The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent out a scouting expedition and placed Asim bin Thabit in command. He was the grandfather of Asim bin Umar. They set out, and when they reached a point along the road between Usfan and Mecca, they made camp. Word of their presence reached a clan of Huzayl known as Banu Lihyan, who pursued them with about a hundred archers. The pursuers tracked their footsteps until they reached one of the campsites where the scouts had stopped. There they found date stones from provisions the scouts had brought from Medina.They said, "These are dates from Yathrib," and continued following their tracks until they caught up with them.When Asim bin Thabit and his companions sensed them, they took refuge on a high piece of ground. The pursuers came up and surrounded them, saying, "You have our pledge and covenant that if you come down to us, we will not kill any of you."Asim bin Thabit said, "As for me, I will not place myself under the protection of a disbeliever. Allah, inform Your Messenger about us."So they fought them, shooting arrows at them, and killed Asim along with seven of his men. Three remained, Khubayb bin Adi, Zayd bin Dathinna, and another man. The pursuers gave them a pledge and covenant if they would come down to them. When they had them in their power, they untied the strings of their bows and bound them with them.The third man who was with the two said, "This is the first act of treachery." He refused to go with them. They tried to drag him along, but he refused to follow, so they struck off his head.They took Khubayb bin Adi and Zayd bin Dathinna and sold them in Mecca. Khubayb was bought by the sons of Harith bin Amir bin Nawfal, since Khubayb had killed Harith on the day of Badr. He remained with them as a captive.When they had resolved to kill him, he asked one of the daughters of Harith for a razor to remove his pubic hair, and she lent it to him. She said, "I was not paying attention to a small child of mine, and he toddled over to him and reached him. He took the child and set him on his thigh. When I saw this, I was overcome with terror, and Khubayb noticed it, with the razor in his hand. He said, 'Do you fear that I will kill him? I would not do that, if Allah wills.'"She used to say, "I never saw a captive better than Khubayb. I saw him eating from a cluster of grapes when there was no fruit in Mecca at that time, and he was bound in iron. It could only have been provision granted to him by Allah."Then they took him out of the sacred precinct to kill him. He said, "Let me pray two units of prayer." He prayed two units, then said, "Were it not that you might think I was distressed at death, I would have prolonged it." He was the first to establish the practice of praying two units of prayer before being killed.Then he said, "Allah, count them in number." Then he recited,"I do not care, when I am killed as a Muslim, on which side I fall for the sake of Allah. That is in the cause of the Deity, and if He wills, He will bless the limbs of a torn-apart corpse."Then Uqba bin Harith rose against him and killed him. Quraysh sent word to those who had killed Asim, asking them to bring some part of his body that they could recognize, since he had killed one of their great men on the day of Badr. But Allah sent a swarm like a cloud of hornets that protected him from their messengers, and they could not get anything of him.
حدثنا عبد الرزاق حدثنا معمر عن الزهري عن عمرو بن أبي سفيان الثقفي
بعث رسول الله ﷺ سرية عينا وأمر عليهم عاصم بن ثابت وهو جد عاصم بن عمر فانطلقوا حتى إذا كانوا ببعض الطريق بين عسفان ومكة نزولا ذكروا لحي من هذيل يقال لهم بنو لحيان فتبعوهم بقريب من مائة رجل رام فاقتصوا آثارهم حتى نزلوا منزلا نزلوه فوجدوا فيه نوى تمر تزودوه من تمر المدينة فقالوا هذا من تمر يثرب فاتبعوا آثارهم حتى لحقوهم فلما أحسهم عاصم بن ثابت وأصحابه لجئوا إلى فدفد وقد جاء القوم فأحاطوا بهم وقالوا لكم العهد والميثاق إن نزلتم إلينا أن لا نقتل منكم أحدا فقال عاصم بن ثابت أما أنا فلا أنزل في ذمة كافر اللهم أخبر عنا رسولك قال فقاتلوهم فرموهم فقتلوا عاصما في سبعة نفر وبقي خبيب بن عدي وزيد بن الدثنة ورجل آخر فأعطوهم العهد والميثاق إن نزلوا إليهم فلما استمكنوا منهم حلوا أوتار قسيهم فربطوهم بها فقال الرجل الثالث الذي معهما هذا أول الغدر فأبى أن يصحبهم فجروه فأبى أن يتبعهم فضربوا عنقه فانطلقوا بخبيب بن عدي وزيد بن الدثنة حتى باعوهما بمكة فاشترى خبيبا بنو الحارث بن عامر بن نوفل وكان قد قتل الحارث يوم بدر فمكث عندهم أسيرا حتى إذا أجمعوا قتله استعار موسى من إحدى بنات الحارث ليستحد بها فأعارته قالت فغفلت عن صبي لي فدرج إليه حتى أتاه قالت فأخذه فوضعه على فخذه فلما رأيته فزعت فزعا عرفه والموسى في يده فقال أتخشين أن أقتله ما كنت لأفعل إن شاء الله قال وكانت تقول ما رأيت أسيرا خيرا من خبيب قد رأيته يأكل من قطف عنب وما بمكة يومئذ ثمرة وإنه لموثق في الحديد وما كان إلا رزقا رزقه الله إياه قال ثم خرجوا به من الحرم ليقتلوه فقال دعوني أصلي ركعتين فصلى ركعتين فقال لولا أن تروا ما بي جزعا من الموت لزدت قال وكان أول من سن الركعتين عند القتل هو ثم قال اللهم أحصهم عددا ما أبالي حين أقتل مسلما على أي شق كان لله مصرعي وذلك في ذات الإله وإن يشأ يبارك على أوصال شلو ممزع ثم قام إليه عقبة بن الحارث فقتله وبعثت قريش إلى عاصم ليؤتوا بشيء من جسده يعرفونه وكان قتل عظيما من عظمائهم يوم بدر فبعث الله عليه مثل الظلة من الدبر فحمته من رسلهم فلم يقدروا على شيء منه
Its chain of transmission is sahih, up to his words, "so he remained a captive among them." The rest of it, from the beginning of his words, "until, when they had agreed to kill him... " to the end of the hadith, is mursal, into which something was inserted, and its connected transmission through another chain from Zuhri has been established.This hadith appears in Musannaf Abdul-Razzaq, 3:144-145 (in the photographed manuscript), with this same chain, though with slight differences in some wording. It also appears in Jami al-Masanid wal-Sunan, 7:314-315, quoting this same passage from the Musnad. It was previously mentioned under number 7915, on the authority of Sulayman bin Dawud Hashimi and Yaqub bin Ibrahim bin Saad, both from Ibrahim bin Saad, from Zuhri, with the same account, similarly. We have already given a detailed account of its sourcing and explanation there, and we referred to this point there as well.Here we shall establish the precise wording of this narration based on the manuscript copies of the Musnad, on Jami al-Masanid, and on Musannaf Abdul-Razzaq, Allah willing.His words, "so they followed their tracks" appear in the Musannaf instead as, "until they saw their tracks."His words, "when Aasim bin Thabit sensed them" appear in m as, "when he made them familiar," but what we have adopted is the reading found in the margin of that copy.His words, "and the people have indeed come" appear in h as, "and they have come," the addition of "indeed" not being found in the other source copies.His words, "that we will not kill a single man among you" appear in h and m as, "a single one among you," but what we have adopted is the reading found in the margin of m.His words, "so fight them" is the reading established in most of the source copies and in the margin of m, while in h and m it reads, "so he fought them."His words, "so they shot them and killed Aasim" appear in the Musannaf instead as, "until they killed Aasim," without mention of "so they shot them."His words, "if they come down to them, then once they had them in their power" have, in the Musannaf, the addition, "so they came down to them, then once they had them in their power."His words, "then the third man, who was with the two of them, said" appear in the Musannaf as, "who [had been] with the two of them."His words, "so he refused to follow them, and they struck off his neck."His words, "from one of the daughters of Harith" appear in h and m as, "from one of the sons of Harith," which is an error contrary to the other source copies.His words, "she said, so I did" appear in h as, "he said," which is a clear error.Her words, "when I saw him" appear in h and m as, "when she saw him," while what appears here is established by a marginal reading in m.Her words, "frightened, I recognized him" appear in the Musannaf as, "frightened, I recognized [that he was]."His words, "and she used to say" appear in the Musannaf and in Jami al-Masanid as, "so she used to say."We have adopted the first half of the first verse of poetry from the Musannaf. In h, m, and Jami al-Masanid it reads, "I do not care when I am killed as a martyr," but this disrupts the meter and contradicts the other narrations. In k it reads, "I do not care when I am killed as a Muslim," which is closer to the correct narration.His words, "so that they might bring my body" appear in m and the Musannaf as, "in order that they might bring."