the woman: "O Messenger of Allāh, it is I," so he said to the woman, "Go, for Allāh has forgiven you," and he spoke kindly to the man. It was said, "O Prophet of Allāh, will you not stone him?" He replied, "He mentioned it." Ibn al-Zubayr clearly stated that the ḥadd was not carried out on the confessor, and this is correct. Asbat ibn Nasr narrated from Simak with the same wording: "A woman was assaulted by a man in the early dawn while she was heading to the mosque. She called for help from a man passing by, and her assailant fled. Then a group of people with numbers passed by, and she called for their help. The one she initially called for help from caught up with her, but the other had already fled. They brought him to her, and he said, 'I am the one who helped you, and the other has gone.' They brought him to the Messenger of Allāh (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) and informed him that he had assaulted her. The people told him they caught him running, and he said, 'I was only helping her against her assailant, and these people caught me.' She said, 'He is lying; he is the one who assaulted me.' The Messenger of Allāh (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) said, 'Take him and stone him.' A man from the people stood up and said, 'Do not stone him; stone me, for I am the one who committed the act.' He confessed, and three gathered before the Messenger of Allāh (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam): the one who assaulted her, the one who responded to her, and the woman. He said, 'As for you, Allāh has forgiven you,' and he spoke kindly to the one who responded to her." ʿUmar (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu) said, "Stone the one who confessed to fornication." The Messenger of Allāh (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) said, "No, because he has repented to Allāh—a repentance, I think he said, that if the people of Madīnah or the people of Yathrib had repented with it, it would have been accepted from them." So he released them." Asbat ibn Nasr, although there is some criticism regarding his memory, was used as evidence by Muslim, and al-Bukhārī said about him, "Truthful," while others weakened him. He is acceptable in corroborative and supportive narrations, so his narration gives preference to the narration of Ibn al-Zubayr over the narration of al-Firyābī from Simak. And Allāh knows best. Al-Bayhaqī also reported this narration from Asbat (8/285), and then mentioned the narration of Israʾīl
عليها: يا رسول الله أنا هو، فقال للمرأة: اذهبي فقد غفر الله لك، وقال للرجل قولا حسنا، فقيل: يا نبي الله ألا ترجمه؟ فقال: فذكره. فقد صرح ابن الزبير بأن الحد لم يقم على المعترف وهو الصواب، فقد رواه أسباط بن نصر عن سماك به مثله ولفظه: "أن امرأة وقع عليها رجل في سواد الصبح وهي تعمد إلى المسجد، فاستغاثت برجل مر عليها وفر صاحبها، ثم مر عليها قوم ذو عدة فاستغاثت بهم، فأدركها الذي استغاثت به وسبقهما الآخر فذهب، فجاؤوا به يقودونه إليها، فقال: إنما أنا الذي أغثتك وقد ذهب الآخر، فأتوا به رسول الله ﷺ، فأخبر أنه وقع عليها وأخبره القوم أنهم أدركوه يشتد، فقال إنما كنت أغيثها على صاحبها، فأدركوني هؤلاء فأخذوني، قالت: كذب هو الذي وقع علي، فقال رسول الله ﷺ: اذهبوا به فارجموه، قال: فقام رجل من الناس، فقال: لا ترجموه وارجموني أنا الذي فعلت الفعل، فاعترف، فاجتمع ثلاثة عند رسول الله ﷺ، الذي وقع عليها والذي أجابها والمرأة، فقال: أما أنت فقد غفر الله لك وقال للذي أجابها قولا حسنا. فقال عمر ﵁: ارجم الذي اعترف بالزنا، قال رسول الله ﷺ: لا لأنه قد تاب إلى الله - أحسبه قال - توبة لو تابها أهل المدينة أو أهل يثرب لقبل منهم، فأرسلهم". وأسباط بن نصر وإن كان فيه كلام من قبل حفظه فقد احتج به مسلم، وقال فيه البخاري: صدوق، وضعفه آخرون فهو لا بأس به في الشواهد والمتابعات، فروايته ترجح رواية ابن الزبير على رواية الفريابي عن سماك. والله أعلم. وقد أخرج البيهقي هذه الرواية عن أسباط (٨ / ٢٨٥)، ثم ذكر رواية إسرائيل.