Sahih al-Bukhari 3045

Abu al-Yaman narrated to us: Shuʿayb informed us, from al-Zuhri, who said: ʿAmr ibn Abi Sufyan ibn Asid ibn Jariya al-Thaqafi—an ally of Banu Zuhra and one of Abu Hurayra’s companions—told me that Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) sent out a detachment of ten men as scouts and appointed ʿAsim ibn Thabit al-Ansari, the grandfather of ʿAsim ibn ʿUmar, as their commander. They set out and, when they were at al-Hada’a, between ʿUsfan and Mecca, news of them reached a clan of Hudhayl called Banu Lihyan. Nearly two hundred men—all archers—set out after them and followed their tracks until they found where they had eaten dates they had brought from Medina. They said, “These are the dates of Yathrib.” They continued following their tracks. When ʿAsim and his companions saw them, they took refuge on a rocky rise, and the group surrounded them. They said, “Come down and surrender to us; you have our pledge and covenant that we will kill none of you.” ʿAsim ibn Thabit, the commander of the detachment, said, “As for me, by Allah, I will not come down today under the protection of a disbeliever. O Allah, inform Your Prophet about us.” They shot arrows at them and killed ʿAsim and six others. Three men came down to them under the pledge and covenant; among them were Khubayb al-Ansari, Ibn Dathina, and another man. When the pursuers had secured them, they loosened their bowstrings and bound them. The third man said, “This is the first act of treachery. By Allah, I will not go with you. In these men there is an example for me”—meaning those who had been killed. They dragged him and tried to make him go with them, but he refused, so they killed him. They took Khubayb and Ibn Dathina and sold them in Mecca after the battle of Badr. The sons of al-Harith ibn ʿAmir ibn Nawfal ibn ʿAbd Manaf bought Khubayb. Khubayb was the one who had killed al-Harith ibn ʿAmir on the day of Badr, and Khubayb remained a prisoner with them. ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿIyad told me that the daughter of al-Harith had told him: When they had gathered, Khubayb borrowed a razor from me to shave himself, and I lent it to him. He took a son of mine while I was unaware; when he came upon him, she said, “I found him seated with my son on his thigh and the razor in his hand. I was overcome with fear, and Khubayb recognized it in my face. He said, ‘Are you afraid that I will kill him? I would never do that.’ By Allah, I have never seen a prisoner better than Khubayb. By Allah, one day I found him eating from a bunch of grapes in his hand while he was shackled in iron, although there was no fruit in Mecca. She used to say, ‘It was provision from Allah, which He provided for Khubayb.’ When they left the sanctuary to kill him outside its bounds, Khubayb said to them, ‘Let me pray two rakʿas.’ They let him, and he prayed two rakʿas. Then he said, ‘Were it not that you might think my state was one of fear, I would have made them longer. O Allah, count them one by one.’ He then recited: ‘I do not care, when I am killed as a Muslim, / On which side I fall for Allah; / This is for the sake of the One God, / And, if He wills, He will bless the limbs of a torn body.’ Then the son of al-Harith killed him. Khubayb was the one who established the practice of praying two rakʿas for every Muslim executed while held captive. Allah answered ʿAsim ibn Thabit’s prayer on the day he was struck down. The Prophet (ﷺ) informed his Companions of what had happened to them and how they had been afflicted. Some unbelievers of Quraysh, when they heard that ʿAsim had been killed, sent for something of him by which he could be identified, for he had killed one of their chiefs on the day of Badr. A swarm of wasps, like a canopy, was sent over ʿAsim and protected him from their emissary, so they could not cut any flesh from him.