Hatib ibn Abi Balta'ah

Ḥāṭib ibn Abī Baltaʿah al-Lakhmī was a Companion of the Prophet ﷺ who participated in the Battle of Badr (2 AH / 624 CE), thus earning the noble status of being among Ahl Badr. He was originally from the Lakhm tribe of Yemen and came to Makkah as a free man allied with a Qurayshī family before embracing Islam and making the Hijrah to Madinah. He did not have a strong tribal backing or extended family in Madinah as the native Anṣār did.

Ḥāṭib's most famous episode in the Seerah occurs before the Conquest of Makkah (8 AH / 630 CE), when the Prophet ﷺ was preparing a secret surprise expedition. Ḥāṭib sent a letter to the Quraysh warning them that the Muslims were coming. He gave it to a woman to carry, hidden in her hair. Jibrīl informed the Prophet ﷺ of this. ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib and al-ʿAbbās intercepted the woman and retrieved the letter. The Prophet confronted Ḥāṭib: 'Why did you do this?' Ḥāṭib replied that he had no desire to return to Kufr, but his family and property were still in Makkah and he had hoped this gesture would protect them.

ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb demanded twice to execute him, once for hypocrisy and once for treason. Both times the Prophet ﷺ refused. He accepted Ḥāṭib's explanation and then said to ʿUmar: 'O ʿUmar, and what do you know? Perhaps Allah looked at the people of Badr and said to them: Do as you please, for I have already forgiven you.' This single statement elevated Badr's veterans above all subsequent errors and established a principle that their status with Allah was guaranteed.