I heard Ali say, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent me, Zubayr, and Miqdad, saying, 'Go until you reach the meadow of Khakh, where you will find a woman traveling with a letter. Take it from her.'So we set off, our horses racing along, until we reached the meadow. There we found the woman, and we said, 'Hand over the letter.'She said, 'I have no letter with me.'I said, 'Either you produce the letter, or we will strip off your clothes.'So she took it out from her braided hair. We brought it to the Prophet ﷺ, and it turned out to be from Hatib bin Abu Balta to some of the polytheists, informing them of certain matters concerning the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, 'What is this, Hatib?'He replied, 'Messenger of Allah, do not be hasty with me. I was a man attached to Quraysh but not actually one of them. The other Muhajirun who are with you have relatives in Mecca who protect their families and property. Since I had no such ties, I wanted to do them a favor so that they would protect my relatives. By Allah, Messenger of Allah, I did not do this out of disbelief or apostasy.'The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, 'He has told you the truth.'Umar said, 'Let me strike off the head of this hypocrite.'The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, 'He fought at Badr. How do you know? Perhaps Allah has looked upon those who were at Badr and said, Do as you wish, for I have forgiven you.'"
حدثنا مسدد حدثنا سفيان عن عمرو حدثه الحسن بن محمد بن علي أخبره عبيد الله بن أبي رافع وكان كاتبا
سمعت عليا يقول بعثني رسول الله ﷺ أنا والزبير والمقداد فقال انطلقوا حتى تأتوا روضة خاخ فإن بها ظعينة معها كتاب فخذوه منها فانطلقنا تتعادى بنا خيلنا حتى أتينا الروضة فإذا نحن بالظعينة فقلنا هلمي الكتاب قالت ما عندي من كتاب فقلت لتخرجن الكتاب أو لنلقين الثياب فأخرجته من عقاصها فأتينا به النبي ﷺ فإذا هو من حاطب بن أبي بلتعة إلى ناس من المشركين يخبرهم ببعض أمر رسول الله ﷺ فقال ما هذا يا حاطب فقال يا رسول الله لا تعجل علي فإني كنت امرأ ملصقا في قريش ولم أكن من أنفسها وإن قريشا لهم بها قرابات يحمون بها أهليهم بمكة فأحببت إذ فاتني ذلك أن أتخذ فيهم يدا يحمون قرابتي بها والله يا رسول الله ما كان بي من كفر ولا ارتداد فقال رسول الله ﷺ صدقكم فقال عمر دعني أضرب عنق هذا المنافق فقال رسول الله ﷺ قد شهد بدرا وما يدريك لعل الله اطلع على أهل بدر فقال اعملوا ما شئتم فقد غفرت لكم
Bukhari narrated it in the book of jihad and military expeditions, chapter on the spy and espionage, meaning careful investigation, hadith no. 3007, and Muslim narrated it in the book of the virtues of the companions, chapter on the virtues of Hatib bin Abu Balta and the people of Badr , hadith no. 2494, from the hadith of Sufyan bin Uyayna through this same chain.