Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal: Book 5, Hadith 36
It was narrated that Abu Juhaifah said: I heard ‘Ali (رضي الله عنه) say: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) sent me, az-Zubair and al-Miqdad, and he said: “Go to the garden of Khakh, where you will find a woman riding a camel with whom there is a letter, and take it from her.” We set out with our horses galloping, until we reached that garden, and there we found the woman. We said: Give us the letter. She said: I do not have any letter. We said: Either you give us the letter or we will remove your clothes. So she brought it out from her braided hair, and we took it and brought it to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and in it (was written): From Hatib bin Abi Balta`ah to some of the mushrikeen of Makkah, telling them about some of the plans of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: `O Hatib, what is this?` He said: Do not be hasty in judging me, O Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). I am a man who was attached to Quraish but I was one of them. The Muhajireen who are with you have relatives who will protect their families in Makkah, and I wanted, as i have no blood ties among them, to do them a favour so that they would protect my family. I did not do it out of kufr or because I apostatized from my religion, or because I approved of Kufr after becoming Muslim. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: `He has told you the truth.` `Umar (رضي الله عنه) said: O Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), let me strike the neck of this hypocrite. He said: “He was present at Badr, and you do not know, perhaps Allah looked upon the people of Badr and said: `Do what you wish, for I have forgiven you.`
حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، عَنْ مُطَرِّفٍ، عَنِ الشَّعْبِيِّ، عَنْ أَبِي جُحَيْفَةَ، قَالَ سَأَلْنَا عَلِيًّا رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ هَلْ عِنْدَكُمْ مِنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ شَيْءٌ بَعْدَ الْقُرْآنِ قَالَ لَا وَالَّذِي فَلَقَ الْحَبَّةَ وَبَرَأَ النَّسَمَةَ إِلَّا فَهْمٌ يُؤْتِيهِ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ رَجُلًا فِي الْقُرْآنِ أَوْ مَا فِي الصَّحِيفَةِ قُلْتُ وَمَا فِي الصَّحِيفَةِ قَالَ الْعَقْلُ وَفِكَاكُ الْأَسِيرِ وَلَا يُقْتَلُ مُسْلِمٌ بِكَافِرٍ.
Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal: Book 5, Hadith 36
The above hadith is from the Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal collection of hadiths. The Musnad of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal is a foundational work in Islamic hadith literature, highly valued for its comprehensive nature. Its most defining feature is its organizational method; it categorizes hadiths based on the companion of the Prophet who first reported them, with a dedicated section for each. This structure provides a unique window into the practices and sayings of the Prophet as witnessed and related by his diverse companions. Although the Musnad is held in extremely high regard and contains many authentic narrations, it is important to note that, due to its encyclopedic aim of collecting available reports, it also contains some hadiths with weaker chains of transmission that are subject to scholarly scrutiny.
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For more Hadith in Book 5: Musnad ‘Ali Ibn Abi Talib