Hatib ibn Abi Baltaah

ProfileHatib ibn Abi Baltaah

Hatib (may Allah be pleased with him) was the son of Abu Baltaah, of the Lakhm of Yemen. According to the early biographies, he settled in Makkah, as an ally of the Quraysh, though not related to them, so that he had no tribe to protect him there. He became a Muslim early, ahead of his own people, and emigrated to Madinah with his freed slave Sa'd. According to the early biographies, he was well built, handsome, not tall, with large hands and thick fingers, an elite horseman and archer, who could write and made verse, and was loyal and honest in trade, whom people liked to hire. He fought at Badr and all the battles with the Prophet ﷺ, and took the pledge at Hudaybiyyah. The archers' work does not give a man many stories in battle, and few stories are told of him.

When Umm Salamah was widowed, the Prophet ﷺ sent Hatib to ask for her hand. She told him that she had a daughter, and was a jealous woman, and the Prophet ﷺ answered that he would pray that Allah relieve her of the care of her daughter and of her jealousy (Sahih Muslim). According to the early biographies, the Prophet ﷺ sent him with a letter to al-Muqawqis, the ruler of Egypt. When the ruler asked why the Prophet ﷺ had not prayed against his people when they drove him out, Hatib answered that Jesus, whom he held to be the messenger of Allah, had not prayed against his people either, until Allah raised him up. He told him that a man who had called himself the highest lord in that same land had been brought low by Allah, and that he should take heed. The ruler did not become a Muslim, but treated him well, and sent the Prophet ﷺ gifts, and the two women Maria and Sirin. On the road back, Hatib invited them to Islam, and they accepted.

Then came the letter. When the Prophet ﷺ was preparing to march on Makkah, Hatib wrote to some of the Quraysh to tell them of it. Ali told that the Prophet ﷺ sent him, az-Zubayr and al-Miqdad to the garden of Khakh, where they would find a woman with a letter, and told them to take it. She said that she had no letter, and they said that she must bring it out or they would search her clothes. She took it out of her braid. The letter was from Hatib to some of the polytheists of Makkah, telling them of the Prophet's ﷺ plans. The Prophet ﷺ asked Hatib what this was, and Hatib said that he should not be hasty with him. He said that he had been tied to Quraysh, but was not one of them, and the other Emigrants had relatives in Makkah who protected their families and property, but he had none, and he wished to do them a favour so that they would protect his family. He said that he had not done it from unbelief or from leaving his religion, or because he preferred unbelief to Islam. The Prophet ﷺ said that he had told the truth. Umar asked to strike the neck of this hypocrite, and the Prophet ﷺ said that Hatib had been at Badr, and who knew, perhaps Allah had looked on the people of Badr and told them to do as they wished, for He had forgiven them (Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim). Then Allah revealed the verse beginning with the believers, telling them not to take His enemies and theirs as friends. According to the early biographies, Hatib's son Abd ar-Rahman, who was in Makkah then, later told the story of his father's mistake, and became a trusted narrator of hadith.

A slave of Hatib once came to the Prophet ﷺ complaining about him, and said that Hatib would surely enter the Fire, and the Prophet ﷺ said that he lied, for he had been at Badr and at Hudaybiyyah (Sahih Muslim). According to the early biographies, he went to Makkah with the Prophet ﷺ at the conquest, and remained among the Companions, known for his service, and not for his mistake. He died in Madinah in the time of Uthman, in 30 AH, and his son Abd ar-Rahman died about 68 AH. A report in which Hatib kills Utbah ibn Abi Waqqas at Uhud, after the Prophet ﷺ was struck in the face, has a weak chain, and is left out.

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