The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent me, along with Zubayr and Miqdad, saying, "Go until you reach the meadow of Khakh, where you will find a woman traveler carrying a letter. Take it from her."So we set off, our horses galloping with us, until we reached the meadow. There we found the woman, and we said, "Hand over the letter."She replied, "I have no letter with me."We said, "Either you produce the letter or we strip off your clothes."She then drew the letter out from her braided hair. We took it and brought it to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. It read, "From Hatib bin Abu Balta to certain polytheists in Mecca," informing them of some of the Messenger of Allah's ﷺ plans.The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Hatib, what is this?"He answered, "Do not be hasty with me. I was a man attached to Quraysh as an outsider, not actually one of them. The other Emigrants with you have relatives in Mecca who protect their families there. Since I lacked that kinship among them, I wanted to do them a favor so they would protect my relatives. I did not do this out of disbelief, nor as an apostasy from my religion, nor out of contentment with disbelief after Islam."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "He has told you the truth."Umar said, "Let me strike off the neck of this hypocrite."He replied, "He was present at Badr. How do you know? Perhaps Allah has looked upon the people of Badr and said, 'Do as you wish, for I have already forgiven you.'"
حدثنا سفيان عن عمرو قال أخبرني حسن بن محمد بن علي أخبرني عبيد الله بن أبي رافع وقال مرة إن عبيد الله بن أبي رافع أخبره أنه سمع
بعثني رسول الله ﷺ أنا والزبير والمقداد فقال انطلقوا حتى تأتوا روضة خاخ فإن بها ظعينة معها كتاب فخذوه منها فانطلقنا تعادى بنا خيلنا حتى أتينا الروضة فإذا نحن بالظعينة فقلنا أخرجي الكتاب قالت ما معي من كتاب قلنا لتخرجن الكتاب أو لنقلبن الثياب قال فأخرجت الكتاب من عقاصها فأخذنا الكتاب فأتينا به رسول الله ﷺ فإذا فيه من حاطب بن أبي بلتعة إلى ناس من المشركين بمكة يخبرهم ببعض أمر رسول الله ﷺ فقال رسول الله ﷺ يا حاطب ما هذا قال لا تعجل علي إني كنت امرأ ملصقا في قريش ولم أكن من أنفسها وكان من كان معك من المهاجرين لهم قرابات يحمون أهليهم بمكة فأحببت إذ فاتني ذلك من النسب فيهم أن أتخذ فيهم يدا يحمون بها قرابتي وما فعلت ذلك كفرا ولا ارتدادا عن ديني ولا رضا بالكفر بعد الإسلام فقال رسول الله ﷺ إنه قد صدقكم فقال عمر رضي الله عنه دعني أضرب عنق هذا المنافق فقال إنه قد شهد بدرا وما يدريك لعل الله قد اطلع على أهل بدر فقال اعملوا ما شئتم فقد غفرت لكم
Its isnad is sahih. Amr is Ibn Dinar. Hasan bin Muhammad bin Ali is Ibn Muhammad bin Hanafiya, discussed previously at 592. In the three source manuscripts here it appears as Husayn bin Muhammad bin Ali, which is an error, for there is no narrator known by this name, and Muhammad bin Hanafiya has no son called Husayn. See Tabaqat Ibn Saad 5:67. For this reason we did not hesitate to correct it, especially since the hadith was narrated by Bukhari (6:100, 7:237, 8:400, 8:486 of Fath) and Muslim 2:262 through the route of Sufyan bin Uyayna, from Amr bin Dinar, from Hasan bin Muhammad bin Ali. Bukhari also narrated it (7:237, 11:39, 12:271) and Muslim 2:262-263 through the route of Abu Abdul-Rahman Sulami, from Ali. And in Dhakhair Mawarith 5385 it is mentioned that Abu Dawud and Tirmidhi also narrated it.Rawdat Khakh, with two dotted khas, is near Hamra al-Asad, close to Madinah.Hatib bin Abu Balta was from Banu Rashida of Lakhm, and was an ally of Zubayr bin Awwam from Banu Assad bin Abdul-Uzza. That is why he said, "I was a man attached to Quraysh, but not one of their own." See also 827, 1083, 1090.