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Fatwa CenterAd-Daarimi's version of poisoned sheep story
Question
Assalaamu alaykum. The people of Khaybar presented a roasted sheep to the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, after having poisoned its foreleg. The Prophet liked to eat the foreleg, and when he took a morsel of it, the foreleg told him that it was poisoned, so he spit it out. This poisoned morsel affected the front teeth and aorta of Allaah's Messenger. Bishr ibn Al-Bara' ibn Ma`rur ate with the Prophet and died as a result. The Prophet, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, gave his orders to kill the Jewess who poisoned the sheep, and her name was Zaynab. She was thus killed due to her causing the death of Bishr ibn Al-Bara'.I came across the above hadith on a website (quoted below), It was referenced that it was reported in Sunan Abi Dawud, Kitab diyat no. 4510 and in Sunan Darimy, introduction, no. 68 (classified as authentic on the website). I checked Sunan Abu Dawud (above reference), but the hadith there was quite different, and it is weak as well (I became doubtful of their information because of their mistake in quoting this), so I want a confirmation on whether it actually is in Sunan Ad-Daarimi (which is only available in Arabic) to be sure that it is not another mistake in quotation. Please, can this hadith be found in Sunan Ad-Daarimi, and what is the grade (authentic, good or weak)? I want to use it as evidence as to why the other companions who also ate the food did not die as Bishr ibn Al-Bara did. (As it is evident in Sunan Abu Dawud 4512 - authentic - that, "The Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, ate of it and the people also ate.") That is, Bishr ate the poisoned foreleg with the prophet while others Companions ate other parts of the sheep. This is the website I got the hadith from: http://www.alifta.net/Fatawa/FatawaChapters.aspx?languagename=en&View=Page&PageID=351&PageNo=1&BookID=14Jazakumullahu khairan.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
The version that you quoted was cited by Shaykh Ibn Baaz 
within one of his fataawa. It is well known that scholars, when giving fataawa, may narrate a summarized version of the hadeeth or narrate its meaning, not its exact text.
The version cited in Sunan Ad-Daarimi on the authority of Az-Zuhri reads:
“Jaabir ibn ʻAbdullaah 
narrated that a Jewess from the people of Khaybar poisoned a roasted sheep and then presented it to the Prophet, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, who took its foreleg and ate from it, and a group of his companions also ate with him. The Prophet, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, then said to them, ‘Lift your hands off (this food).’ He then sent someone to bring the Jewess. He said to her, ‘Have you poisoned this sheep?’ She replied, ‘Who told you?’ He said, ‘This (foreleg) which I have in my hand told me.’ She said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘What did you intend by it?’ She said, ‘I told myself: If he is a Prophet, it will not harm him; and if he is not a Prophet, then we get rid of him.’ The Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, pardoned her and did not punish her. Some of his Companions who ate from the sheep died.” [Sunan Ad-Daarimi]
The isnaad (chain of narration) of this version is weak; Az-Zuhri did not hear ahaadeeth directly from Jaabir ibn ʻAbdullaah .
Ad-Daarimi also narrated on the authority of Abu Salamah that he said:
“The Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, used to accept gifts, but he did not eat (that which was given in) charity. A woman from the Khaybar Jews gave him a roasted sheep as a gift, and he ate from it, as did Bishr ibn Al-Baraa’. The Prophet, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, then stopped eating and said, ‘This (food) is telling me that it is poisoned.' Bishr ibn Al-Baraa’ died of that poison. The Prophet, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, summoned her (the Jewish woman) and asked her, ‘What made you do what you did?’ She replied, ‘If you were a Prophet, nothing would harm you, and if you were a king, I would relieve the people from you.’ During his final illness, he said, ‘I remained sick because of the morsel that I ate at Khaybar, but now it has cut off my aorta.’” [Ad-Daarimi]
This version is classified as a mursal hadeeth (i.e. a hadeeth narrated by a Tabi'i [successor of the Prophet's Companions), which is one of the categories of weak hadeeth.
Al-Albaani labeled both ahaadeeth weak.
The story about the poisoned sheep was originally cited in Saheeh Al-Bukhari and Saheeh Muslim.
Ibn Katheer was one of the scholars who cited the different versions of this story in detail in the chapter on As-Seerah An-Nabawiyyah (The Prophet's Biography) in his book Al-Bidaayah wa An-Nihaayah.
Allaah knows best.
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