Al-Lalaka'i preserves a report about Mutarrif ibn Abd Allah ibn al-Shikhkhir, may Allah have mercy on him, and a man from his people who lied about him during a dispute. Mutarrif made a conditional prayer that if the man was lying, Allah hasten his death, and the report says that the man then died on the spot. When the man's family complained to Ziyad, they acknowledged that Mutarrif had neither struck nor touched him. Ziyad is then reported to have described the event as the prayer of a righteous man coinciding with divine decree.
Al-Lalaka'i preserves a striking report about Mutarrif ibn Abd Allah ibn al-Shikhkhir, may Allah have mercy on him. The episode begins with a dispute between Mutarrif and a man from his people. According to the report, the man lied about Mutarrif during that dispute.
Mutarrif did not answer the accusation with physical force. Instead, he made a conditional supplication tied to the truth of what had been said. Its meaning was that if the man was lying, Allah would hasten his death. The condition is part of the event itself, because the prayer was not presented as an unqualified wish against the man.
The report then gives an immediate and extraordinary outcome. It says that the man died there on the spot. No blow, struggle, or physical confrontation is described between Mutarrif and the man at the time of his death.
Afterward, the man's family went to Ziyad and complained about what had happened. In that complaint they themselves acknowledged an important fact: Mutarrif had neither struck the man nor touched him. This keeps the event centered on the reported prayer rather than on any physical act.
Ziyad is then reported to have responded by describing what happened as the prayer of a righteous man that coincided with divine decree. That statement became part of the remembered shape of the story and explains why the episode was later preserved among reports associated with Mutarrif's karamat.
Later classical works also retained the same central event. Ibn Hajar notes that Ibn Abi al-Dunya transmitted the incident in his work on answered supplications, while Abu Nu'aym also preserves the core account in Mutarrif's biography. For a public retelling, the story is best kept to this single sequence: dispute, false statement, conditional prayer, sudden death, the family's complaint, and the acknowledgment that Mutarrif had not physically harmed the man.
Mutarrif did not answer the accusation with physical force. Instead, he made a conditional supplication tied to the truth of what had been said. Its meaning was that if the man was lying, Allah would hasten his death. The condition is part of the event itself, because the prayer was not presented as an unqualified wish against the man.
The report then gives an immediate and extraordinary outcome. It says that the man died there on the spot. No blow, struggle, or physical confrontation is described between Mutarrif and the man at the time of his death.
Afterward, the man's family went to Ziyad and complained about what had happened. In that complaint they themselves acknowledged an important fact: Mutarrif had neither struck the man nor touched him. This keeps the event centered on the reported prayer rather than on any physical act.
Ziyad is then reported to have responded by describing what happened as the prayer of a righteous man that coincided with divine decree. That statement became part of the remembered shape of the story and explains why the episode was later preserved among reports associated with Mutarrif's karamat.
Later classical works also retained the same central event. Ibn Hajar notes that Ibn Abi al-Dunya transmitted the incident in his work on answered supplications, while Abu Nu'aym also preserves the core account in Mutarrif's biography. For a public retelling, the story is best kept to this single sequence: dispute, false statement, conditional prayer, sudden death, the family's complaint, and the acknowledgment that Mutarrif had not physically harmed the man.
Conclusion
The account closes with Ziyad describing the event as the prayer of a righteous man coinciding with divine decree, after the family confirmed that Mutarrif had neither struck nor touched the deceased.
Sources
al-Lalaka'i, Sharh Usul I'tiqad Ahl al-Sunna, reports 171-172
al-Lalaka'i, reports 171-172
al-Lalaka'i, reports 171-172
al-Lalaka'i, reports 171-172
al-Lalaka'i reports 171-172: two upper routes converge on Yazid ibn Harun -> Jarir ibn Hazim -> Humayd ibn Hilal
Humayd ibn Hilal al-Adawi narrator dossier
Ibn Hajar, al-Isaba fi Tamyiz al-Sahaba, Mutarrif ibn Abd Allah entry
Ibn Hajar encyclopedia extract, Mutarrif report 637
al-Lalaka'i, report 173
CAND-0164 Task 1 evidence synthesis
al-Lalaka'i, reports 171-172
al-Lalaka'i, reports 171-172; Abu Nu'aym, Hilyat al-Awliya 2/202
Ibn Hajar, al-Isaba, Mutarrif ibn Abd Allah entry; al-Lalaka'i reports 171-172