The story of the Companion "Hatib ibn Abi Balta'ah" and the sin of spying on the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he committed, and a mention of its benefits.
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : So I say, on the occasion of responding to these people: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to send messengers who brought the good news of Islam, such as Mu'adh and Ali and others, to the lands.
...
The Shaykh : This ruling was addressed by "Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah" in his book "Zad al-Ma'ad." As is his custom when he mentions a story, he dedicates chapters to deriving the legal rulings from what is in the story. Among them, he dedicated a chapter to clarifying whether it is permissible to kill the spy who spies on the Muslim state or not? He narrated the two opinions and preferred the opinion of those who say to kill the spy in this hadith; he said: Because the Messenger (peace be upon him) only prevented 'Umar from killing him not for the reason of Islam, but for the reason that he was from the people of Badr.
The questioner : Yes, a person from Badr.
The Shaykh : In this is an indication that Islam alone is not sufficient to protect the blood of this spy, but rather because he was from the people of Badr, that protected him from retaliation.
The questioner : Especially - Professor - what does it mean?
The Shaykh : Private.
The questioner : This is for now... .
The Shaykh: Yes.
Another questioner : And there is no other hadith?
The Shaykh: No.
Eid Abbasi : Yes, is this a hadd or?
The questioner : A hadd.
The Shaykh : A hadd.
Another questioner : A hadd.
Eid Abbasi : It is added to the hudud.
The Shaykh : Even this specific hadith was among the problems of the sect that we mentioned in Jordan, and they had deviated from the rest.
Eid Abbasi : And they declared them disbelievers.
The Shaykh : And they declared the Muslims disbelievers, so in the midst of my speech and establishing the argument against them, I mentioned this story to the man; because I felt that these people, I mean, fell into the path of the Khawarij, meaning: as soon as a person commits a mistake, they declare him a disbeliever.
The questioner : He breaks his oath.
The Shaykh : Yes, he was a hypocrite, meaning he was a disbeliever.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : So I said to him: What is your opinion about the story of Hatib ibn Abi Balta'ah? He said: Mention it to us. This is also one of the outcomes of the research, so I mentioned to him what I remembered of it, especially what we were dealing with at that time. He said: Okay. He said 'Umar said: Let me kill this hypocrite, and the Messenger approved him. Here I detailed for him what I detailed yesterday in Aleppo; hypocrisy is two types - also - like disbelief, oppression, and open sinfulness; practical disbelief, creedal disbelief, practical hypocrisy, creedal hypocrisy, practical open sinfulness, creedal open sinfulness, practical oppression, creedal oppression. So I said to him: 'Umar's saying: Let me kill this hypocrite; does not mean that he apostatized from his religion, otherwise if it meant this, he would have become a disbeliever who apostatized from his religion.
Eid Abbasi : He killed him.
The Shaykh : Yes, whereas the Messenger (peace be upon him) did not treat him with this treatment, but rather he said:, to the end of the hadith.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : What is this talk?
The Shaykh : What makes you know that this is a person who deserves to be treated other than the treatment of the spy who spies? This was indeed spying, but this man has a status with Allah and a rank that he reached by virtue of being from the people of Badr,Sahih Muslim 2494a. So I said to him: If 'Umar's saying "hypocrite" meant disbeliever, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) would not have treated him with that response.
I went back and asked him the decisive question on the subject, so listen to the answer and be amazed. I said: I mean, how do you conceive of the subject that a man disbelieved with this spying and yet, no, I asked him: Do you believe... .
...
The Shaykh : ... that he is a Companion? [Everyone laughs!]
...
Another questioner : ... the Shaykh (may Allah be pleased with him)!
The Shaykh : Absolutely, it is in itself, you know, it is also the case of the Shaykh (may Allah be pleased with him)? From the Syrian desert, one of the sheikhs teaches "Al-Futuhat al-Makkiyyah," and you know that most of "Al-Futuhat al-Makkiyyah" does not have what they call "shatihat" (ecstatic utterances), we call them "kufriyyat" (statements of disbelief), and this Shaykh appears to have a wide door of figurative interpretation and is skilled in language, metaphor, and reality, and I don't know what else. So whenever a catastrophe came before him, he would interpret it for him; that it does not mean this, no, it does not mean this, no, it does not mean this, until he reached one that exhausted the Shaykh in interpreting it. He thought, he thought, and said to him: ... there was no interpretation. He stood up and wrote in the margin: The disbelief of the Shaykh (may Allah be pleased with him) [Everyone laughs!].
...
The Shaykh : The point is: this poor man remained... in misguidance. He said: This is Hatib ibn Abi Balta'ah, he disbelieved except that he was a Companion. We said to him: Subhan Allah! O man, where do you go with His saying (Blessed and Exalted is He):[An-Nisa 4:48]? So then our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) does not forgive shirk, and our Lord has no favoritism; this is a Companion, he forgives him shirk, but the one who is not a Companion, he does not forgive it for him.
The questioner : Although he said to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him):[Az-Zumar 39:65].
The Shaykh : Indeed, I mentioned to him this verse and others, he stood up and was silent. I said to him: Okay; I want to ask you a question; if this Companion believed that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is a part of the Lord of the Worlds (Glorified and Exalted is He), just as is the content of the saying of those who say that he took a handful of His light.
The questioner : This exists, this.
The Shaykh : So he said to her: Be Muhammad, and she was; meaning Muhammad is a part of the Lord of the Worlds. What is your opinion, Professor, if a Companion like this, Hatib, said that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is a part of the Lord of the Worlds, is this disbelief or is it not disbelief? He said: Disbelief. I said: Is it forgiven for him? He said: No. I said: Why do you not distinguish between this and that? So this was among the things that revealed to him the path of guidance, yes, indeed.
Another questioner: Our Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Yes?
Another questioner : In some... they say that... what does it mean?
The Shaykh : By Allah, this is something.
Another questioner : This is the story now.
The Shaykh : This is an ancient thing.
Another questioner : Disbelief.
The Shaykh : Yes, indeed, ancient in misguidance.
...
The Shaykh : This ruling was addressed by "Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah" in his book "Zad al-Ma'ad." As is his custom when he mentions a story, he dedicates chapters to deriving the legal rulings from what is in the story. Among them, he dedicated a chapter to clarifying whether it is permissible to kill the spy who spies on the Muslim state or not? He narrated the two opinions and preferred the opinion of those who say to kill the spy in this hadith; he said: Because the Messenger (peace be upon him) only prevented 'Umar from killing him not for the reason of Islam, but for the reason that he was from the people of Badr.
The questioner : Yes, a person from Badr.
The Shaykh : In this is an indication that Islam alone is not sufficient to protect the blood of this spy, but rather because he was from the people of Badr, that protected him from retaliation.
The questioner : Especially - Professor - what does it mean?
The Shaykh : Private.
The questioner : This is for now... .
The Shaykh: Yes.
Another questioner : And there is no other hadith?
The Shaykh: No.
Eid Abbasi : Yes, is this a hadd or?
The questioner : A hadd.
The Shaykh : A hadd.
Another questioner : A hadd.
Eid Abbasi : It is added to the hudud.
The Shaykh : Even this specific hadith was among the problems of the sect that we mentioned in Jordan, and they had deviated from the rest.
Eid Abbasi : And they declared them disbelievers.
The Shaykh : And they declared the Muslims disbelievers, so in the midst of my speech and establishing the argument against them, I mentioned this story to the man; because I felt that these people, I mean, fell into the path of the Khawarij, meaning: as soon as a person commits a mistake, they declare him a disbeliever.
The questioner : He breaks his oath.
The Shaykh : Yes, he was a hypocrite, meaning he was a disbeliever.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : So I said to him: What is your opinion about the story of Hatib ibn Abi Balta'ah? He said: Mention it to us. This is also one of the outcomes of the research, so I mentioned to him what I remembered of it, especially what we were dealing with at that time. He said: Okay. He said 'Umar said: Let me kill this hypocrite, and the Messenger approved him. Here I detailed for him what I detailed yesterday in Aleppo; hypocrisy is two types - also - like disbelief, oppression, and open sinfulness; practical disbelief, creedal disbelief, practical hypocrisy, creedal hypocrisy, practical open sinfulness, creedal open sinfulness, practical oppression, creedal oppression. So I said to him: 'Umar's saying: Let me kill this hypocrite; does not mean that he apostatized from his religion, otherwise if it meant this, he would have become a disbeliever who apostatized from his religion.
Eid Abbasi : He killed him.
The Shaykh : Yes, whereas the Messenger (peace be upon him) did not treat him with this treatment, but rather he said:
And what makes you know?
وما يدريك ؟The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : What is this talk?
The Shaykh : What makes you know that this is a person who deserves to be treated other than the treatment of the spy who spies? This was indeed spying, but this man has a status with Allah and a rank that he reached by virtue of being from the people of Badr,
you little know that Allah revealed about the people of Badr: Do what you like for there is forgiveness for you
وما يدريك لعل الله اطَّلع على أهل بدر فقال لهم : اعملوا ما شئتم ؛ فإني قد غفرت لكمI went back and asked him the decisive question on the subject, so listen to the answer and be amazed. I said: I mean, how do you conceive of the subject that a man disbelieved with this spying and yet, no, I asked him: Do you believe... .
...
The Shaykh : ... that he is a Companion? [Everyone laughs!]
...
Another questioner : ... the Shaykh (may Allah be pleased with him)!
The Shaykh : Absolutely, it is in itself, you know, it is also the case of the Shaykh (may Allah be pleased with him)? From the Syrian desert, one of the sheikhs teaches "Al-Futuhat al-Makkiyyah," and you know that most of "Al-Futuhat al-Makkiyyah" does not have what they call "shatihat" (ecstatic utterances), we call them "kufriyyat" (statements of disbelief), and this Shaykh appears to have a wide door of figurative interpretation and is skilled in language, metaphor, and reality, and I don't know what else. So whenever a catastrophe came before him, he would interpret it for him; that it does not mean this, no, it does not mean this, no, it does not mean this, until he reached one that exhausted the Shaykh in interpreting it. He thought, he thought, and said to him: ... there was no interpretation. He stood up and wrote in the margin: The disbelief of the Shaykh (may Allah be pleased with him) [Everyone laughs!].
...
The Shaykh : The point is: this poor man remained... in misguidance. He said: This is Hatib ibn Abi Balta'ah, he disbelieved except that he was a Companion. We said to him: Subhan Allah! O man, where do you go with His saying (Blessed and Exalted is He):
Indeed, Allah does not forgive association with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills
إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يَغْفِرُ أَنْ يُشْرَكَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَلِكَ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُThe questioner : Although he said to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him):
if you should associate [anything] with Allah, your work would surely become worthless
لَئِنْ أَشْرَكْتَ لَيَحْبَطَنَّ عَمَلُكَThe Shaykh : Indeed, I mentioned to him this verse and others, he stood up and was silent. I said to him: Okay; I want to ask you a question; if this Companion believed that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is a part of the Lord of the Worlds (Glorified and Exalted is He), just as is the content of the saying of those who say that he took a handful of His light.
The questioner : This exists, this.
The Shaykh : So he said to her: Be Muhammad, and she was; meaning Muhammad is a part of the Lord of the Worlds. What is your opinion, Professor, if a Companion like this, Hatib, said that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is a part of the Lord of the Worlds, is this disbelief or is it not disbelief? He said: Disbelief. I said: Is it forgiven for him? He said: No. I said: Why do you not distinguish between this and that? So this was among the things that revealed to him the path of guidance, yes, indeed.
Another questioner: Our Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Yes?
Another questioner : In some... they say that... what does it mean?
The Shaykh : By Allah, this is something.
Another questioner : This is the story now.
The Shaykh : This is an ancient thing.
Another questioner : Disbelief.
The Shaykh : Yes, indeed, ancient in misguidance.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.