Hadith Answers An online source for Hadith Fatwas
Question
Is the following incident authentic and suitable to quote?
Sayyiduna ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas (radiyallahu ‘anhuma) mentions that a hypocrite by the name of Bishr once had an argument with a Jew. In order to resolve the argument, the Jew suggested that they resort to Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) who would preside over their case and decide who was in the right. The hypocrite, on the other hand, suggested that they take the case to Ka’b ibn Ashraf, a Jewish leader. They eventually took the case to Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) who passed judgement in favour of the Jew against the hypocrite. The hypocrite was unhappy with the decision and took the Jew to ‘Umar (radiyallahu ‘anhu) for a “second opinion”. The Jew said to ‘Umar (radiyallahu ‘anhu), “Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) has already decided the case but he is not pleased with the decision of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam).” ‘Umar (radiyallahu ‘anhu) asked the hypocrite, “Is that so?” When he replied in the affirmative, ‘Umar (radiyallahu ‘anhu) instructed them to stay where they were and that he would be with them soon. He then entered and brought his sword. As he emerged, he struck the neck of the hypocrite killing him. He then declared, “This is the decision I make for the one who is unhappy with the decision made by Allah Ta’ala and His Rasul (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam).” It was on this occasion that the verse “Have you not seen those who claim that they believed in what was revealed to you and what was revealed before you? They want to take their disputes to the Taghut (i.e. Ka’b bin Ashraf), while they were ordered to reject him. Shaytan wants to mislead them to a remote wrong way” (Surah An Nisa, verse: 60) was revealed. According to some narrations, Jibril came down and said, “Umar has differentiated between truth and falsehood”