Harshness vs. Mercy in the Early Madani Phase
So we mentioned that Allah SWT revealed a verse about the prisoners of war that the harsher treatment would have been better than clemency/mercy at this time. What is the wisdom behind this?
1. Allah says, "It is not appropriate that any prophet has prisoners of war until he establishes his authority in the land" [see Quran, 8:67]. Forgiveness when it's done out of weakness is not considered to be effective; whereas forgiveness at power is the most effective — it's the most genuine forgiveness. Thus, Allah is hinting that at this stage of weakness where you have the lower hand, it would have been better to execute the POWs to get to the upper hand. (And in today’s and next week’s lessons, we will explicitly discuss the pragmatism of Islam compared to other systems that preach tolerance and love but often fail to practice these ideals. Doctrines like 'turn the other cheek' and 'always forgive' are simply unrealistic for any country, society, or people to maintain. Such teachings are not viable for society because perpetual forgiveness invites exploitation. Historically, no nation claiming to follow these doctrines has ever fully adopted them, demonstrating their impracticality. While these ideals may occasionally work on an individual level, they are ineffective on a broader societal scale. Conversely, Islam teaches forgiveness and mercy as general principles but also emphasizes the importance of justice and firmness when necessary. This balanced approach sends a clear message: do not take advantage of us. This pragmatic reality makes Islam more realistic and effective in dealing with the complexities of human interactions and societal needs.) Allah is saying you are still humiliated and oppressed — so you should not have forgiven your enemies at this stage. "It is not appropriate that any prophet has prisoners of war until he establishes his authority in the land" [Quran, 8:67] — which means, yes, the ideal is to forgive, but when is the forgiveness done? When you are powerful. Look at the practical element of our religion.
2. Another wisdom of not forgiving at this stage was that —and this is exactly what happened—: For every two POWs that you save, maybe one will come back to fight you. And indeed, that's exactly what happened: Some of the prisoners who were freed after Badr, they came back to fight the Muslims in the Battle of Uhud [3 AH], the Battle of Ahzab [5 AH], etc.
3. A third wisdom, which Umar RA himself alluded to when he basically said to the Prophet PBUH to give everybody their own tribesmen to execute, was that it was to demonstrate to the mushrikun that, "We are more loyal to Allah than we are to tribalism"—a concept that took years for the Quraysh to understand. (Even in the Incident of Hudaybiyyah [which would take place a few years later], when Suhayl ibn Amr [who at the time was not yet a Muslim] came to negotiate with the Prophet PBUH, he looked around and said: "O Muhammad, do you really think this motley crew [i.e., these Muslims] will be able to unite and fight against the Quraysh?" i.e., Suhayl literally could not understand what united the Muslims all of whom came from different backgrounds and tribes. And at this, Abu Bakr RA got extremely angry and he uttered a literal type of curse word to Suhayl, even though, as we know, Abu Bakr is usually the most humble and peaceful person — but this statement of Suhayl made him so angry that he cursed him in a vulgar language.)
Nonetheless, Allah SWT accepted the ijtihad of the Prophet PBUH, and the 70 prisoners were taken back to Madinah. However, on the way back, two prisoners were executed. Out of the 70, 2 of them were not spared. The general rule in Islam is that prisoners of war (POWs) are not executed; but on occasion, they might be. Some scholars say this is the only time POWs were ever executed under the Prophet PBUH. And these two were al-Nadr ibn al-Harith and Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt:
1. Allah says, "It is not appropriate that any prophet has prisoners of war until he establishes his authority in the land" [see Quran, 8:67]. Forgiveness when it's done out of weakness is not considered to be effective; whereas forgiveness at power is the most effective — it's the most genuine forgiveness. Thus, Allah is hinting that at this stage of weakness where you have the lower hand, it would have been better to execute the POWs to get to the upper hand. (And in today’s and next week’s lessons, we will explicitly discuss the pragmatism of Islam compared to other systems that preach tolerance and love but often fail to practice these ideals. Doctrines like 'turn the other cheek' and 'always forgive' are simply unrealistic for any country, society, or people to maintain. Such teachings are not viable for society because perpetual forgiveness invites exploitation. Historically, no nation claiming to follow these doctrines has ever fully adopted them, demonstrating their impracticality. While these ideals may occasionally work on an individual level, they are ineffective on a broader societal scale. Conversely, Islam teaches forgiveness and mercy as general principles but also emphasizes the importance of justice and firmness when necessary. This balanced approach sends a clear message: do not take advantage of us. This pragmatic reality makes Islam more realistic and effective in dealing with the complexities of human interactions and societal needs.) Allah is saying you are still humiliated and oppressed — so you should not have forgiven your enemies at this stage. "It is not appropriate that any prophet has prisoners of war until he establishes his authority in the land" [Quran, 8:67] — which means, yes, the ideal is to forgive, but when is the forgiveness done? When you are powerful. Look at the practical element of our religion.
2. Another wisdom of not forgiving at this stage was that —and this is exactly what happened—: For every two POWs that you save, maybe one will come back to fight you. And indeed, that's exactly what happened: Some of the prisoners who were freed after Badr, they came back to fight the Muslims in the Battle of Uhud [3 AH], the Battle of Ahzab [5 AH], etc.
3. A third wisdom, which Umar RA himself alluded to when he basically said to the Prophet PBUH to give everybody their own tribesmen to execute, was that it was to demonstrate to the mushrikun that, "We are more loyal to Allah than we are to tribalism"—a concept that took years for the Quraysh to understand. (Even in the Incident of Hudaybiyyah [which would take place a few years later], when Suhayl ibn Amr [who at the time was not yet a Muslim] came to negotiate with the Prophet PBUH, he looked around and said: "O Muhammad, do you really think this motley crew [i.e., these Muslims] will be able to unite and fight against the Quraysh?" i.e., Suhayl literally could not understand what united the Muslims all of whom came from different backgrounds and tribes. And at this, Abu Bakr RA got extremely angry and he uttered a literal type of curse word to Suhayl, even though, as we know, Abu Bakr is usually the most humble and peaceful person — but this statement of Suhayl made him so angry that he cursed him in a vulgar language.)
Nonetheless, Allah SWT accepted the ijtihad of the Prophet PBUH, and the 70 prisoners were taken back to Madinah. However, on the way back, two prisoners were executed. Out of the 70, 2 of them were not spared. The general rule in Islam is that prisoners of war (POWs) are not executed; but on occasion, they might be. Some scholars say this is the only time POWs were ever executed under the Prophet PBUH. And these two were al-Nadr ibn al-Harith and Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt:
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The Mocker of the Quran: Al-Nadr ibn al-Harith
As for al-Nadr ibn al-Harith (النضر بن الحارث): Ibn Ishaq said he was of the shayatin of the Quraysh. And it's said that over 8 verses in the Quran were revealed about him. He was of those who before the coming of Islam had lived abroad in al-Hirah (الحيرة), the capital of the Lakhmid Dynasty in Iraq. So he had an outside education. When the Quran began to be revealed, he became the most sarcastic commentator of the Quran. And he would say, "What are these fables/stories? I can give you better fables." And it's said every single reference in the Quran to somebody saying, "These are fables..." [e.g., Quran, 8:31, 25:5] is a reference to al-Nadr. And Allah revealed in the Quran, "Who does more injustice than the one who says, 'I can reveal as Allah reveals'?" [Quran, 6:93] — this is al-Nadr who said "I can reveal as Allah reveals." And it's said when the people would come around the Prophet PBUH to listen to him, al-Nadr would come and say, "Leave this man! I can tell you better stories," and he would narrate stories of the ancient Persian kings, etc.
Also, al-Nadr and Uqba were the ones who decided to travel to Yathrib and ask the Jews trick questions to trick the Prophet PBUH with, because of which Surah Yusuf was revealed (or according to another opinion, Surah al-Kahf) — [see episode 14]. They traveled all the way just to trap the Prophet PBUH. And they came back so happy and proud, "Now we have him trapped! For sure he cannot answer! And that will show he is a liar!" But of course, as we have seen, the Prophet PBUH answered all the questions correctly.
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The End of Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt
As for Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt, he was one of the most vile and evil people. He physically carried the carcass when the Prophet PBUH was in sajdah [see episode 15]. Recall Abu Jahal taunted, "Who will get it [i.e., the carcass]?" — and Ibn Ishaq narrated, "The most despicable of them stood up"—and that is Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt. Can you imagine, a nobleman who has slaves, who is a rich person, spoiling his garment with a stinking rotting dead animal, just to throw it on the back of somebody? He was also the one who physically tried to choke the Prophet PBUH to death while he PBUH was praying [see episode 15]. And Abu Bakr RA came to save him and said to the Quraysh, "Will you kill a man just because he says, 'Allah is my Lord'?!"
When Uqba was brought out to be executed, he said, "Why me out of all of them?" And Ali RA said, "Because of your animosity to Allah and His Messenger." And it is said Ali was the one who killed him. In Seerah Ibn Ishaq, it is mentioned that right when he was about to be killed, he begged for his life, "O Muhammad, who will take care of my children?" And the Prophet PBUH gave a very enigmatic response, "The Fire." Then he was executed by Ali. What did the Prophet PBUH mean by this? Two interpretations:
1. Don't worry about your children, you have to worry about the Fire.
2. If they follow your footsteps, they will join you in the Fire.
Here, he is groveling for forgiveness and begging for his own children, but where was his own sympathy when the Prophet's PBUH daughter had to come and save the Prophet PBUH in sajdah? [see episode 15]
Our religion shows harshness when it is due, and mercy when it is due. For people like Uqba and al-Nadr, the message needed to be given that not all kuffar are the same. These two are, as Ibn Ishaq says, the shayatin of the Quraysh. So for them, the message is given: there is no clemency/forgiveness. And frankly, these people were to the level of all of the others who were killed (Umayyah, Abu Jahal, et al). And for some wisdom that Allah knows (perhaps to demonstrate a special death for them), they survived during the war, and they were the only POWs executed at the command of the Prophet PBUH.
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The Victory of the Muslims
The Prophet PBUH left from the Plains of Badr on Monday, the 20th of Ramadan. And the Muslims in Madinah were waiting patiently to find out what had happened. The rumors had come, but they couldn't firmly believe it until Zayd ibn Harithah, the 'adopted son' of the Prophet PBUH, returned. The Prophet PBUH sent him on his own camel, al-Qaswa (القصواء), which everyone recognized, as a sign that Zayd was telling the truth. And they all saw Zayd shouting in excitement, "Allahu'akbar!" And he started mentioning the names of all those who had been killed in Badr. And it was a list of every single famous person of the Quraysh.
When the Muslims heard this, they became happy.
However, when the neo-munafiqun heard it, they started mumbling and whispering amongst themselves, "Clearly Zayd has gone crazy. Muhammad has been killed, and Zayd has taken his camel and now he is delirious and babbling," etc. — because these neo-munafiqun couldn't believe that the news was actually true. So they began saying the Prophet PBUH was dead. (Ironically, as we will come to, the exact same reaction happened in Makkah too when the first crier came back. So both camps were in a type of disbelief.)
And subhan'Allah, the phenomenon of nifaq is about to begin now. And such is the way with the munafiqun — they will leave no opportunity except that they will attack Islam and the Prophet PBUH.
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The Death of Ruqayyah, the Daughter of the Prophet PBUH
There is one footnote of sad news: As Zayd ibn Harithah was coming into the city chanting takbir, Uthman ibn Affan was burying Ruqayyah (رقية) RA, the daughter of the Prophet PBUH, who had just passed away. Uthman heard the takbir while in Baqi' just as he finished burying Ruqayyah. So he asked, "What is going on? What is this takbir?" — and he was told that the Battle of Badr had been a success.
Wallahi, if you think about it, the Battle of Badr, up until this point, is the happiest occasion ever in Islam. Yet still, Allah willed on that day a tragedy struck in the very household that deserves the most joy, and that is the household of the Prophet PBUH. (Side note: The order of the daughters of the Prophet PBUH, we don't know. Some say Ruqayyah was the 1st, some say the 2nd, and some say the 3rd. But for sure she was the first to die. After her, Uthman RA married Ummi Kulthum bint Muhammad [أم كلثوم بنت محمد].) So Ruqayyah RA passed away. It's as if Allah is showing that no matter how happy you are, this world is going to be a world of testing and a world of trial. It's a temporary abode. And life and death does not stop for anybody. This is the reality of the life of this world. As the Prophet PBUH said, "Every one of us has a long list [of what we want to do], but death comes and draws a line in that list wherever it is." So through this death, it's as if our Prophet PBUH himself is being shown (and through him, every one of us is also being shown) that even during this time of happiness, realize that the ultimate happiness is in the Next life; not this world.
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Prisoner of War: Suhayl ibn Amr
So Zayd ibn Harithah came back and the news spread amongst the people of Madinah, and they all gathered together to wait for the Prophet PBUH to come. And the Prophet PBUH arrived back the same day, with the 70 prisoners, took them to the Masjid of the Prophet PBUH, and told each person who captured them to look after them.
And the chieftains of the Quraysh among the prisoners were hosted by the Prophet PBUH himself. Never in the history of mankind has this ever happened, that the chieftain of the other army is being taken care of by the leader of the other army. Suhayl ibn Amr (سهيل بن عمرو) was of the foremost among the leaders of the Quraysh.
Sawda, the wife of the Prophet PBUH, something happened here that caused her to regret what she had done: She was with the mother of those who killed Abu Jahal —she was in their house— and when she heard the Quraysh had surrendered and the Prophet PBUH had come back to Madinah, she rushed back home and barged into her own house, and there in the corner of her own room, she saw Suhayl ibn Amr with his hand tied up, sitting as a prisoner; and when she saw the leader of the Quraysh with his hand tied up like this, she said to him —and she narrated this herself—: "O Abu Yazid (أبو يزيد), you surrendered like this? Why didn't you die an honorable death rather than live like a prisoner?"—instantaneously, she just 'reverted' to the old Jahiliyyah days; she feels disgraced that the leader of the Quraysh is sitting as a prisoner. And when she narrates this story, she says, "I didn't even realize what I said until I heard the Prophet PBUH next to me saying, 'O Sawda, you are stoking/encouraging him to fight against Allah and His Messenger? (i.e., Do you realize what you are saying?)'" And Sawda made an excuse for herself, "Ya Rasulullah! Wallahi, I lost sense of what I was saying when I saw him sitting like this. I couldn't control myself." And the Prophet PBUH accepted the excuse.
This shows us over and over again the humanity of the Companions. This is a very major blunder, and yet the Prophet PBUH didn't criticize her. Every one of us — sometimes we make mistakes of judgment, mistakes of emotion, mistakes of anger, etc. If the Prophet PBUH can forgive a mistake that outwardly is a type of kufr, then surely we can forgive one another for shortcomings that are lesser in gravity. Indeed, in her emotions, Sawda RA lost control of her rationality. And there are many other examples like this as well: E.g., in the hadith of the man who was dying in the desert — when he later found his lost camel, he blurted out a statement out of joy: "O Allah, You are my servant, and I am Your Rabb!" When the Prophet PBUH was narrating this hadith, even he PBUH smiled at the man's madness, and he made an excuse for him. The Prophet PBUH said, "He made a mistake because he was deliriously happy." The point is, when anyone we know makes a mistake out of emotion, anger, etc., and then recognizes the mistake, we should just move on as the Prophet PBUH did.
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Muslims' Treatment of the Prisoners of War
The Prophet PBUH, as we mentioned, gave every POW to the one who captured him. And he said, "I command you to treat them with kindness." And Ibn Ishaq mentions many stories about how kindly they were treated. One of them, Abu Aziz (أبو عزيز), the brother of Mus'ab ibn Umayr, said he was assigned to a group of Ansar. And he said whenever they sat down to eat, they would give him the bread and meat, and they would take the dates and water. Why? He himself says, "Because the Prophet PBUH told them to treat the prisoners with kindness. But out of embarrassment, I would put the bread back in front of them; but they would put it back in front of me." And this is the beauty of Islam: Strictness in the time of strictness, but the general rule is mercy and kindness. And this is an unparalleled treatment of prisoners of war ever. (And that is why, by the way — why were the Geneva Conventions given? It's because mankind realizes we need to treat prisoners decently.) Our shariah gave these rights to prisoners when no other culture on earth acknowledged such rights; prisoners were treated royally, and they were given better food than their captors. Just imagine, which ruler has ever taken a prisoner of war and let him live in his own house? This is the reality of our religion. And we say this in light of what happened to al-Nadr and Uqba. This is what makes Islam such a beautiful, practical, realistic religion.
Then the Prophet PBUH sent the message to the Quraysh, "These are the prisoners that we will ransom off." There are different narrations given about the price on the prisoners of war. And insha'Allah, the correct opinion is that every prisoner was given a price suitable for him. The rich had to pay more; the poor prisoners paid a lower ransom, so much so the poorest could go back without paying anything. Note the Prophet PBUH knew every one of them personally, so he knew how much money they roughly had as well.
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Prisoner of War: Al-Abbas, the Uncle of the Prophet PBUH
The Ansari who 'captured' al-Abbas came to the Prophet PBUH and told him, "Ya Rasulullah, I will gift al-Abbas to you." But the Prophet PBUH said, "No. Rather, do not decrease his ransom by even one coin." And that Ansari got a very high price, i.e., 4,000 dirhams. Not only that, the Prophet PBUH told him al-Abbas should also pay the ransom of Aqil (عقيل) and Nawfal (نوفل) who were both his nephews. (Aqil is the second son of Abu Talib after Talib; and after him is Ja'far, and then Ali. Nawfal is the son of al-Harith the oldest son of Abdul Muttalib.)
There is an interesting hadith in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad: Al-Abbas came to the Prophet PBUH and said, "Ya Rasulullah, I am a Muslim, so why are you putting a ransom on me?" The Prophet PBUH said, "Allah knows your situation (i.e., we have to judge you on the outer reality). If what you say is true, Allah will give you something better. But we have to judge you by your actions — and you fought us, so you must pay your ransom." And Abbas himself said later on that Surah al-Anfal verse 70 was revealed because of him:
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ قُل لِّمَن فِي أَيْدِيكُم مِّنَ الْأَسْرَىٰ إِن يَعْلَمِ اللَّهُ فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ خَيْرًا يُؤْتِكُمْ خَيْرًا مِّمَّا أُخِذَ مِنكُمْ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ۗ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
"O Prophet, say to whoever is in your hands of the captives, 'If Allah knows [any] good in your hearts, He will give you [something] better than what was taken from you, and He will forgive you; and Allah is Forgiving and Merciful'" [8:70].Abbas told the Prophet PBUH, "I don't have any money." But what did the Prophet PBUH say in response? "Where is that money you and Umm al-Fadl (أم الفضل) (i.e., your wife) hid on such-and-such a day? That you went out and buried it? And you said to Umm al-Fadl, 'If I ever die, this will go to al-Fadl (الفضل), this will go to Abdullah (عبد الله), and this will go to Qutham (قثم)'?" So immediately, Abbas said, "I swear by the One who has sent you with the Truth that you are the Messenger of Allah. For no one knew about this other than me and Umm al-Fadl." And Abbas used to say later on in life, commenting on verse [8:70], "Wallahi, I wish the Prophet PBUH had taken more from me [during Badr's ransom], because what Allah SWT gave me in return is much more than what He took." And he said, "I had to give 20 uqiyyahs (which is an amount of silver) [during Badr's ransom], and instead of this 20 uqiyyahs, now I have 20 slaves, each one of them is a businessman trading; and I get the profits of 20 businessmen underneath me."
The point is that Al-Abbas therefore paid his full ransom along with the ransom of his two nephews.
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Prisoners of War: Teaching Children How to Read and Write as the Ransom
It is also reported authentically in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad that some captives had no money, but they could read and write — and so the Prophet PBUH told them they could go free if they taught the children of the Ansar how to read and write. The Prophet PBUH wanted to spread literacy in a society that, at the time, didn't care about literacy. Islam was a civilizational force for the Arabs: It came to a group that didn't care about culture, history, science, reading, writing, etc., and it raised them up to be the leaders of the world. It is truly profound.
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Prisoner of War: Abu al-As, the Husband of Zaynab bint Muhammad
Abu al-As ibn al-Rabi' (أبو العاص بن الربيع) was the husband of Zaynab bint Muhammad. Thus he was the son-in-law of the Prophet PBUH. Zaynab RA is most likely the eldest daughter of the Prophet PBUH. (Side note: Abu al-As's mother was Hala [هالة], the older sister of Khadija RA. So Khadija RA is Abu al-As's aunt. The marriage between Abu al-As and Zaynab took place in the days of Jahiliyyah. And Abu al-As was a loving husband.)
He was fighting against the Muslims in Badr, and so the ransom was sent for him as well. It's said when the ransom came, Zaynab, to make up the whole quantity, she gave some of her jewelry; and one item of that jewelry was a necklace that Khadija RA used to wear that she had gifted to Zaynab at the time of her wedding. When the Prophet PBUH saw this very necklace being sent as ransom, his heart melted — it brought back the memories of Khadija RA. (Recall even the footsteps of Hala would almost bring the Prophet PBUH to tears. And Aisha RA would get jealous when Hala visited the Prophet PBUH — because she could see the effects of Khadija's memory on the face of the Prophet PBUH.) So when the Prophet PBUH saw the necklace, he requested to those who captured Abu al-As, "If you feel it is appropriate, can you set him free without this item?" And who is going to say no to the intercession of the Prophet PBUH? So he was sent back without this ransom. And we will discover in a while why this happened.
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Prisoner of War: Amr ibn Abi Sufyan
Another story was the ransom of Amr ibn Abi Sufyan (عمرو بن أبي سفيان). (Note: Abu Sufyan was of course the leader of the caravan. And right now, he is the undisputed leader of the Quraysh. So he has been traumatized the most, since now, all the pressure is on him. In trying to save his camels and the caravan, disaster befell Makkah.) Abu Sufyan was told to ransom his son Amr. And when he heard this, he said, "Do they expect me to give up my money (to ransom Amr) along with my blood (another son, Hanzala [حنظلة], who died in Badr)? Let him (Amr) remain in their (the Muslims') hands — he will stay there as long as they want (i.e., I am not going to pay money for my son)." And subhan'Allah, it is amazing here to see that the only reason he could have done this was that, deep down inside, he knew that the Muslims would not kill/torture/persecute his son. The irony is, no matter how much he hated Islam and the Prophet PBUH, he knew his son was in safe hands. That's why he could say, "Let him remain there." He knew the Muslims would take good care of him.
But later, he did a very evil deed to get his son back, which goes against the principles of Islam and Jahiliyyah. Many months later, one of the elderly people of Madinah —an Ansari by the name of Sa'd ibn al-Nu'man (سعد بن النعمان), who has nothing to do with Badr or anything— came to do business in Makkah and do tawaf and Umrah. And we said many times already that Makkah is a Haram. And this is a law that even the Quraysh themselves upheld at all times. But when this Ansari came, Abu Sufyan kidnapped him in broad daylight and said to the Muslims, "I will not release him until you release my son!" And so the tribe of Sa'd ibn al-Nu'man came to the Prophet PBUH and said, "O Messenger of Allah, this-and-this has happened," so the Prophet PBUH released the son of Abu Sufyan without a ransom. And again, we see the double standard of the Quraysh: They went crazy when some of the sahaba made a mistake and killed someone during the Sacred Month; but when their chieftain kidnaps someone in broad daylight in front of the Ka'bah, no one utters a word. Nonetheless, we see the air of pragmatism here: The Prophet PBUH deals with them despite the fact that it is open zulm. Because — what is the fault of Sa'd ibn al-Nu'man? So the Prophet PBUH released the son of Abu Sufyan and swapped the two prisoners.
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Prisoner of War: Abu Aziz, the Brother of Mus'ab ibn Umayr
Another story is that of Abu Aziz ibn Umayr (أبو عزيز بن عمير) who became very happy when he saw his brother Mus'ab ibn Umayr RA. But Mus'ab RA told the Ansari who captured his brother, "Make sure he doesn't escape, because his mother is very wealthy, and she will pay 'top dollar' for him." So his brother says, "Ya akhi (أخي - my brother), this is how you treat me?" But Mus'ab says, "هذا أخي دونك (this [Ansari] is my brother, not you)."
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Mercy: Freeing the Rest of the Prisoners
For those who couldn't afford any ransom and were also illiterate, they were all sent back without any ransom, e.g., al-Muttalib ibn Hantab (المطلب بن حنطب), Sayfi ibn Abi Rifa'ah (صيفي بن أبي رفاعة ), Abu Azzah al-Jumahi (أبو عزة الجمحي), et al. This shows us again the pragmatism of the Prophet PBUH.
It's said Abu Azzah came to the Prophet PBUH and said, "O Messenger of Allah! You know that I don't have a powerful family. You know that I have no sons. I only have daughters. I have no money. And I have a large family. So be generous with me." So the Prophet PBUH freed him with one condition, "You are never allowed to fight against us again. Go back, and never fight against us." So Abu Azzah agreed to this, he went back to Makkah, and he wrote a beautiful poem, which is recorded in Ibn Ishaq, praising the generosity of the Prophet PBUH.
And many of the prisoners of Badr eventually accepted Islam, either before the Conquest [8 AH] or immediately after. E.g., Nawfal ibn al-Harith, al-Abbas, Aqil ibn Abi Talib, Suhayl ibn Amr, et al. This shows us the wisdom that, yes, sometimes, strictness will be shown, but the general rule is mercy.
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After-Effects of the Battle of Badr
Now, what was the effect of the Battle of Badr in Makkah and Madinah?
1. All the pagans that remained in Madinah realized they had to abandon their paganism. So the last remnants of idolatry in Madinah vanished. And so paganism disappeared. Slowly, more and more people converted, and eventually [out of social pressure], they all converted. However, at the conversion of these pagans, a new trend began, and that is nifaq (نفاق - hypocrisy). There was no nifaq before and during the Battle of Badr. Nifaq is a post-Badr phenomenon. And it's said that Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul (عبد الله بن أبي بن سلول), the leader of the hypocrites who was the eldest chieftain of the tribes of Yathrib, when he heard Zayd ibn Harithah saying all of the names, he said, "It appears the matter has now been settled (i.e., I am never going to be the leader; Islam is supreme and Muhammad is here to stay)." Thus, he outwardly accepted Islam. And we know from the Quran that he never truly embraced Islam. He remained a hypocrite until the end of his life. (Note: Before the coming of the Prophet PBUH, Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul was hoping that Yathrib would unite under him.)
2. Regarding Abu al-As ibn al-Rabi' the husband of Zaynab RA: One month after the Battle of Badr, the Prophet PBUH sent two Companions to a certain place outside of Makkah, and he told them to wait there for a few days and they would get a visitor, so bring that visitor to Madinah. And it turns out Zaynab RA was that visitor. The deal was that Abu al-As was freed with the condition that he send Zaynab back to the Prophet PBUH. So basically, instead of monetary ransom, his ransom was sending the daughter of the Prophet PBUH back to the Prophet PBUH. (Recall Zaynab was a Muslim since the Prophet PBUH began preaching; and Abu al-As was a mushrik. At this point in the seerah, you could still be married to a mushrik — verses of prohibition weren't revealed yet. Abu al-As always treated Zaynab honorably and never prevented her from practicing Islam. And later on, in 6 AH, Abu al-As also embraced Islam [see episode 62].) When Abu al-As came back to Makkah, rumors began to spread that Zaynab might be going back to the Prophet PBUH. How did this rumor spread? Allah knows best. The Prophet PBUH did not say this, but people knew Abu al-As did not pay his ransom, so perhaps they guessed this was the case. Hind the wife of Abu Sufyan, she visited Zaynab and said, "I've heard that you are about to go back to your father. There's no need for you to leave — but if you are going to do that, then tell me beforehand, so that I can prepare your baggage for you, because women know what women need more than men know." Now, why do you think she is making such a generous offer? Because she has a plan that Zaynab should never leave. Why? Because then they will still have a hostage, i.e., the daughter of the Prophet PBUH, in their midst. So Hind tells her that if she ever plans to leave, "I will help pack your stuff." Zaynab was very tempted to take her up on that offer, but then she said, something didn't feel right, and therefore, she didn't mention it to her when she decided to leave. When she finished preparing, her brother-in-law (Abu al-As's brother) by the name of al-Kinana (الكنانة) took her outside of the city. And this was pre-agreed. Abu al-As did not want to take her himself because he felt too humiliated to do so.
So Kinana, in broad daylight, takes Zaynab's bags, puts them on his camel, puts Zaynab on the camel, and begins leading the camel outside of Makkah. This was of course not very wise. The news spreads across Makkah that Zaynab is leaving. And immediately, some of the Quraysh gathered an entourage to stop her from leaving. They surrounded Zaynab, and Kinana tried to protect her. It's said that at this time, Zaynab was pregnant with a child. A certain Qureshi by the name of Habbar ibn al-Aswad ibn al-Muttalib (هبار بن الأسود بن المطلب), he was the one who thrust a spear at the camel to try to stop them from going. The camel became scared, reared up, and Zaynab fell 15 ft from the camel, and she started to bleed then and there and suffered a miscarriage because of this. (Some people also say she was so severely wounded that this was one of the reasons she died an early death. And as we know, all of the daughters of the Prophet PBUH died in his lifetime except for Fatima RA.) And so Kinana jumped in front of her and said, "I swear by Allah! Anyone who approaches me will taste my sword and my bow and arrow! And you all know how good of a marksman I am!" So they didn't know what to do — it's a type of impasse, "What is to be done now?" Until finally, Abu Sufyan hears of what is going on, and he rushes on his horse and calms the situation. He promises them that Zaynab will stay, and tells them to leave. And he then tells Kinana, "You acted foolishly! Did you expect us to allow you to take Zaynab in broad daylight? Go back to the people, wait some while, and when the people stop talking about this issue, then quietly hand her over to her father. We have no reason to keep this lady here." Abu Sufyan is being pragmatic. He is trying to say, "Don't humiliate us. Go quietly when no one is looking." And so that's exactly what happened. In the middle of the night a few days later, once again, Kinana took her out, gave her over to the two sahaba, and they took her to Madinah.
And it shows us again as we've said from the very beginning: There's always good people in every society. Here is Kinana, not a Muslim, but he is an honorable man. This incident also shows the intelligence of Abu Sufyan — he really is a wise politician.
(Sh. YQ then diverts to a completely unrelated tangent about Pakistan's history: This man, Habbar ibn al-Aswad ibn al-Muttalib, his grandson was amongst those who participated with Muhammad ibn Qasim (محمد بن القاسم) in the conquest of Sindh. And eventually, this grandson, his progeny, founded a dynasty that was called the Habbari Dynasty. And this dynasty ruled over Makran and Sindh for over 200 years, and they minted coins in what is now Pakistan. And there are cities in Sindh that were founded by the Habbarids, e.g., Mansura. Mansura is one of the ancient cities that the Arabs founded. [Note: not to be confused with Mansoura of Egypt.]) And Shaykh's tangent goes on.
(Sh. YQ then diverts to a completely unrelated tangent about Pakistan's history: This man, Habbar ibn al-Aswad ibn al-Muttalib, his grandson was amongst those who participated with Muhammad ibn Qasim (محمد بن القاسم) in the conquest of Sindh. And eventually, this grandson, his progeny, founded a dynasty that was called the Habbari Dynasty. And this dynasty ruled over Makran and Sindh for over 200 years, and they minted coins in what is now Pakistan. And there are cities in Sindh that were founded by the Habbarids, e.g., Mansura. Mansura is one of the ancient cities that the Arabs founded. [Note: not to be confused with Mansoura of Egypt.]) And Shaykh's tangent goes on.
[Transcribed by Br. Safwan Khan & Faizan]
safwan-khan@hotmail.com
[Re-revised by Br. Syed Haq & MAR, May 2024]
safwan-khan@hotmail.com
[Re-revised by Br. Syed Haq & MAR, May 2024]
