A man was a Christian, then he embraced Islam and read Surah al-Baqarah and Aal Imran. He used to write for the Prophet ﷺ, but then he returned to Christianity. He used to say, "Muhammad knows nothing except what I have written for him."Then Allah caused him to die, and they buried him. The next morning, the earth had cast him out. They said, "This is the doing of Muhammad and his companions. When he fled from them, they dug up our man and threw him out."So they dug a grave for him and made it deeper. The next morning, the earth had cast him out again. They said, "This is the doing of Muhammad and his companions. They dug up our man when he fled from them and threw him out."So they dug for him and made it as deep in the earth as they could. The next morning, the earth had cast him out. Then they realized that this was not from people, so they left him thrown out.
كان رجل نصرانيا فأسلم، وقرأ البقرة وآل عمران، فكان يكتب للنبي ﷺ فعاد نصرانيا، فكان يقول: ما يدري محمد إلا ما كتبت له فأماته الله فدفنوه، فأصبح وقد لفظته الأرض، فقالوا: هذا فعل محمد وأصحابه لما هرب منهم نبشوا عن صاحبنا فألقوه، فحفروا له فأعمقوا، فأصبح وقد لفظته الأرض، فقالوا: هذا فعل محمد وأصحابه نبشوا عن صاحبنا لما هرب منهم فألقوه، فحفروا له وأعمقوا له في الأرض ما استطاعوا، فأصبح قد لفظته الأرض، فعلموا أنه ليس من الناس فألقوه.
Bukhari narrated it in Manaqib (3617) - and this is his wording - from Abu Muamar, Abdul-Warith, "Abdul-Aziz narrated to us, from Anas," and he mentioned it. Muslim narrated it in Sifat Munafiqin (2781) through another route from Anas with similar wording, and it contains, "There was a man among us from Banu Najjar." His statement, "Muhammad only knows what I wrote for him," is a pure lie, and that is why Allah made him taste the punishment of this world before the punishment of the hereafter.As for what was narrated from Anas that a man used to write for the Prophet ﷺ, and he had recited Baqarah and Al Imran, and whenever the man recited Baqarah and Al Imran he became prominent among us, meaning he was held in great esteem, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, would dictate to him "ghafooran raheeman" (forgiving, merciful) and he would write "aleeman hakeeman" (knowing, wise). The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, would say to him, "Write such and such," and he would say, "Write however you wish." He would dictate to him "aleeman hakeeman" and the man would say, "I will write sameean baseeran (hearing, seeing)," and the Prophet would say, "Write however you wish." So that man apostatized from Islam and joined the polytheists, saying, "I know Muhammad best. I used to write whatever I wished." Then that man died, and the Prophet ﷺ said, "Indeed the earth did not accept him." Anas said, Abu Talha told me that he came to the land where that man had died and found him cast out on the surface. Abu Talha said, "What is the matter with this man?" They said, "We have buried him several times, but the earth would not accept him."This is munkar. It was narrated by Ahmad (12215) - and this is his wording - and Ibn Hibban (744), and Bayhaqi in Ithbat Azab Qabr (54), all of them from the hadith of Humayd, from Anas, and he mentioned it.The reason this hadith is munkar is that it has not been established in the sahih hadiths from the Prophet ﷺ that he permitted the scribes to write however they wished. Moreover, Abu Bakr Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, in his time commanded a group of the companions to compile the Quran according to a single reading, just as they had received it from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and found it written in the separate portions. Whatever they found in agreement with what had been received and written, they confirmed, and whatever contradicted that, they left out. So it is not permissible for anyone after this to change anything in the Quran, making, for example, "sameean aleeman" in place of "ghafooran raheeman."As for what Tahawi mentioned in Sharh Mushkil Athar (8/241), that this hadith of Anas should be understood as referring to the man writing the Prophet's ﷺ letters to kings and leaders, and that he used to change in them what he wished, not the Quran, there is doubt about this interpretation.