Musnad Ahmad 30:810

Sulayman ibn Dawud narrated to us, Ibrahim ibn Sa’d informed us, from al-Zuhri; and Ya’qub said: My father narrated to us, from Ibn Shihab. Abdullah ibn Ahmad said: My father said: "And this is the hadith of Sulayman al-Hashimi," from ‘Amr ibn Usayd ibn Jariyah al-Thaqafi, an ally of Banu Zuhrah, who was one of the companions of Abu Hurayrah, that Abu Hurayrah said: "The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, sent ten men as scouts and appointed ‘Asim ibn Thabit ibn Abi al-Aqlah—the grandfather of ‘Asim ibn ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab—as their leader. They set out until, when they were at al-Hada, between ‘Usfan and Makkah, they were mentioned to a clan of Hudhayl called Banu Lihyan. They mobilized against them with nearly a hundred archers. They tracked their footprints until they found the food they had eaten—dates—at a place where they had stopped. They said, 'These are the date pits of Yathrib,' so they followed their tracks. When ‘Asim and his companions sensed them, they took refuge on a high ground. The people surrounded them and said to them, 'Come down and surrender yourselves, and you have our covenant and promise that we will not kill any of you.' ‘Asim ibn Thabit, the leader of the group, said, 'As for me, by Allah, I will not descend under the protection of a disbeliever. O Allah, inform Your Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, about us.' They shot arrows at them, killing ‘Asim and seven others. Three men descended to them based on the covenant and promise, among them Khubayb al-Ansari, Zayd ibn al-Dathinah, and another man. When they gained control over them, they untied the strings of their bows and bound them with them. The third man said, 'This is the first act of treachery. By Allah, I will not accompany you; I have an example in these men,' meaning death. They dragged him and struggled with him, but he refused to accompany them, so they killed him. They took Khubayb and Zayd ibn al-Dathinah until they sold them in Makkah after the Battle of Badr. The Banu al-Harith ibn ‘Amir ibn Nawfal ibn ‘Abd Manaf bought Khubayb, and it was Khubayb who had killed al-Harith ibn ‘Amir ibn Nawfal on the day of Badr. Khubayb remained a prisoner with them until they decided to kill him. He borrowed a razor from one of the daughters of al-Harith to shave himself for the execution, and she lent it to him. A young son of hers wandered in—she said, 'And I was heedless'—until he came to him. She found him sitting him on his thigh with the razor in his hand. She said, 'I was terrified with a terror that Khubayb recognized.' He said, 'Do you think I would kill him? I would not do that.' She said, 'By Allah, I have never seen a prisoner better than Khubayb.' She said, 'By Allah, I once found him eating a bunch of grapes in his hand while he was shackled in iron, and there was no fruit in Makkah.' She used to say, 'It was a provision that Allah provided for Khubayb.' When they took him out of the Sacred Precinct (Haram) to kill him in the open territory (Hill), Khubayb said to them, 'Let me pray two rak'ahs.' They let him, and he prayed two rak'ahs. Then he said, 'By Allah, were it not that you would think that what I have is out of fear of death, I would have added more.' 'O Allah, count them in number, kill them one by one, and do not leave any of them remaining.' *I do not care when I am killed as a Muslim,* *On which side my death for Allah’s sake may be.* *That is for the sake of the Almighty, and if He wills,* *He will bless the severed limbs of a torn body.* Then Abu Saru’ah ‘Uqbah ibn al-Harith stood up to him and killed him. It was Khubayb who established the practice for every Muslim killed in captivity to pray. Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, answered the prayer of ‘Asim ibn Thabit on the day he was struck. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, informed his companions on the day they were struck of their news. Some people from Quraysh sent men to ‘Asim ibn Thabit, when they heard he had been killed, so that a part of him could be brought back to be identified—for he had killed one of their nobles on the day of Badr. Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, sent upon ‘Asim something like a canopy of hornets, which protected him from their messengers, and they were unable to cut anything from him."