The Life of the Prophet Muhammad by Ibn Kathir - Volume 3 of 4

IMAM ABU AL-FIDA' ISMA'IL IBN KATHiR 373
and so I took a sharp knife and cut it up, right then and there. I took a portion
for myself and carried it off to my companions and we cooked and ate it. Abn
Bakr and Wmar then asked, "Where did you get this meat, 'Awf?" I told them
and they said, "By God, you did not do well to feed us this!" Then they arose
and brought back up the food from their stomachs.
"'When we set off for home from that trip, I was the fvst to reach the
Messenger of God (SAAS), as he was praying in his house. I greeted him,
al-sal~mu 'alayka, "'peace be upon you', Messenger of God!" He responded,
"You're 'Awf b. Maik?" "Yes, indeed I am, I swear." "The one who did the
butchering?" he asked, but made no further comment.'"
Muhammad b. Ishaq related it thus, from Yazid b. Abn Habib, from 'Awf
b. Malik, and the hadith is missing links in its chain of transmission and is,
moreover, mu'dal, "enigmatic".
The ha.? al-Bayhaqi stated, "Ibn Lahi'a and Sa'id h. Abii Ayyiib related this
from Yazid b. Abii Habib, from Rabica b. Laqit, from Mdik b. Zuhdum from
'Awf h. Malik. I believe he ('Awf) related it as above except for his using the
words, 'I offered it to Wmar; he asked me about it, and I told hi. He then said,
"You have accelerated your reward!" and he did not eat it."'
He then narrated it similarly from Abn Wbayda and in that version made no
mention of Abii Bakr. It ends approximately as above.
The hdfi~ al-Bayhaqi stated that Abn 'Abd Allah d-Hafiz and Abn Sa'id b. Ahn
'Amr informed him as follows, "Aba al-cAhhas M&ammad b. Yacqnb al-Asamm
related to us, quoting Yahya h. Abn Talib, quoting 'Ali b. 'Asim, quoting Khalid
al-Hadhdh2, from Abfi Wthmiin al-Nahdi (who said), 'I heard 'Amr h. al-'AS say,
"The Messenger of God (SAAS) sent me forth in command of the army sent to
Dhii al-Sdasil. Among us were Abn Bakr and Wmar. I told myself that he would
only have given me command over Abii Bakr and Wmar because of some very high
regard he had for me. So once I went to hi, sat down before hi and asked,
'Messenger of God, who is your favourite person?' "A'isha,' he replied. 'I wasn't
asking you about your family,' I told hi. 'Then it would be her father,' he replied.
'Who after that,' I enquired. 'Wmar,' he replied. I went on asking until he had
mentioned a number of men. Then I told myself that I had better stop asking!"'"
This haditla is given in both sahih collections through Khzlid b. Mahran
al-Hadhdha', from Ahii Wthman d-Nahdi, his name being 'Ahd al-R*mm h.
Mul. (The latter said), "'Amr b. alLCAs related to me that the Messenger of God
(SAAS) sent him out in command of the army to Dhii al-Salasil. ('Amr said), 'I
went to hi and asked, "Which person do you like best?" "'A'isha," he replied.
"And from the men?" I enquired. L'Her father," he said. "Who then?" I asked.
"Then 'Amr b. alLCAs," he answered. He went on to enumerate various other
men.'"
This is the text given by al-Bukhm. In one account 'Amr is quoted as saying,
"I fell silent, fearing that he would place me last!"