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

The reader: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may peace and blessings 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 and appointed 'Asim ibn al-Thabit al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) as their leader. They set out until they reached al-Hudaydah, a place 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. They said, "Descend and surrender your weapons, 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-Dathnah, 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-Dathnah 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 went to her son while she was unaware, and found the boy sitting on his lap with the razor in his hand. The woman started to panic, and Khubaib recognized her fear. 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, even though 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 non-sacred 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." He also recited: "And I do not care when I am killed as a Muslim *** On which side my body may fall for Allah. And that is for the sake of my Lord, and if He wills *** He will bless the scattered limbs of a torn body." It was Khubaib who established the practice for every Muslim who is killed as a martyr to pray. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed his companions of their news on the day they were killed. Some people from Quraysh sent men to 'Asim ibn al-Thabit when they heard that he had been killed, asking them to bring back something from him by which he could be identified, for he had killed one of their prominent men. So Allah sent a cloud of bees to 'Asim, which protected him from their messengers, and they were unable to cut anything from him.

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:
فلست أبالي حين أقتل مسلما *** على أي جنب كان لله مصرعي
وذلك في ذات الإله وإن يشأ *** يبارك على أوصال شلو ممزع
وكان خبيب هو سن لكل مسلم قتل صبرًا الصلاة، وأخبر يعني النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أصحابه يوم أصيبوا خبرهم، وبعث ناس من قريش إلى عاصم بن ثابت حين حدثوا أنه قتل أن يأتوا بشيء منه يعرف، وكان قتل رجلًا من عظمائهم فبعث الله لعاصم مثل الظلة من الدبر فحمته من رسلهم فلم يقدروا أن يقطعوا منه شيئًا

Al-Bukhari narrated it. His statement: 'al-Hudaydah' means a place, and 'al-Dhila' is the cloud, and 'al-Dabr' means bees. And his statement: 'Kill them in groups (badad)' with the ba' kasrah and fathah. Whoever says kasrah says: it is the plural of 'badah' with the ba' kasrah, which is a share, and its meaning is: kill them in divided shares, each of them having a share. And whoever says fathah says: its meaning is: scattered in killing, one after another, from 'tabdid' (scattering)".

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
We are now discussing what remains of the hadith regarding the story of 'Asim ibn al-Thabit and his companions whom the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent as a secret scout, meaning like spies who gather intelligence on the enemy. In the story, when Khubayb (may Allah be pleased with him) was taken out of the Sacred Precinct to be killed, he said, "Let me pray two rak'ahs." He prayed two rak'ahs and then said, "If I did not fear that you would think I was panicking, I would have added more," because he (may Allah be pleased with him) was eager for prayer and loved to increase it at the time of his death. Then he (may Allah be pleased with him) invoked these three supplications against them: "O Allah, count them by number, kill them in groups, and leave none of them alive". Allah answered his supplication, and not a single lunar year passed over any one of them; they were all killed. This is one of his miracles. Then he recited this poetry:
"I do not care when I am killed as a Muslim *** On which side my body falls for Allah
And that is with the One God, if He wills, *** He will bless the limbs of a torn, scattered camel.
So it became a miracle for this man that Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, provided him with fruit that was not found in Makkah, and that he ate it with his hand while his hand was bound in iron. And that he was the first to establish the precedent of praying when being killed, for he did so, and Allah and His Messenger approved it. And that he invoked against these people, and Allah answered his supplication. As for 'Asim ibn al-Thabit who was killed (may Allah be pleased with him), some people from Quraysh became aware of him, and he had killed one of their great men, so they sent a group to him to bring something from his limbs by which they could identify him, so that they would be reassured that he was dead. When these people came to take something from his limbs, Allah, the Exalted, sent upon him a cloud-like swarm of bees, meaning great bees, by which Allah, the Exalted, protected him from these people. So they were unable to approach him, and they returned disappointed. This is also a miracle from Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, for 'Asim (may Allah be pleased with him), that Allah protected his body after his death from these enemies who wanted to mutilate him. Miracles are numerous, and the author mentioned what he mentioned in this chapter, and also mentioned scattered things in this book. The Shaykh al-Islam (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "Among the principles of the people of the Sunnah and the community is the belief in the miracles of the awliya (close friends of Allah) and the types of knowledge, unveilings, power, and effects that Allah, the Exalted, causes to occur through their hands". He said: "Miracles existed before this Ummah (Muslim community) and in the early period of this Ummah until the Day of Resurrection". And he mentioned a great deal of them in his book "The Distinction Between the Awliya of Satan and the Awliya of the Most Merciful".