- “Indeed, Satan has entered your home in your absence. Take this date-palm stalk and keep hold of it until you reach your house. Then seize him from behind the house and strike him with the stalk.” (1)
Al-Ṭabarānī related it in al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr (19/5–6) by way of ʿĀṣim ibn ʿUmar ibn Qatādah, from his father, from his grandfather Qatādah ibn al-Nuʿmān, who said:
It was a night of intense darkness and rain, so I said, “If only I could take advantage of this night to attend the ʿIshāʾ prayer with the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him!” So I did so. When the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, had finished, he saw me, and he had with him a date-palm stalk upon which he was leaning. He said, “What is the matter with you, Qatādah, being here at this hour?”
I said, “I took the opportunity to attend the prayer with you, O Messenger of Allah!” He gave me the stalk and then said … and he mentioned the rest of the report. I left the mosque, and the stalk shone with light like a candle. I performed ablution by its light and came to my family, whom I found asleep. I looked into a corner and found a hedgehog there, so I continued striking it with the stalk until it went away.
I say: All its narrators are trustworthy and have biographical entries in al-Tahdhīb, except ʿUmar ibn Qatādah. Al-Bukhārī and Ibn Abī Ḥātim mentioned him in their respective books through this narration of his son, ʿĀṣim, but did not mention any criticism of him. Ibn Ḥibbān likewise included him in al-Thiqāt (5/146). His son, ʿĀṣim, is a well-known Successor who died in 119 AH; thus, Abū ʿUmar was one of the senior Successors, and a narrator of his standing may be used as corroboration.
It is also supported by a parallel chain: al-Ṭabarānī likewise related it (19/13–14) by way of Suwayd ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, from Isḥāq ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Farwah, from ʿIyāḍ ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Saʿd ibn Abī Sarḥ, from Qatādah ibn al-Nuʿmān, with similar wording.