that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) approached on a donkey until he stood at one of the gatherings of the Ansar. Some of the people disliked his standing there, namely the hypocrite Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul, who said to him: 'Clear the path of the wind for us from the stench of this donkey of yours, ugh!' and he held his nose. The Messenger of Allah departed, and some of the people became angry on his behalf, namely Abdullah ibn Rawaha, who said: 'Did you say this statement to the Messenger of Allah? By Allah, his donkey is of better scent than you!' They insulted one another, then they fought, and their clans fought. This reached the Messenger of Allah, so he came to make settlement between them. It was as if they disliked that, so this verse was revealed: "And if two factions among the believers should fight."
Muhammad said: His saying: "should fight" (iqtatalu) refers to their collective groups, and his saying: "between the two of them" (baynahuma) refers to the two factions.
Interpretation of Surah al-Hujurat from verse 11 to verse 12.
" أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ أقبل على حمارٍ حَتَّى وقف فِي مجْلِس من مجَالِس الْأَنْصَار؛ فكره بعض الْقَوْم موقفه، وَهُوَ عبد الله بْن أبي ابْن سلول الْمُنَافِق، فَقَالَ لَهُ: خل لنا سَبِيل الرّيح من نَتن هَذَا الْحمار، أُفٍّ ﴿وَأمْسك بِأَنْفِهِ، فَمضى رَسُول الله وَغَضب لَهُ بعض الْقَوْم، وَهُوَ عبد الله بْن رَوَاحَة فَقَالَ: ألرسول اللَّه قلت هَذَا القَوْل؟﴾ فواللَّه لَحِمَارهُ أطيبُ ريحًا مِنْك! فاستبًّا ثمَّ اقتتلا واقتتلت عشائرهما، فَبلغ ذَلِك رَسُول الله، فَأقبل يصلح بَينهمَا؛ فكأنهم كَرهُوا ذَلِك، فَنزلت هَذِه الْآيَة: ﴿وَإِنْ طَائِفَتَانِ من الْمُؤمنِينَ اقْتَتَلُوا﴾.
قَالَ مُحَمَّد: قَوْله: ﴿اقْتَتَلُوا﴾ يُرِيد جَمَاعَتهمْ، وَقَوله: ﴿بَينهمَا﴾ يُرِيد الطَّائِفَتَيْنِ.
تَفْسِير سُورَة الحجرات من الْآيَة ١١ إِلَى آيَة ١٢.
