~630 CE · 8 AH
As the Prophet ﷺ prepared to march on Makkah, one of the Companions, Hatib ibn Abi Balta'ah RA, decided to warn the Quraysh. Hatib was not himself of the Quraysh, and his family had stayed behind in Makkah with no tribe to protect them. He wrote a letter to the Quraysh. Then he paid a freedwoman attached to the clan of Banu Hashim to carry it to them in secret. She folded the letter and hid it in the braids of her hair.
Jibril AS told the Prophet ﷺ what had happened. The Prophet ﷺ sent Ali ibn Abi Talib RA and Zubayr ibn al-Awwam RA after her. He told them they would find her with a caravan at Rawdatu Khakh, a place just outside Madinah, and described what she would be riding. They found her exactly there.
She denied having any letter. They searched her belongings, her camel and its saddle, and found nothing. Ali RA then swore by Allah that neither the Prophet ﷺ nor they themselves had been told a lie. He warned her that she must hand it over, or they would search her completely. Seeing that they meant it, she asked them to turn around out of modesty. Then she untied her hair and gave them the letter.
This interception exposed Hatib ibn Abi Balta'ah RA's attempt to warn the Quraysh just before the Conquest of Makkah. It led directly to his being questioned before the Prophet ﷺ about this apparent breach of loyalty to the Muslims.
Other events recorded in 8 AH. Their order within the year is not established; use the storyline above for the sequence.
Nothing recorded for this event yet.