He said: I came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and said: "O Messenger of Allah, a family among us, a people of concealment, targeted my paternal uncle, Rifa'ah ibn Zayd. They breached his storeroom, and took his weapons and his food. So let them return our weapons to us, as for the food, we have no need of it." The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: "I shall look into that." When they heard of that, the Banu Ubayriq went and came to men among them, a man called Usayr ibn 'Urwah, and spoke to him about that. A group of people from the clan gathered to him, and they came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and said: "O Messenger of Allah, Qatada ibn al-Nu'man and his uncle Rifa'ah ibn Zayd have targeted a family from among us, people of Islam and righteousness, accusing them."

Qatada said: I came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and spoke to him. He said: "You have targeted a family whose Islam and righteousness were mentioned, and you are accusing them of theft without proof or evidence."

He said: So I returned, and I wished that I had given away some of my wealth and not spoken to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, regarding that. Rifa'ah came to me and said: "O son of my brother, what have you done?" I informed him of what the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had said to me. He said: "Allah is the one sought for help." We did not linger before the Qur'an was sent down. When the Qur'an was sent down, they came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, with the weapons, and he returned them to my uncle. Allah the Almighty then revealed: "Indeed, We have sent down to you the Book in truth so that you may judge between people by what Allah has shown you. And do not be an advocate for the treacherous," meaning: the Banu Ubayriq.

His saying, the Almighty: "And seek forgiveness from Allah."

[5934] Through the same chain from Qatada ibn al-Nu'man, he said: It was not long before the Qur'an was revealed: "And seek forgiveness from Allah," meaning: for what you said to Qatada.

[5935] My father narrated to us, [saying] 'Imran ibn Musa al-Tarasusi narrated to us, [saying] 'Abd al-Samad ibn Yazid narrated to us, he said: I heard al-Fudayl say regarding the slave's saying: "Astaghfirullah (I seek forgiveness from Allah)," he said: Its interpretation is "excuse me (aqilni)."

His saying, the Almighty: "And do not argue on behalf of those who deceive themselves."

[5936] Hashim ibn al-Qasim al-Harrani informed us in what he wrote to me, [saying] Muhammad ibn Salama narrated to us, from Muhammad ibn Ishaq, from 'Asim ibn 'Umar ibn Qatada al-Ansari, from his father, from his grandfather, Qatada ibn al-Nu'man, he said: When the Qur'an was revealed: "And do not argue on behalf of those who deceive themselves," meaning: the Banu Ubayriq.