A Research Review and Refutation of the False Accusation Against Companion Tha‘labah ibn Ḥāṭib (May Allah Be Pleased With Him)
Verses from Surah At-Tawbah:
In the Holy Quran, Allah Almighty says:
﴿وَمِنْهُم مَّنْ عَاهَدَ اللَّـهَ لَئِنْ آتَانَا مِن فَضْلِهِ لَنَصَّدَّقَنَّ وَلَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ ﴿٧٥﴾ فَلَمَّا آتَاهُم مِّن فَضْلِهِ بَخِلُوا بِهِ وَتَوَلَّوا وَّهُم مُّعْرِضُونَ ﴿٧٦﴾ فَأَعْقَبَهُمْ نِفَاقًا فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ يَلْقَوْنَهُ بِمَا أَخْلَفُوا اللَّـهَ مَا وَعَدُوهُ وَبِمَا كَانُوا يَكْذِبُونَ ﴿٧٧﴾
Meaning: Among them are some who made a covenant with Allah that if He granted them His bounty, they would give charity and be among the righteous. But when Allah gave them wealth, they became stingy and turned away. Consequently, hypocrisy was placed in their hearts which will remain until the Day of Resurrection, because they broke their covenant with Allah and lied.
The Incident of Tha‘labah ibn Ḥāṭib (May Allah Be Pleased With Him): The Narration in Tafsir Ibn Kathir
In Tafsir Ibn Kathir, it is mentioned that these verses were revealed concerning Tha‘labah ibn Ḥāṭib al-Anṣārī (May Allah Be Pleased With Him). According to the incident:
❀ He asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to pray for him to be granted wealth.
❀ The Prophet ﷺ said: “A small amount of wealth, for which gratitude is shown, is better than a large amount that is beyond endurance.”
❀ Still, he insisted and said that if Allah gave him wealth, he would give plenty in charity and alms.
❀ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ prayed, and his goats were blessed so much that Medina became cramped.
❀ Initially, he used to pray some prayers in congregation, but as his wealth increased, he moved away and even abandoned prayers, to the extent that he left Friday prayer as well.
❀ When the Noble Prophet ﷺ inquired about his condition, upon receiving the report, he expressed sorrow.
❀ Then ﴿خُذْ مِنْ أَمْوَالِهِمْ صَدَقَةً﴾ verse was revealed.
❀ The Prophet ﷺ ordered two people collecting zakat to collect zakat from a certain person of Tha’labah and Banu Salim.
❀ Tha’labah refused to pay zakat and said: “This is like jizya’s sister!”
❀ The person from Banu Salim gave the best animals as zakat, upon which the Noble Prophet ﷺ prayed for him and expressed sorrow over Tha’labah.
❀ When the verses
were revealed, Thalabah’s relative reported the incident, so he returned and wanted to give zakat, but the Prophet ﷺ did not accept it.
❀ Later, Hazrat Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman (may Allah be pleased with them) also did not accept his zakat.
Investigation of this narration and review of its chains of transmission:
Original chain of transmission:
Chain of transmission: Mu’an ibn Rifa’ah from Ali ibn Yazid from Abi Abdulrahman Al-Qasim ibn Abdulrahman from Abi Imamah Al-Bahili (may Allah be pleased with him)
❀ “اسنادہ واہ بمرۃ و المتن باطل”
❀ “اسنادہ ضعیف جدا”
Details of the narrators:
◈ Ali ibn Yazid Al-Alhani:
➊ Imam Bukhari: “Munkir al-Hadith”
➋ Imam Nasai: “Matrook al-Hadith”
◈ Mu’an ibn Rifa’ah: “Lain al-Hadith” meaning weak
Conclusion: This narration is false and very weak.
Analysis of further evidence:
1. Chain of Narrators: Muhammad bin Saad al-Aufi from his father from his uncle from his father from his father from Ibn Abbas
❀ This narration is also present in Tafsir al-Tabari
and Ibn Abi Hatim
.
❀ All narrators are weak:
➊ Muhammad bin Saad al-Aufi: Weak
➋ Saad bin Muhammad al-Aufi: Jahmi (severely misguided)
➌ Al-Husayn bin al-Hasan: Weak
➍ Al-Hasan bin Atiyah: Weak
➎ Atiyah al-Aufi: Weak in memory, muddler
Conclusion: This chain is also invalid and rejected.
2. Chain of Narrators: Ibn Humayd from Salamah from Ibn Ishaq from Amr bin Ubayd from al-Hasan
Source: Tafsir al-Tabari
◈ Muhammad bin Humayd al-Razi: “Hafiz Weak”
◈ Muhammad bin Ishaq: Truthful, but muddler
◈ Amr bin Ubayd: Liar
Conclusion: This narration is fabricated (made-up).
3. Narration of Qatadah al-Tabi’i
Chain of Narrators: Saeed from Qatadah
❀ Saeed bin Abi Aroobah: Trustworthy, but muddler
❀ The name of Thalabah bin Hatib is not present
Conclusion: Weak narration, not explicit, and the required name is also missing.
4. Narration of Mujahid al-Tabi’i
Source: Ibn Abi Najih from Mujahid
❀ Abdullah ibn Abi Najih: Trustworthy but a fabricator
❀ The name of Tha’laba, may Allah be pleased with him, is not present
Conclusion: This narration is also weak.
Summary of the overall research:
After examining all narrations and evidences, it becomes clear that Tha’laba ibn Hatib al-Ansari, may Allah be pleased with him, this incident is completely baseless, fabricated, and false. This story has been fabricated and narrated by some storytellers in their own way, for which there is no authentic and correct chain of narration.
Important clarification:
According to Hafiz Ibn Hajar, may Allah have mercy on him:
❀ Tha’laba ibn Hatib al-Ansari al-Badri, may Allah be pleased with him, is a separate companion.
❀ Tha’laba ibn Hatib and Ibn Abi Hatib al-Ansari, non-Badri, may Allah be pleased with them, are other companions.
Source: Al-Isabah fi Tamyiz al-Sahabah
ھذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب
