Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) sent me, Az-Zubair bin Al-Awwam and Abu Marthad Al-Ghanawi, and all of us werehorsemen, and he said, "Proceed till you reach Rawdat Khakh, where there is a woman from thepagans carrying a letter sent by Hatib bin Abi Balta'a to the pagans (of Mecca)." So we overtook herwhile she was proceeding on her camel at the same place as Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) told us. We said (to her)"Where is the letter which is with you?" She said, "I have no letter with me." So we made her camelkneel down and searched her mount (baggage etc) but could not find anything. My two companionssaid, "We do not see any letter." I said, "I know that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) did not tell a lie. By Allah, if you(the lady) do not bring out the letter, I will strip you of your clothes' When she noticed that I wasserious, she put her hand into the knot of her waist sheet, for she was tying a sheet round herself, andbrought out the letter. So we proceeded to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) with the letter. The Prophet (ﷺ) said (to Habib),"What made you o what you have done, O Hatib?" Hatib replied, "I have done nothing except that Ibelieve in Allah and His Apostle, and I have not changed or altered (my religion). But I wanted to dothe favor to the people (pagans of Mecca) through which Allah might protect my family and myproperty, as there is none among your companions but has someone in Mecca through whom Allahprotects his property (against harm). The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Habib has told you the truth, so do not say tohim (anything) but good." `Umar bin Al-Khattab said, "Verily he has betrayed Allah, His Apostle, andthe believers! Allow me to chop his neck off!" The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "O `Umar! What do you know;perhaps Allah looked upon the Badr warriors and said, 'Do whatever you like, for I have ordained thatyou will be in Paradise.'" On that `Umar wept and said, "Allah and His Apostle know best."