Ahmad (1). Ubayy ibn Ka‘b then heard a man calling out, “O so-and-so!” He said to him, “Bite your father’s penis!” When this was raised with him, he said, “This is what the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—commanded us to do” (2).
Then, when the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—made peace with Quraysh, the truce appeared to subject the Muslims to humiliation and injustice. The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—agreed to it in obedience to Allah and in trust that He would fulfil His promise to him and grant him victory over them. Most people were angered by this and found it hard to bear, even such men as ‘Umar, ‘Alī and Sahl ibn Hunayf. For this reason, ‘Alī—may Allah be pleased with him—(3) recited the takbīrs (declarations of Allah’s greatness) over him in the funeral prayer when he died, to demonstrate his distinction over others—meaning Sahl ibn Hunayf.
As for ‘Alī, the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—ordered him to erase his name from the document, but he did not do so, until the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—took the document and erased it with his own hand.
(1) This hadith appeared earlier, 1:521. In my annotation there, I identified its location in al-Musnad and explained its wording.
(2) Hadiths conveying this meaning are reported from Ubayy ibn Kaʿb—may Allah be pleased with him—in al-Musnad (al-Halabī edition), 5:136. Among them is the report of ʿUtayy ibn Damra al-Saʿdī from Ubayy ibn Kaʿb—may Allah be pleased with him—that a man uttered a tribal rallying call of the Jāhiliyya (pre-Islamic era). Ubayy told him to bite his father’s penis, using no euphemism. The people looked at him, and he said to them: “I see what you are thinking. I could not refrain from saying this. The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—commanded us: ‘If you hear someone uttering a tribal rallying call of the Jāhiliyya, tell him to bite his father’s penis, and do not use euphemisms.’”
In al-Nihāya fī Gharīb al-Hadīth by Ibn al-Athīr, under the root ʿadad (biting), we read: “Whoever utters a tribal rallying call of the Jāhiliyya, tell him to bite his father’s private part, and do not use euphemisms—that is, say to him: ‘Bite your father’s penis,’ and do not substitute the euphemism han (private part) for ayr (penis), as a punishment and reprimand.”
(3) All copies read: “ʿAlī, peace be upon him.”