QUESTION:
What is the proof that Abu Bakr, and Omar, and Uthman, attempted to assassinate the Prophet (may Allah’s blessings be upon him and his family) at the mountain pass?
Abdul-Aziz Hussain
ANSWER:
In the Name of Allah, the All-Beneficent, the All-Merciful.
May Allah bless Muhammad and his Family and damn their enemies.
This incident has been mentioned in many sources, including what Al-Haythami reported in Majma’ul-Zawa’id:
The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s blessings be upon him) left for the Battle of Tabouk, and on the way, he reached a mountain pass. Then he summoned his caller, who said (on his behalf): ‘Let not anyone take the mountain pass, for only the Messenger of Allah will walk through it.’ The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s blessings be upon him) went through it while Huzaifa leads the way and Ammar, son of Yasir, was controlling his camel. Then a group of people with covered faces came towards the riding camels and approached the Prophet (may Allah’s blessings be upon him). Upon them, Ammar stepped back and hit the camel’s faces, and the Prophet (may Allah’s blessings be upon him) said to Huzaifa: ‘Lead! Lead!’ Upon which Ammar followed him. Then he said: ‘Control (the camel)! Control!’ Upon which he made the camel kneel.
Then he said to Ammar:
Do you know these people?’ He said: ‘No, their faces were covered, and I have recognized most of the camels.’ He said: ‘Do you know what they intended to do with the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s blessings be upon him)?’ I said: ‘Allah and His Messenger are more knowledgeable.’ He said: ‘They wanted to scare away (the camel of) Allah’s Messenger (may Allah’s blessings be upon him) so that he may be thrown down from the snag.’ Then there was some quarrel between Ammar and a man amongst them concerning something between the people. He said: ‘I call upon you, by Allah, how many were the people on the mountain pass who wanted to murder Allah’s Messenger (may Allah’s blessings be upon him)?’ He said: ‘We saw that they were fourteen.’ He said: ‘If I would have been amongst them, they would have been fifteen, and Ammar witnesses that there are twelve parties for Allah and His Messenger in this world and on the Day of Judgment.’ This was also narrated by Al-Tabarani in Al-Mu’jam-ul-Kabeer, and his narrators are reliable.
Majma’ul-Zawa’id, by Al-Haythami, volume 1, page 110
The ‘Sunnis’ narrated this incident on the authority of one of their greatest narrators, who is Waleed, son of Jamee’. Ibn Hazm said the following about him:
He has narrated some narrations which say that Abu Bakr, Omar, Uthman, Talha, and Saad, son of Abi-Waqqas, (may Allah be pleased with them) wanted to kill the Prophet (may Allah’s blessings be upon him) and throw him down from the mountain pass at Tabouk.
Al-Muhalla, by Ibn Hazm, volume 11, page 224
Unfortunately, these reports and narrations are lost, because the ‘Sunnis’ hid them away to prevent their idols from being exposed. Ibn Hazm read these narrations but did not narrate them all, but rather he criticized Waleed, son of Jumee’, and claimed that he was unreliable. However, his criticism on Waleed, son of Jamee’, did not benefit him because this man has narrated several narrations that have been reported by Muslim in his Sahih, Al-Bayhaqi in his Sunan, Ahmad, son of Hanbal, in his Musnad, Ibn Abi-Shayba in his Musannaf, and others. Moreover, Ibn Habban approved him to be just and trustworthy, and he also e asked Allah to be pleased with him. Al-Dhahabi too approved him to be trustworthy and reliable, and hence his narrations are accepted by these scholars of the ‘Sunni’ sect.
The Office of Sheikh al-Habib
