al-Mustadrak (al-Hakim) 2657

Translation

✧ I came to ‘Ā’ishah. While we were sitting with her after her return from Iraq, in the nights when ‘Alī was fought, she said, “O ‘Abd Allah b. Shaddād, will you be truthful with me about what I ask you? Tell me about these people whom ‘Alī killed.” I said, “Why would I not be truthful with you?” She said, “Tell me about their story.” I said, “When ‘Alī corresponded with Mu‘āwiyah and appointed the two arbitrators, eight thousand of the reciters of the people went out against him and encamped in a land on the side of Kufa called Ḥarūrā’. They disapproved of him and said, ‘You have stripped off a shirt that Allah clothed you with and named you by, then you went and appointed arbitration in Allah’s religion, while there is no judgment except Allah’s.’ When ‘Alī learned of their reproach and their separation from him, he ordered a caller to announce that no one should enter upon the Commander of the Believers except a man who had memorized the Qur’an. When the house was filled with reciters, he called for a large muṣḥaf and placed it before him, and he began to strike it with his hand, saying, ‘O muṣḥaf, speak to the people.’ The people called out to him, ‘O Commander of the Believers, what do you ask it about? It is only paper and ink, and we speak of what we have seen from it. What do you want?’ He said, ‘Your companions who went out—between me and them is the Book of Allah. Allah ﷻ says concerning a woman and a man: If you fear a breach between them, send an arbitrator from his family and an arbitrator from her family. The nation of Muhammad ﷺ has greater sanctity than a woman and a man. They condemned me for corresponding with Mu‘āwiyah and writing ‘Alī b. Abī Ṭālib, while Suhayl b. ‘Amr came and we were with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ at al-Ḥudaybiyyah when his people made peace with Quraysh. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ wrote, “In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate.” Suhayl said, “Do not write ‘In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate.’” He said, “How should I write?” He said, “Write: In Your name, O Allah.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Write.” Then he said, “Write: From Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah.” They said, “If we knew that you were the Messenger of Allah, we would not have opposed you.” So he wrote, “This is what Muhammad b. ‘Abd Allah has made peace upon with Quraysh.” Allah says in His Book: {Indeed, in the Messenger of Allah you have a good example for whoever hopes in Allah and the Last Day} [al-Aḥzāb 21]. Then ‘Alī b. Abī Ṭālib sent him to them. I went out with them until we reached the middle of their camp. Ibn al-Kawwā’ stood up and addressed the people, saying, “O bearers of the Qur’an, this is ‘Abd Allah b. ‘Abbās. Whoever does not know him, I know him from the Book of Allah: this is the one about whose people it was revealed: {Rather, they are a quarrelsome people} [al-Zukhruf 58]. Send him back to his companion and do not debate the Book of Allah with him.” Their orators stood up and said, “No, by Allah, we will debate the Book of Allah with him. If he brings the truth, we will recognize it and follow it; and if he brings falsehood, we will refute him with his falsehood and send him back to his companion.” So they debated the Book of Allah with him for three days. Four thousand of them returned, all repentant, among them Ibn al-Kawwā’, until ‘Alī brought them in. Then ‘Alī sent to the rest of them, saying, “You have seen what has happened regarding our affair and the affair of the people. Stay where you wish until the nation of Muhammad ﷺ gathers, and settle where you wish between us and you, provided that we protect you from our spears as long as you do not cut off a road or shed blood unjustly. If you do that, we have declared war against you on equal terms. Indeed, Allah does not love the treacherous.” ‘Ā’ishah said to him, “O Ibn Shaddād, so he killed them?” He said, “By Allah, he did not send against them until they cut off the road, shed blood without Allah’s right, killed Ibn Khabbāb, and violated the protected people.” She said, “By Allah?” I said, “By Allah, besides whom there is no god.” She said, “What about something that reached me from the people of Iraq, which they talk about, saying ‘the one with the breast, the one with the breast’?” I said, “I saw him and stood over him with ‘Alī among the slain. He called the people and said, ‘Do you recognize this one?’ Most of those who came said, ‘I saw him in the mosque of Banū So-and-so praying,’ and ‘I saw him in the mosque of Banū So-and-so praying,’ but no one brought a definite identification except that.” She said, “What did ‘Alī say when he stood over him, as the people of Iraq claim?” I said, “I heard him say, ‘Allah and His Messenger have spoken the truth.’” She said, “Did you hear anything else from him?” I said, “O Allah, no.” She said, “Yes, Allah and His Messenger have spoken the truth.”

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