And prayers and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.

The reader: And may prayers and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
The author (may Allah have mercy on him) quoted in the context of the hadiths in the chapter on the miracles of the awliya (close friends of Allah) and their virtue: "Narrated by Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent out ten men as a secret scout, appointing 'Asim ibn al-Thabit al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) as their leader. They set out until they reached al-Hudaydah, between 'Usfan and Makkah, where they were reported to a tribe of Hudhayl known as Banu Luhyan. The tribe mobilized about a hundred archers against them and tracked their footprints. When 'Asim and his companions realized they were being pursued, they took refuge in a location, and the men surrounded them. The captors said: "Descend and surrender your hands, and we give you our pledge and covenant that we will not kill any of you." 'Asim ibn al-Thabit said: "O people, as for me, I will not descend under the protection of a disbeliever. O Allah, inform Your Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about us." They shot them with arrows and killed 'Asim. Three men descended to them under the pledge and covenant: Khubaib, Zayd ibn al-Dathinnah, and another man. When they had secured control over them, they released the strings of their bows and tied them up. The third man said: "This is the first act of treachery. By Allah, I will not accompany you, for I have an example in those who were killed." They dragged him and tried to force him, but he refused to go with them, so they killed him. They took Khubaib and Zayd ibn al-Dathinnah and sold them in Makkah after the Battle of Badr. Banu al-Harith ibn 'Amir ibn Nawfal ibn 'Abd Manaf bought Khubaib. Khubaib was the one who had killed al-Harith on the day of Badr. Khubaib remained a prisoner with them until they decided to kill him. He borrowed a razor from one of al-Harith's daughters to shave with, and she lent it to him. He was sitting on his leg with the razor in his hand when a child of hers came crawling toward him while she was unaware. She was startled, and Khubaib recognized her alarm. He said: "Are you afraid that I will kill him? I would never do that." She said: "By Allah, I have never seen a prisoner better than Khubaib. By Allah, I found him one day eating a cluster of grapes in his hand, although he was bound in iron, and there was no fruit in Makkah." She used to say: "It is surely a provision that Allah has provided for Khubaib." When they took him out of the Sacred Precinct to kill him in the open area, Khubaib said to them: "Let me pray two rak'ahs." They left him alone, and he prayed two rak'ahs. He said: "By Allah, if I did not fear that you would think I was panicking, I would have prayed more. O Allah, count them one by one, kill them individually, and leave none of them alive." And he said: "

بعث رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم عشرة رهط عينا سرية وأمّر عليهم عاصم بن ثابت الأنصاري رضي الله عنه، فانطلقوا حتى إذا كانوا بالهدأة بين عسفان ومكة ذكروا لحي من هذيل يقال لهم بنو لحيان، فنفروا لهم بقريب من مئة رجل رام فاقتصوا آثارهم فلما أحس بهم عاصم وأصحابه لجؤوا إلى موضع فأحاط بهم القوم فقالوا: انزلوا فأعطوا بأيديكم ولكم العهد والميثاق أن لا نقتل منكم أحدًا، فقال عاصم بن ثابت: أيها القوم أما أنا فلا أنزل على ذمة كافر، اللهم أخبر عنا نبيك صلى الله عليه وسلم، فرموهم بالنبل فقتلوا عاصمًا ونزل إليهم ثلاثة نفر على العهد والميثاق منهم خبيب وزيد بن الدثنة ورجل آخر، فلما استمكنوا منهم أطلقوا أوتار قسيهم فربطوهم قال الرجل الثالث: هذا أول الغدر والله لا أصحبكم إن لي بهؤلاء أسوة يريد القتلى، فجروه وعالجوه فأبى أن يصحبهم فقتلوه وانطلقوا بخبيب وزيد بن الدثنة حتى باعوهما بمكة بعد وقعة بدر، فابتاع بنو الحارث بن عامر بن نوفل بن عبد مناف خبيبًا، وكان خبيب هو قتل الحارث يوم بدر فلبث خبيب عندهم أسيرًا حتى أجمعوا على قتله، فاستعار من بعض بنات الحارث موسى يستحد بها فأعارته، فدرج بني لها وهي غافلة حتى أتاه فوجدته مجلسه على فخذه والموسى بيده، ففزعت فزعة عرفها خبيب، فقال: أتخشين أن أقتله؟ ما كنت لأفعل ذلك، قالت: والله ما رأيت أسيرًا خيرًا من خبيب، فوالله لقد وجدته يومًا يأكل قطفًا من عنب في يده وإنه لموثق بالحديد وما بمكة من ثمرة، وكانت تقول: إنه لرزق رزقه الله خبيبًا، فلما خرجوا به من الحرم ليقتلوه في الحل قال لهم خبيب: دعوني أصلي ركعتين، فتركوه فركع ركعتين فقال: والله لولا أن تحسبوا أن ما بي جزع لزدت، اللهم أحصهم عددًا واقتلهم بددًا ولا تبق منهم أحدًا، وقال:
"

I do not care when I am killed as a Muslim *** on which side my body falls for Allah
And that is for the sake of my Lord, and if He wills *** He will bless the limbs of a torn, flayed one "
And it was Khubaib who established the precedent for every Muslim killed with patience to pray, and he informed—meaning the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)—his companions of their news on the day they were captured. Some people from Quraysh sent to 'Asim ibn al-Thabit when they were told he had been killed, asking them to bring something from him by which he could be identified, for he had killed one of their great men. So Allah sent for 'Asim a cloud of locusts from the rear, which protected him from their envoys, so they were unable to cut anything from him Al-Bukhari narrated it.

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The author (may Allah have mercy on him) cited several hadiths in the chapter on the miracles of the awliya (close friends of Allah) and their virtue, among them the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) regarding the story of 'Asim ibn al-Thabit al-Ansari and his companions. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent them out as a secret scout party of ten men. A "scout" here means like spies for the enemy, and "secret" means that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) concealed them. When they reached the vicinity of Makkah, a group of the Hudhayl tribe became aware of them and came out to meet them, numbering about one hundred men who were skilled archers. They followed their tracks until they surrounded them, then demanded to know which of them were the Hudhaylites. They asked them to surrender under a safe conduct and gave them a pledge not to kill them. As for 'Asim, he said, "By Allah, I will not surrender under the protection of a disbeliever," meaning under his pledge, because a disbeliever has betrayed Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and whoever betrays Allah betrays the servants of Allah. For this reason, when Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote to 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, he mentioned that he had a Christian man who was excellent in accounting and asked 'Umar to allow him to employ this Christian in the Bayt al-Mal (public treasury) because he was good at calculation. 'Umar wrote back to him, "I do not trust one who has betrayed Allah and His Messenger, because every disbeliever is a traitor, and do not place him in charge of the Bayt al-Mal." Abu Musa wrote to him a second time, saying, "This is a man like whom is rarely found in terms of accounting and skill." 'Umar wrote to him: "In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy. From the Commander of the Faithful, 'Abd Allah 'Umar ibn al-Khattab: The Christian has died. Peace." One word, one sentence: "The Christian has died," meaning he considered him dead. If he died, would the accounting in our Bayt al-Mal be suspended? This cut off Abu Musa al-Ash'ari's (may Allah be pleased with him) hope. The point is that 'Asim ibn al-Thabit refused to surrender under the pledge of the disbelievers, because they are not to be trusted; every disbeliever is untrustworthy. Then they shot them with arrows; these Hudhaylites shot these ten Companions and killed them. They killed 'Asim and six others, and three remained. These three said, "We will surrender and see what happens; will they keep their word or not?" The Hudhaylites took them, then unstrung their bows and tied their hands with the bowstrings. The third man said: "This is the first betrayal." He could not accompany them, so they tried and tried, but he said, "Absolutely not," so they killed him. Then they took Khayban and his companion to Makkah and sold them. Khayban (may Allah be pleased with him) was bought by some people from the inhabitants of Makkah. He had killed their leader at Badr, and they saw this as an opportunity to kill him, but they kept him as a prisoner with his hands bound. One day, while he was in the house as a prisoner with his hands bound, a boy from the household came to Khayban (may Allah be pleased with him). It seems he felt compassion for him and pitied him, as is the human nature to pity and feel compassion for the young. For this reason, if you find that you feel compassion for the young and pity them, this is a sign of Allah's mercy for you, because the merciful are shown mercy by Allah (Mighty and Majestic). For this reason, al-Aqra' ibn Habis said when he saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) kissing, I think it was al-Hasan or al-Husayn, "I have ten children and I have never kissed them." He said: Khayban took the boy and placed him on his lap. He had borrowed a razor from the people of the house, meaning a razor to shave his private parts with. When the boy went to crawl away and his mother was unaware of him, she suddenly noticed him on Khayban's lap, and Khayban had the razor with him. She thought this was an opportunity for Khayban to do what? To slaughter the boy, as the razor was with him and the boy was a child and he was alone with him. But he (may Allah be pleased with him), a trustworthy and noble Companion, when he sensed that the mother was alarmed, said: "By Allah, I would not slaughter him." She said: "By Allah, I have never seen a prisoner better than Khayban. I saw him one day with a bunch of grapes in his hand." A bunch of grapes to eat, and there was no fruit in Makkah. So she knew that this was from Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) provided this grape for him while he was a prisoner who could not provide for himself, unable to go out to the market to buy or eat, at the mercy of these people. But Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) facilitated this bunch of grapes for him to eat while in Makkah. "So she knew that it was from Allah." This is like the story of Maryam (may Allah be pleased with her): This is a miracle from Allah (the Exalted) for Khayban (may Allah be pleased with him); Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) honored him by sending down a table of grapes for him to eat while he was a prisoner in Makkah. He remained a prisoner, and then these people who had lost their father at the hand of Khayban agreed to kill him. But out of respect for the Sacred Precinct, they said, "We will kill him outside the Sacred Precinct," because if a person kills someone outside the Sacred Precinct and then enters the Sacred Precinct, it is not permissible to kill him inside the Sacred Precinct. Allah the Exalted said: This was a custom in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance that Islam approved, that if a person commits an act that warrants killing outside the Sacred Precinct and then takes refuge in the Sacred Precinct, the Sacred Precinct protects him, and it is not permissible to kill him. What is to be done with him? If someone were to say, "If we accept this rule, every criminal would go to the Sacred Precinct and take refuge in it," we say: No, we do not kill him in the Sacred Precinct, but we restrict him until he comes out. How do we restrict him? The scholars said: "He is not to be fed with, nor drink with, nor buy from, nor sell to, nor spoken to. He is to be restricted until the earth becomes narrow for him despite its vastness." At that point, what does he do? He comes out, and when he comes out, we enforce upon him what is obligatory. The point is that they took Khayban outside the Sacred Precinct to al-Hijl to kill him. He asked them to let him pray two rak'ahs, because the most noble of physical acts is prayer, and because it is the connection between the servant and his Lord (Mighty and Majestic). They allowed him to pray two rak'ahs. He finished them and said, "If I did not fear that you would say he fled from death, or a word to that effect, I would have added more." But he (may Allah be pleased with him) prayed only two rak'ahs, then recited these two verses:
"And I do not care when I am killed a Muslim *** On which side my body falls for Allah"
They killed him. As for 'Asim ibn al-Thabit, he also has another miracle, which we will discuss in the next lesson, if Allah wills.