Was Tha‘labah Ibn Haatib, may Allaah be pleased with him, the one meant by the story mentioned in Chapter At-Tawbah in the verse (which means): {And among them are those who made a covenant with Allaah, [saying], "If He should give us from His bounty…} [Quran 9:75]? How authentic is the chain of narration of the Hadeeth that narrates this story?

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 is His slave and Messenger.

Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {And among them are those who made a covenant with Allaah, [saying], "If He should give us from His bounty, we will surely spend in charity, and we will surely be among the righteous."} [Quran 9:75] Explaining the cause of the revelation of this verse, many scholars of Tafseer (Quranic exegesis) mentioned the following story that was narrated on the authority of Abu Umaamah :

Once Tha‘labah Ibn Haatib Al-Ansaari came to the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam , and asked him to supplicate to Allaah The Almighty to bestow wealth upon him. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, told him that a little for which he is grateful is better than a lot that would be too much for him to fulfill the due gratitude to Allaah for. Later, Tha‘labah returned and repeated the same request; the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, urged him not to seek this worldly life. When he came to the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and made the same request for the third time, vowing that he would give everyone his due in this wealth, the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, supplicated to Allaah The Almighty for him. Then Tha‘labah bred sheep which increased in number until they crowded the streets of Madeenah, so he left for the pastures of Madeenah. He used to pray with the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and then go to his sheep. After that, his sheep increased in number until the pastures of Madeenah were full of them, so he left for a more spacious place. At that time, he only prayed the Friday prayer with the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and then would go to his sheep. When they increased in number more and more, he became more preoccupied with them and abandoned the Friday prayers and the congregational prayers. He would then ask travelers for news of the people [in Madeenah].

When Allaah The Almighty revealed the verse (which means): {Take, [O, Muhammad], from their wealth a charity by which you purify them and cause them increase, and invoke [the blessings of Allaah] upon them. Indeed, your invocations are reassurance for them. And Allaah is Hearing and Knowing} [Quran 9:103], the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, appointed two persons to collect Zakah (obligatory charity) and wrote the amount for them and the way to take the Zakah. He also ordered them to pass by Tha‘labah to take Zakah from him. When they went to Tha‘labah and read the letter of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, to him, he told them to take Zakah from other people then return to him later. When they returned to him, he refused to pay Zakah, likening it to Jizyah (a head-tax for non-Muslims).

They returned to the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and told him what had happened and Allaah The Almighty then revealed to him the verses (which mean): {And among them are those who made a covenant with Allaah, [saying], "If He should give us from His bounty, we will surely spend in charity, and we will surely be among the righteous. But when He gave them from His bounty, they were stingy with it and turned away while they refused So He penalized them with hypocrisy in their hearts until the Day they will meet Him - because they failed Allaah in what they promised Him and because they [habitually] used to lie.} [Quran 9:75-77] A relative of Tha‘labah mounted his camel, went to him and told him that Allaah revealed verses concerning him. Tha‘labah came to the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, crying and throwing dust on his head and asked the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, to accept Zakah from him. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, did not accept his Zakah until he died. After the death of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, Tha‘labah went to Abu Bakr asking him to accept Zakah from him but Abu Bakr also refused. When ‘Umar assumed the Caliphate, Tha‘labah went to him asking him to accept Zakah from him but ‘Umar likewise refused to accept it. When ‘Uthmaan became the Caliph, Tha‘labah went to him asking him to accept Zakah from him, but ‘Uthmaan refused to accept it. Tha‘labah died during the Caliphate of ‘Uthmaan . [At-Tabaraani in Al-Kabeer; Ibn Jareer in his book of Tafseer, and Others. Al-Qurtubi: inauthentic; Ibn Hazm: Baatil (invalid); Al-‘Iraaqi: weak chain of narration; Muhammad Ibn Taahir: Dha‘eef (weak); Al-Albaani: extremely Dha‘eef; Ibn Hajar: very weak chain of narration; Ath-Thahabi: Dha‘eef; As-Suyooti: Dha‘eef] [End of story]

This story is not authentic. Scholars considered it to be weak although it is famous among the scholars of Tafseer. Al-Qurtubi mentioned that Tha‘labah was an Ansaari (Madeenan helper) who took part in the Battle of Badr. He is one of the people whom Allaah and His Messenger testified were true believers. Consequently, the narrated story is not authentic.

Ibn Hajar’s opinion is the predominant one in commenting on the verse in question [Quran 9:75]. He stated on the authority of Ibn Zayd that the people referred to in the verse were hypocrites. When Allaah The Almighty gave them from His bounty, they became stingy. Consequently, He penalized them with hypocrisy in their hearts until the Day of Resurrection. They are not to be granted any opportunity for repentance, forgiveness or pardon. This is the same as Iblees (Satan) when Allaah The Almighty deprived him of repentance.

Allaah Knows best.