because of her (1), more than a hundred households of Banū al-Mustaliq were set free.” (2)
[Chapter: The Rafidite’s statements concerning the bravery of ‘Alī—may Allah be pleased with him—in the expedition to Khaybar, and their refutation]
(Chapter)
The Rafidite said (3): “In the expedition to Khaybar (4), victory was achieved at the hands of the Commander of the Faithful. He handed the banner (5) to Abū Bakr, who was defeated, then to ‘Umar, who was defeated, and then to ‘Alī, who was suffering from inflamed eyes (6). He spat into his eyes (7), and ‘Alī went out and killed Marhab. The others fled and shut the gate behind them. The Commander of the Faithful grappled with it, wrenched it out, and made it (8) a bridge across the trench. It took twenty men to close the gate. The Muslims entered the fortress and took the spoils. And he—peace be upon him—said: ‘By Allah, he did not wrench it out with the strength of five hundred men, but with a strength
(1) (N), (M): fī sabyihā (“in her captivity”). The adopted reading is from (S), (B), and Sunan Abī Dāwūd.
(2) This hadith also appears in Ibn Hishām, 3/307–308, and Zād al-Maʿād, where the expedition is called the Expedition of al-Muraysīʿ. The two scholarly editors state: “It is a watering place belonging to Banū Khuzāʿa, a day’s journey from al-Furʿ (a place in the vicinity of Medina). The expedition is also called the Expedition of Banū al-Mustaliq. Al-Mustaliq was the epithet of Judhayma ibn Saʿd ibn ʿAmr, whose descendants formed a branch of Banū Khuzāʿa.” The two editors then say of the hadith: “Its chain of transmission is sound.” This hadith also appears in Ibn Kathīr’s al-Bidāya wa-l-Nihāya, 4/158–159; Ibn Saʿd’s al-Tabaqāt, 2/64; and al-Tabarī’s al-Tārīkh, 2/610 and 3/165.
(3) In (K), pp. 185 (M)–186 (M).
(4) (K): ghazāt (“expedition”).
(5) (S), (B): “and he handed over the banner during the expedition.”
(6) (K): “and he was suffering from an inflamed eye.”
(7) (M): “his eye.”
(8) (N), (S), (B): wa-jaʿala (“and he made”).