Written by: Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Ameenpuri (ḥafiẓahullāh)
It is claimed that Sayyidunā Khālid bin Walīd (رضي الله عنه) killed Malik bin Nuwayrah and then married his wife. This claim is completely unfounded, and the narrations surrounding it are weak and unsubstantiated.
1. The narration in Ṭabaqāt Ibn Saʿd (Mutimm al-Ṣaḥābah: p. 236) is fabricated:
① Muḥammad bin ʿUmar al-Wāqidī is a liar (kadhdhāb) and abandoned (matrūk) narrator.
② The narrator attributing this story to Sayyidunā ʿUmar (رضي الله عنه) is unknown, and there is no evidence of hearing (samāʿ) from ʿUmar.
2. The narration in Tārīkh al-Ṭabarī (3/280) is also extremely weak and unsubstantiated:
① Muḥammad bin Ḥumayd al-Rāzī is declared weak and a liar by the majority of Hadith scholars.
② Imām al-Nasāʾī (رحمه الله) explicitly called him a liar (kadhdhāb).
(Al-Khilāfiyyāt lil-Bayhaqī: 1955, chain is authentic)
③ Muḥaddith Abū Bakr Faḍlak (d. 270 AH) said:
دخلت على محمد بن حميد وهو يقلب الأسانيد ويركبها على المتون
“I went to Muḥammad bin Ḥumayd and saw him mixing up chains of narration and attaching them to different texts.”
(Al-Khilāfiyyāt lil-Bayhaqī: 1954, chain is authentic)
④ After mentioning this, Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī (رحمه الله) remarked:
آفته هذا الفعل، وإلا فما أعتقد فيه أنه يضع متنا، وهذا معنى قولهم: فلان سرق الحديث
“His flaw was this behavior. I do not believe he fabricated texts, but he was like those whom the scholars called 'thieves of Hadith.'”
(Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ: 11/504)
⑤ Imām Abū Zurʿah and Imām Muslim bin Warrah (رحمهما الله) said:
صح عندنا أنه يكذب
“According to us, it is proven that he lies.”
(Kitāb al-Majrūḥīn by Ibn Ḥibbān: 1009, chain is authentic)
⑥ Imām Ṣāliḥ Jazrah (رحمه الله) also declared him a liar.
(Tārīkh Baghdād: 2/262, chain is ḥasan)
◈ Salamah bin Faḍl al-Rāzī is frequently mistaken and unreliable in ḥadīth.
◈ Muḥammad bin Isḥāq's narration includes ‘an‘anah (ambiguous transmission).
⑦ Ṭalḥah bin ʿAbdullāh bin ʿAbd al-Raḥmān's narration from Sayyidunā Abū Bakr (رضي الله عنه) is disconnected (munqaṭiʿ).
It is thus proven that all narrations regarding this incident are unestablished and weak. In fact, it is fair to assert that such claims are conspiracies by some ill-intentioned individuals to malign the noble companions.
There is no evidence that Malik bin Nuwayrah was a Companion (Ṣaḥābī), nor is there any proof of his killing. Likewise, the claim that Sayyidunā Khālid bin Walīd (رضي الله عنه) married or committed adultery with his wife is absolutely unproven.
هذا مما لم يعرف تبوته
“There is no known authentic evidence regarding this matter.”
(Minhāj al-Sunnah: 5/519)
It is claimed that Sayyidunā Khālid bin Walīd (رضي الله عنه) killed Malik bin Nuwayrah and then married his wife. This claim is completely unfounded, and the narrations surrounding it are weak and unsubstantiated.
1. The narration in Ṭabaqāt Ibn Saʿd (Mutimm al-Ṣaḥābah: p. 236) is fabricated:
① Muḥammad bin ʿUmar al-Wāqidī is a liar (kadhdhāb) and abandoned (matrūk) narrator.
② The narrator attributing this story to Sayyidunā ʿUmar (رضي الله عنه) is unknown, and there is no evidence of hearing (samāʿ) from ʿUmar.
2. The narration in Tārīkh al-Ṭabarī (3/280) is also extremely weak and unsubstantiated:
① Muḥammad bin Ḥumayd al-Rāzī is declared weak and a liar by the majority of Hadith scholars.
② Imām al-Nasāʾī (رحمه الله) explicitly called him a liar (kadhdhāb).
(Al-Khilāfiyyāt lil-Bayhaqī: 1955, chain is authentic)③ Muḥaddith Abū Bakr Faḍlak (d. 270 AH) said:
دخلت على محمد بن حميد وهو يقلب الأسانيد ويركبها على المتون
“I went to Muḥammad bin Ḥumayd and saw him mixing up chains of narration and attaching them to different texts.”
(Al-Khilāfiyyāt lil-Bayhaqī: 1954, chain is authentic)④ After mentioning this, Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī (رحمه الله) remarked:
آفته هذا الفعل، وإلا فما أعتقد فيه أنه يضع متنا، وهذا معنى قولهم: فلان سرق الحديث
“His flaw was this behavior. I do not believe he fabricated texts, but he was like those whom the scholars called 'thieves of Hadith.'”
(Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ: 11/504)⑤ Imām Abū Zurʿah and Imām Muslim bin Warrah (رحمهما الله) said:
صح عندنا أنه يكذب
“According to us, it is proven that he lies.”
(Kitāb al-Majrūḥīn by Ibn Ḥibbān: 1009, chain is authentic)⑥ Imām Ṣāliḥ Jazrah (رحمه الله) also declared him a liar.
(Tārīkh Baghdād: 2/262, chain is ḥasan)❖ Additional Flaws in the Narrators:
◈ Salamah bin Faḍl al-Rāzī is frequently mistaken and unreliable in ḥadīth.
◈ Muḥammad bin Isḥāq's narration includes ‘an‘anah (ambiguous transmission).
⑦ Ṭalḥah bin ʿAbdullāh bin ʿAbd al-Raḥmān's narration from Sayyidunā Abū Bakr (رضي الله عنه) is disconnected (munqaṭiʿ).
❖ Conclusion:
It is thus proven that all narrations regarding this incident are unestablished and weak. In fact, it is fair to assert that such claims are conspiracies by some ill-intentioned individuals to malign the noble companions.
There is no evidence that Malik bin Nuwayrah was a Companion (Ṣaḥābī), nor is there any proof of his killing. Likewise, the claim that Sayyidunā Khālid bin Walīd (رضي الله عنه) married or committed adultery with his wife is absolutely unproven.
❀ Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah (رحمه الله) stated:
هذا مما لم يعرف تبوته
“There is no known authentic evidence regarding this matter.”
(Minhāj al-Sunnah: 5/519)
