Conquest of Mecca & The Letter of Hazrat Hatib (ra) bin Baltah
When the Holy Prophet (sa) was making preparations for the conquest of Mecca, he did not disclose this. And even though the Companions (ra) were preparing for it, however it was not widely known that Mecca was about to be invaded. During this time, a companion who had fought in the Battle of Badr by the name of Hatib (ra) bin Baltah handed a secret letter out of his naivety and simplicity to a lady who had come from Mecca to send back to Mecca. He had mentioned all of the preparations for the invasion of Mecca in the letter. The lady took the letter and went on her way. God Almighty informed the Holy Prophet (sa) of this, so he sent Hazrat Ali (ra) and three other people, among whom was Hazrat Ammar bin Yasir (ra), to pursue that woman and intercept the letter.
Whilst describing this incident, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih I (ra) states, “A woman named Sarah who was a resident of Mecca, and had been brought up by the Bani Hashim family, had come to the Holy Prophet (sa) in Medina when he was preparing to leave for the conquest of Mecca.
“The Holy Prophet (sa) asked her if she had accepted Islam and escaped from Mecca. She replied, ‘No, I have not come as a Muslim, but because I am in need. I have been brought up by your family, therefore I have come to you to seek financial support.’ The Holy Prophet (sa) asked of the people and they gave some clothes and money etc. after which the lady returned to her hometown. When she was about to depart, Hatib (ra), a Companion who had fought in the Battle of Badr, gave her ten Dirhams and said he wished to give her a letter which she must hand to the people of Mecca. She agreed to do so and took the letter.
“In this letter, Hatib wrote to the people of Mecca that the Holy Prophet (sa) had decided to conquer Mecca, so they should be careful. That lady was yet to leave Medina when the Holy Prophet(sa) was informed through Divine revelation that she had taken the letter. Hence, the Holy Prophet (sa) immediately sent Hazrat Ali (ra) and Hazrat Ammar (ra) with a group to pursue her and to get hold of the letter, and if she refused to hand it over then she should be punished. Thus, this delegation caught up with her on route. She refused and swore that she did not have a letter with her, to which Hazrat Ali(ra) drew his sword saying, ‘We have not been lied to, through Divine revelation we have been informed that you surely have the letter with you.’ Out of fear of the sword, she took out the letter from her hair. When they took the letter back, they realised it was written by Hatib(ra), and subsequently he was summoned. The Holy Prophet (sa) asked him why he did such a thing. He replied, ‘By God, ever since I accepted Islam I have not disbelieved. The only thing is that there is no one to defend or protect my tribe in Mecca and the only benefit I could get from writing this letter was that I did not want the infidels to harm my tribe.’ Hazrat Umar (ra) wished to kill Hatib (ra) but the Holy Prophet (sa)forbade him from doing so and said, ‘God Almighty has expressed His pleasure with the people who took part in the Battle of Badr and said that whatever happens, He will forgive them.’”
(Haqaiq-ul-Furqan, Vol. 4, pp. 528-529)
Thus, this error of his was out of naivety and not to cause harm to the Muslims.