Marwān had therefore committed no offense for which he could have been expelled during the Prophet’s lifetime—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Moreover, those who had been granted amnesty at the Conquest did not reside in Medina during the Prophet’s lifetime—may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

If the Prophet did expel al-Hakam, he could only have expelled him from Mecca, not Medina. Had he expelled him from Medina, he would have sent him to Mecca. Many scholars have challenged the report that he was exiled, saying that he left of his own accord.

The account of al-Hakam’s exile is not found in the sound hadith collections, nor does it have any known chain of transmission by which its facts may be ascertained. Some people relate that he mimicked (2) the Prophet’s gait—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—while others give a different account. They say that the Prophet exiled him to al-Tā’if.