I sent word to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saying that I would love for him to come to me so I could pray with him in my home and take that spot as a place of prayer. The Prophet ﷺ came along with whichever of his companions Allah willed. He entered and began to pray in my home while his companions spoke among themselves. They placed the bulk and weight of their criticism upon Malik bin Dukhshum. They wished that the Prophet ﷺ would invoke against him so that he would perish, and they wished that some harm would befall him.The Messenger of Allah ﷺ denied that of him and said, "Does he not bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and that I am the Messenger of Allah?"They said, "He says that, but it is not in his heart."He said, "No one bears witness that there is no god but Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah and then enters the Fire, or has it consume him."
بعثت إلى رسول الله ﷺ أني أحب أن آتيه فصلي في منزلي فأتخذه مصلى، قال: فأتى النبي ﷺ ومن شاء الله من أصحابه فدخل وهو يصلي في منزلي وأصحابه يتحدثون بينهم ثم أسندوا عظم ذلك وكبره إلى مالك بن دخشم قالوا: وقروا أنه دعا عليه فهلك، وقروا أنه أصابه شر، فنفى رسول الله ﷺ عنه الصلاة، وقال: أليس يشهد أن لا إله إلا الله، وأني رسول الله؟ قالوا: إنه يقول ذلك وما هو في قلبه. قال: لا يشهد أحد أن لا إله إلا الله وأني رسول الله فيدخل النار أو تطعمه.
Muslim narrated it in the Book of Faith (33) from Shayban bin Farroukh, who said, Sulayman, meaning Ibn Mughira, told us, he said, Thabit told us, from Anas bin Malik, who said, Mahmud bin Rabi told me, from Itban bin Malik, who said, I came to Madinah and met Itban, and I said, "There is a hadith that has reached me from you." He said, "Something happened to my eyesight, so I sent word." Then he related the hadith. Anas said, "This hadith pleased me greatly, so I said to my son, 'Write it down,' and he wrote it down."Muslim also narrated it through another route, from Hammad, who said, Thabit told us, from Anas, who said, Itban bin Malik told me that he had gone blind, so he sent for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said, "Come and mark out a masjid for me." The Messenger of Allah ﷺ came, and his people came with him, and a man among them named Malik bin Dukhshum was mentioned. Then he related the rest similarly to the hadith of Sulayman bin Mughira. End of narration.Bukhari narrated it in the Book of Prayer (425) through another route, from Aqeel, from Ibn Shihab, who said, Mahmud bin Rabi Ansari told me, from Itban bin Malik, and he related the hadith in similar fashion. In it, one of them said, "Where is Malik bin Dukhayshin," or "Ibn Dukhshun?" Some of them said, "That one is a hypocrite who does not love Allah and His Messenger." The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Do not say that. Do you not see that he has said, 'There is no god but Allah,' seeking by that the face of Allah?" He said, "Allah and His Messenger know best." He said, "We see him turning his face and offering his loyalty to the hypocrites." The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Allah has forbidden the Fire to whoever says, 'There is no god but Allah,' seeking thereby the face of Allah."Ibn Shihab said, "I then asked Husayn bin Muhammad Ansari, who was one of the Banu Salim and among their nobles, about the hadith of Mahmud bin Rabi, and he confirmed it to be true." End of narration.Muslim narrated it in the Book of Masjids (33:263) through the route of Yunus, from Ibn Shihab, in similar fashion, with some additional details in the original story, but the part attributed to the Prophet is the same.His statement, "Malik bin Dukhayshin," or "Ibn Dukhshun," reflects doubt on the part of the narrator as to whether the name is in the diminutive or the full form. In another version it is "Ibn Dukhshum." His statement, "who was among their nobles" (with the sara pronounced with a fatha on the sin) means "the best of them," being the plural of sariyy. Abu Ubayd said, "It refers to one of elevated standing, from the verb sarw, yasru, said of a man when he is of high standing. Its root comes from sarah, which is the highest part of an animal's back, and it is also said to mean its head." Fath al-Bari (1/522).What the Prophet ﷺ said about Malik bin Dukhshun proved true, for his Islam turned out to be good, and he died in that state. He had been present at Badr, and he was the one whom the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent along with Maen bin Adi to burn down the Masjid of Dirar. How, then, could he be a hypocrite? Some of the companions had assumed that because he associated with the hypocrites he must be one of them, but the Messenger of Allah ﷺ cleared him of hypocrisy.