An Important Mission to Intercept a Letter (Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud’s (ra) Narration)
Whilst narrating this incident, Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud (ra) states:
“A weak companion disclosed to the Meccans that the Holy Prophet (sa) was departing for Mecca with an army of 10,000 companions. [In the letter] he wrote, ‘I am not aware exactly where the Holy Prophet (sa) is heading towards but I assume he is travelling to Mecca. Some of my close relations and family relatives live in Mecca, I hope that during this difficult hour you will extend them your help and support and not allow them to be harmed in any way.’
“This letter had not reached Mecca yet, when the Holy Prophet (sa) called for Hazrat Ali (ra) in the morning and stated, ‘Go to such and such place, for Allah the Almighty has informed me that you will find a woman there who will be mounted upon a camel and will have a letter which she will be taking to the Meccans. Take the letter from her and immediately return to me.’ When Hazrat Ali (ra) was about to leave, the Holy Prophet (sa) stated, ‘Remember, she is a woman, therefore do not treat her harshly. Try to pressure and persuade her to admit that she has a letter; however, if she still does not comply despite your efforts to convince her, then you may take strict action, even if you have to kill her, but you must not allow that letter to reach [Mecca].
“And so, Hazrat Ali (ra) reached that particular location and also found that woman. When she was asked to be searched, she began to cry and swore that she was not a traitor or a cheat. In any case, they searched her and looked into her pockets and possessions but could not find the letter. The Companionsra suggested that it seemed she did not have the letter. However, Hazrat Ali (ra) became impassioned and told them to remain silent. He then very passionately stated, ‘I swear by Allah, the Messenger (sa) of Allah can never utter a lie.’ And so he told the woman, ‘The Messenger (sa) of Allah has told us that you have a letter and I swear by God, I am not lying.’
“After this, Hazrat Ali (ra) drew his sword and said, ‘Produce the letter, otherwise if I have to take off all of your clothes and search, then I will do that because the Messenger (sa) of Allah has indeed spoken the truth and you are the one who is lying.’ Thus, she became frightened and upon being threatened to have her clothes removed, she quickly took the letter out from the bun of her hair and gave it over.”
(Sair-e-Ruhani, Number 7, Anwar al-Ulum, Vol. 24, pp. 262-263)
In another instance, whilst narrating the details of this incident, Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud (ra) stated:
“During the lifetime of the Holy Prophet (sa), one of the companions tried to secretly reveal information to his relatives in Mecca about the plans of the Muslims to attack Mecca so that owing to this act of compassion, they would in turn afford kind treatment to his relatives. However, the Holy Prophet (sa) was informed of this by divine revelation. The Holy Prophet (sa) sent Hazrat Ali (ra) along with a few other companions to a particular place and told them to retrieve a letter from a woman. Upon reaching there, they demanded the letter from that woman; however, she denied having it. Some of the companions thought that perhaps the Holy Prophet (sa) had made a mistake. However, Hazrat Ali (ra) insisted that this was not the case and that the Holy Prophet (sa) could never be wrong. He stated that until she did not produce the letter, he would not leave. Hazrat Ali (ra) then admonished the woman and as a result, she produced the letter and gave it to them.”
(Khutbat-e-Mahmud, Vol. 4, p. 182, 183, delivered 25 September 1914)