Khuzaima ibn Thabit Dhu'sh-Shahadatain al-Ansari (Arabic: خزيمة بن ثابت ذو الشهادتين الأنصاري; Martyred July 657 CE in the Battle of Siffin on the side of Imam Ali a.s) was one of the companions of Muhammad.
Biography
610–632: Muhammad (P.B.U.H)'s era
He was an Ansar.[1]
He is among those on whose authority the Hadith of the pond of Khumm was reported.[2]
632–634: Abu Bakr's era
He was among those who initially refused to give allegiance to Abu Bakr.[3]
634–644: Umar's era and 644–656: Uthman's era
Uthman bin Affan told the sahaba to gather the Quran so they can compile it into an official book. Up to that point, it was memorized by the sahaba and kept together written on various materials. Hossein Modarressi asserts that this is a fabricated story.[4] The following is an account of the situation from Sahih Bukhari:
Narrated Anas bin Malik:
Hudhaifa bin Al-Yaman came to Uthman at the time when the people of Sham and the people of Iraq were Waging war to conquer Arminya and Adharbijan. Hudhaifa was afraid of their (the people of Sham and Iraq) differences in the recitation of the Qur'an, so he said to 'Uthman, "O chief of the Believers! Save this nation before they differ about the Book (Quran) as Jews and the Christians did before." So 'Uthman sent a message to Hafsa saying, "Send us the manuscripts of the Qur'an so that we may compile the Qur'anic materials in perfect copies and return the manuscripts to you." Hafsa sent it to 'Uthman. 'Uthman then ordered Zaid bin Thabit, 'Abdullah bin AzZubair, Said bin Al-As and 'AbdurRahman bin Harith bin Hisham to rewrite the manuscripts in perfect copies. 'Uthman said to the three Quraishi men, "In case you disagree with Zaid bin Thabit on any point in the Qur'an, then write it in the dialect of Quraish, the Qur'an was revealed in their tongue." They did so, and when they had written many copies, 'Uthman returned the original manuscripts to Hafsa. 'Uthman sent to every Muslim province one copy of what they had copied, and ordered that all the other Qur'anic materials, whether written in fragmentary manuscripts or whole copies, be burnt."
In the Itqan, Al-Suyuti discussed the number of witnesses required for writing down a revelation of the prophet and quoted the following from Ibn Ashta's Kitab al-Masahif:
A narration reports:
“The people would come to Zaid ibn Thabit and he would only write a verse from two upright witnesses. Even though the end of Sura al-Baraa was not found except with Khuzaima ibn Thabit, he said: Write it, for God's messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, made his testimony as the testimony of two men. So it was written, even though Umar brought the verse of stoning and it was not written because he was alone.[5]”
Why was he considered equal to two witnesses?
Narrated by uncle of Umarah ibn Khuzaymah: The Prophet bought a horse from a Bedouin. The Prophet took him with him to pay him the price of his horse. The Apostle of Allah walked quickly and the Bedouin walked slowly. The people stopped the Bedouin and began to bargain with him for the horse as they did not know that the Prophet had bought it.
The Bedouin called the Apostle of Allah saying: If you want this horse, (then buy it), otherwise I shall sell it. The Prophet stopped when he heard the call of the Bedouin, and said: Have I not bought it from you? The Bedouin said: I swear by Allah, I have not sold it to you. The Prophet said: Yes, I have bought it from you. The Bedouin began to say: Bring a witness. Khuzaymah ibn Thabit then said: I bear witness that you have bought it. The Prophet turned to Khuzaymah and said: On what (grounds) do you bear witness?
He said: By considering you trustworthy, Apostle of Allah." The Prophet made the witness of Khuzaymah equivalent to the witness of two people. from Sunan Abu Dawood
656–661: Ali (A.S)'s era
He was a general under Ali's command during the Battle of the Camel (656), riding in the head of 1000 Ansar cavaliers.[6]
He became martyred in the Battle of Siffin (657), fighting on the side of Ali.[7]
References
1- A Restatement of the History of Islam and Muslims on Al-islam.org
2- Tarikh al-Yaqubi, as quoted in Peshawar Nights on Al-islam.org. Also, a list composed of sources such as Ibn Hajar Asqalani and Baladhuri, both in his Ta'rikh, Muhammad Bin Khawind Shah in his Rauzatu's-Safa, Ibn Abdu'l-Birr in his Isti'ab
3- A Shi'i-Sunni dialogue on Al-islam.org
4- Modarressi, Hossein (1993). "Early Debates on the Integrity of the Qur'ān: A Brief Survey". Studia Islamica (77): 5–39. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
5- Ibn Ashta in Al-Suyuti vol. 1,58
6-A Restatement of the History of Islam and Muslims on Al-islam.org
7- A Restatement of the History of Islam and Muslims on Al-islam.org
