It is narrated from Sayyiduna Rafi' bin Khadij (may Allah be pleased with him) that he went out (to the battlefield) on the day of Uhud, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), considering him too young, wanted to send him back. At this his paternal uncle said: O Messenger of Allah, he is an archer. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) let him go out (to the battlefield). Then an arrow struck him in the chest or the throat, and his uncle came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: My nephew has been struck by an arrow. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If you leave it in him and he dies, he will die a martyr." Abdullah bin Husayn said: His wife told me that she would see him bathing and (the arrowhead) would move in his chest.
Hadith Referenceالمعجم الكبير للطبراني / باب الراء / 4226
The wife of Rafi' (may Allah be pleased with him) said: On the day of Uhud or the day of Khaybar (the narrator Amr was in doubt), Rafi' (may Allah be pleased with him), while with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) (in battle), was struck by an arrow in his chest (at the place of the breast). He came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allah, take out the arrow. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Rafi', if you wish, I will take out both the arrow and its head; and if you wish, I will take out the arrow and leave the head, and on the Day of Resurrection I will bear witness for you that you are a martyr." The narrator said: So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) took out the arrow and left the head, and he lived with it until, during the caliphate of Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him), the wound opened again and he died after Asr. Someone came to Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) and said: O Abu Abd al-Rahman, Rafi' bin Khadij has died. He prayed for mercy for him and said: A man like Rafi' should not be carried out (for burial) until the people of the villages around Madinah have been informed. So when we went out with his funeral and the funeral prayer was offered over him, Ibn Umar came and sat at the head of the grave. A slave woman of ours cried out, and Ibn Umar said: Is there no one to look after this foolish woman? Do not cause distress to this old man, for he has no strength to bear the punishment of Allah.
Hadith Referenceالمعجم الكبير للطبراني / باب الراء / 4227
Rifa'ah bin Hurayr (may Allah have mercy on him) said: My grandfather told me, narrating from his father, that he (Rafi' bin Khadij, may Allah be pleased with him) said: My paternal uncle and I came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when he intended (to set out for) Badr. I said: O Messenger of Allah, I want to go out with you. He began to draw back his hand, saying: "I consider you young, and I do not know what you will do when you meet the enemy." I said: Do you know that I can shoot (in return) whoever shoots? (Even so) he sent me back.
Hadith Referenceالمعجم الكبير للطبراني / باب الراء / 4228
The narrator said that he attended the funeral of Rafi' bin Khadij (may Allah be pleased with him), and some women were weeping. Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) stood up and said: "Rafi' bin Khadij was an elderly man; he has no strength to bear the punishment of Allah."
Hadith Referenceالمعجم الكبير للطبراني / باب الراء / 4229
Al-Waqidi said: At the beginning of that year Rafi' bin Khadij died, and Ibn Umar (may Allah have mercy on him) attended his funeral (meaning in the year 73 AH). On the day he died, Rafi' was eighty-six years old.
Hadith Referenceالمعجم الكبير للطبراني / باب الراء / 4231