Sunan an-Nasa'i 3093

Ahmad ibn Sulayman informed us; he said: Muammal ibn al-Fadl narrated to us; he said: al-Walid narrated to us; he said: Shuayb ibn Abi Hamzah and Sufyan ibn Uyaynah narrated to me—and he mentioned another narrator—from al-Zuhri, from Said ibn al-Musayyab, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: When Abu Bakr prepared to fight them, Umar said: Abu Bakr, how can you fight the people when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: I have been commanded to fight the people until they say, There is no god but Allah. When they say it, their blood and property are protected from me, except when a rightful claim applies. Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, said: I will surely fight whoever distinguishes between prayer and zakah. By Allah, if they withhold even a young she-goat that they used to give to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), I will fight them for withholding it. Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said: By Allah, it was only when I saw that Allah, Exalted is He, had opened Abu Bakr’s heart to fighting them that I recognized it as the truth.