The Book of Jihad and Expeditions

كتاب الجهاد والسير

Chapter 22: Permissibility of fighting those who break a treaty; Permissibility of letting besieged people surrender, subject to the judgement of a just person who is qualified to pass judgement

It has been narrated on the authority of Hisham (who learnt it from his father) that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said (to Sa'd)

You have adjudged their case with the judgment of God. the Exalted and Glorified.

It has been narrated on the authority of 'A'isha that Sa'd's wound became dry and was going to heal when he prayed

O God, surely Thou knowest that nothing is dearer to me than that I should fight for Thy cause against the people who disbeliever Your Messenger (ﷺ) and turned him out (from his native place). If anything yet remains to be decided from the war against the Quraish, spare my life so that I may fight against them in Thy cause. O Lord, I think Thou hast ended the war between us and them. If Thou hast done so, open my wound (so that it may discharge) and cause my death thereby. So the wound begin to bleed from the front part of his neck. The people were not scared except when the blood flowed towards them, and in the mosque along with Sa'd's tent was the tent of Banu Ghifar. They said: O people of the tent, what is it that is coming to us from you? Lo! it was Sa'd's wound that was bleeding and he died thereof.

This tradition has been narrated by Hishim through the same chain of transmitters with a little difference in the wording. He said

(His wound) began to bleed that very night and it continued to bleed until he died. He has made the addition that it was then that (a non-believing) poet said: Hark, O Sa'd, Sa'd of Banu Mu'adh, What have the Quraiaa and Nadir done? By thy life! Sa'd b. Mu'adh>br> Was steadfast on the morn they departed. You have left your cooking-pot empty, While the cooking-pot of the people is hot and boiling. Abu Hubab the nobleman has said, O Qainuqa', do not depart. They were weighty in their country just aa rocks are weighty in Maitan.

Chapter 23: Hastening to fight, and giving precedence to the more urgent of two tasks when a choice must be made

It has been narrated on the authority of Abdullah who said

On the day he returned from the Battle of Ahzab, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) made for us an announcement that nobody would say his Zuhr prayer but in the quarters of Banu Quraiza (Some) people, being afraid that the time for prayer would expire, said their prayers before reaching the street of Banu Quraiza. The others said: We will not say our prayer except where the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) has ordered us to say it even if the time expires. When he learned of the difference in the view of the two groups of the people, the Messenger of Allah (may peace be tipon him) did not blame anyone from the two groups.

Chapter 24: The Muhajirun returned to the Ansar the gifts of trees and fruits when they became independent of means through the conquests

It has been narrated on the authority of Anas b. Malik who said

When the Muhajirs migrated from Mecca to Medina; they came (in a state that) they had not anything (i. e. money) in theirhands, while the Ansar possessed lands and date palms. They divided their properties with the Muhajirs. The Ansar divided and gave them on the condition that they would give half the fruit from the orchards every year, and the Muhajirs would recompense them by working with them and putting in labour. The mother of Anas b. Malik was called Umm Sulaim and she was also the mother of 'Abdullah b. Talha who was a brother of Anas from his mother's side. The mother of Anas had given the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) her date-palms. He bestowed them upon Umm Aiman, the slave-girl who had been freed by him and was the mother of Usama b. Zaid. When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had finished the war with the people of Khaibar and returned to Medina, the Muhajirs returned to the Ansar all the gifts which they had given them out of the fruits. (Anas b. Malik said: ) The Messenger of. Allah (ﷺ) returned to my mother her date-palms and gave to Umm Aiman instead of them date-palms from his orchard. Ibn Shihab says that Umm Aiman was the mother of Usama b. Zaid who was the slave-girl of 'Abdullah b. 'Abd-ul-Muttalib and hailed from Abyssinia. When Amina gave birth to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) after the death of his father, Umm Aiman used to nurse him until he grew up. He (later on) freed her and married her to Zaid b. Haritha. She died five months after the death of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).

It has been narrated by Anas that (after his migration to Medina) a person placed at the Prophet's (ﷺ) disposal some date-palms growing on his land until the lands of Quraiza and Nadir were conquered. Then he began to return to him whatever he had received. (In this connection) my people told me to approach the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and ask from him what his people had given him or a portion thereof, but the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had bestowed those trees upon Umm Aiman. So I came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and he gave hem (back) to me. Umm Aiman (also) came (at this time). She put the cloth round my neck and said

No, by Allah, we will not give to, you what he has granted to me. The Prophet (ﷺ) said: Umm Aiman, let him have them and for you are such and such trees instead. But she said: By Allah, there is no god besides Him. No, never! The Prophet (ﷺ) continued saying: (You will get) such and such. until he had granted her ten times or nearly ten times more (than the original gift).

Chapter 25: Permissibility of eating food seized as booty in Dar Al-Harb

It has been narrated on the authority of Abdullah b. Mughaffal who said I found a bag containing fat on the day of the Battle of Khaibar. I caught hold of it and said

I will not give anything today from it to anybody. Then I turned round and saw that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was smiling (at my words).

This tradition has been transmitted by a different chain of narrators with a different wording, the last in the chain being the same narrator, (i. e. 'Abdullah b. Mughaffal), who said

A bag containing food and fat was thrown to us. I lept forward to catch it. Then I turned round and saw (to my surprise) the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and I felt ashamed of my act in his presence.

This hadith has been transmitted on the authority of Shu'ba with a slight variation of words.

Chapter 26: The Prophet (saws) wrote to Heraclius, the ruler of Syria, inviting him to Islam

It has been narrated on the authority of Ibn Abbas who learnt the tradition personally from Abu Safyan. The latter said

I went out (on a mercantile venture) during the period (of truce) between me and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). While I was in Syria, the letter of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was handed over to Hiraql (Ceasar), the Emperor of Rome (who was on a visit to Jerusalem at that time). The letter was brought by Dihya Kalbi who delivered it to the governor of Busra The governor passed it on to Hiraql, (On receiving the letter), he said: Is there anyone from the people of this man who thinks that he is a prophet. People said: Yes. So, I was called along with a few others from the Quraish. We were admitted to Hiraql and he seated usbefore him. He asked: Which of you has closer kinship with the man who thinks that he is a prophet? Abu Sufyan said: I. So they seated me in front of him and stated my companions behind me. Then, he called his interpreter and said to him: Tell them that I am going to ask this fellow (i. e. Abu Sufyan) about the man who thinks that he is a prophet. It he tells me a lie, then refute him. Abu Sufyan told (the narrator): By God, if there was not the fear that falsehood would be imputed to me I would have lied. (Then) Hiraqi said to his interpreter: Inquire from him about his ancestry, I said: He is of good ancestry among us. He asked: Has there been a king among his ancestors? I said: No. He asked: Did you accuse him of falsehood before he proclaimed his prophethood? I said: No. He asked: Who are his follower people of high status or low status? I said: (They are) of low status. He asked: Are they increasing in number or decreasing? I said. No. they are rather increasing. He asked: Does anyone give up his religion, being dissatisfied with it, after having embraced it? I said: No. He asked: Have you been at war with him? I said: Yes. He asked: How did you fare in that war? I said: The war between us and him has been wavering like a bucket, up at one turn and down at the other (i. e. the victory has been shared between us and him by turns). Sometimes he suffered loss at our hands and sometimes we suffered loss at his (hand). He asked: Has he (ever) violated his covenant? I said: No. but we have recently concluded a peace treaty with him for a petiod and we do not know what he is going to do about it. (Abu Sufyin said on oath that he could not interpolate in this dialogue anything from himself more than these words ) He asked: Did anyone make the proclamation (Of prophethood) before him? I said: No. He (now) said to his interpreter: Tell him, I asked him about his ancestry and he had replied that he had the best ancestry. This is the case with Prophets; they are the descendants of the noblest among their people (Addressing Abu Sufyan), he continued: I asked you if there had been a king among his ancestors. You said that there had been none. If there had been a king among his ancestors, I would have said that he was a man demanding his ancestral kingdom. I asked you about his followers whether they were people of high or low status, and you said that they were of rather low status. Such are the followers of the Prophets. I asked you whether you used to accuse him of falsehood before he proclaimed his prophethood, and you said that you did not. So I have understood that when he did not allow himself to tell a lie about the poeple, he would never go to the length of forging a falsehood about Allah. I asked you whether anyone renounced his religion being dissatisfied with it after he had embraced it, and you replied in the negative. Faith is like this when it enters the depth of the heart (it perpetuates them). I asked you whether his followers were increasing or decreasing. You said they were increasing. Faith is like this until it reaches its consummation. I asked you whether you had been at war with him, and you replied that you had been and that the victory between you and him had been shared by turns, sometimes he suffering loss at your hand and sometimes you suffering lost at his. This is how the Prophets are tried before the final victory its theirs. I asked you whether he (ever) violated his covenant, and you said that he did not. This is how the Prophets behave. They never violate (their covenants). I asked you whether anyone before him had proclaimed the same thing, and you replied in the negative. I said: If anyone had made the same proclamation before, I would have thought that he was a man following what had been proclaimed before. (Then) he asked: What does he enjoin upon you? I said: He exhorts us to offer Salat, to pay Zakat, to show due regard to kinship and to practise chastity. He said: It what you have told about him is true, he is certainly a Prophet. I knew that he was to appear but I did not think that he would be from among you. If I knew that I would be able to reach him. I would love to meet him; and it I had been with him. I would have washed his feet (out of reverence). His dominion would certainly extend to this place which is under my feet. Then he called for the letter of the Messenger of Allah (may pface be upon him) and read it. The letter ran as follows:" In the name of Allah, Most Gracious and Most Merciful. From Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, to Hiraql, the Emperor of the Romans. Peace be upon him who follows the guidance. After this, I extend to you the invitation to accept Islam. Embrace Islam and you will be safe. Accept Islam, God will give you double the reward. And if you turn away, upon you will be the sin of your subjects." O People of the Book, come to the word that is common between us that we should worship none other than Allah, should not ascribe any partner to Him and some of us should not take their fellows as Lords other than Allah. If they turn away, you should say that we testify to our being Muslims [iii. 64]." When he hid finished the reading of the letter, noise and confused clamour was raise around him, and he ordered us to leave. Accordingly, we left. (Addressing my companions) while we were coming out (of the place). I said: Ibn Abu Kabsha (referring sarcastically to the Holy Prophet) has come to wield a great power. Lo! (even) the king of the Romans is afraid of him. I continued to believe that the authority of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) would triumph until God imbued me with (the spirit of) Islam.

This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Ibn Shihab with the same chain of transmitters but with the addition

" When Allah inflicted defeat on the armies of Persia, Caesar moved from Hims to Aelia (Bait al-Maqdis) for thanking Allah as He granted him victory." In this hadith these words occur:" From Muhammad, servant of Allah and His Messenger," and said:" The sin of your followers," and also said the words:" to the call of Islam".

Chapter 27: The Prophet (saws) wrote to the Kings of the Kuffar, inviting them to Islam

It has been narrated on the authority of Anas that the Prophet of Allah (ﷺ) wrote to Chosroes (King of Persia), Caesar (Emperor of Rome), Negus (King of Abyssinia) and every (other) despot inviting them to Allah, the Exalted. And this Negus was not the one for whom the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had said the funeral prayers.

The tradition has been narrated on the authority of Anas b. Malik (the same narrator) through a different chain of transmitters, but this version does not mention

" And he was not the Negus for whom the Prophet (ﷺ) had said the funeral prayers."

It has been narrated on the authority of the same narrator through another chain of transmitters with the same difference in the wording.

Chapter 28: The Battle of Hunain

It has been narrated on the authority of 'Abbas who said

I was in the company of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) on the Day of Hunain. I and Abd Sufyan b. Harith b. 'Abd al-Muttalib stuck to the Messenaer of Allah (ﷺ) and we did not separate from him. And the Messenger of Allah (may place be upon him) was riding on his white mule which had been presented to him by Farwa b. Nufitha al-Judhami. When the Muslims had an encounter with the disbelievers, the Muslims fled, falling back, but the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) began to spur his mule towards the disbelievers. I was holding the bridle of the mule of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) checking it from going very fast, and Abu Sufyan was holding the stirrup of the (mule of the) Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), who said: Abbas, call out to the people of al-Samura. Abbas (who was a man with a loud voice) called out at the top of the voice: Where are the people of Samura? (Abbas said: ) And by God, when they heard my voice, they came back (to us) as cows come back to their calves, and said: We are present, we are present! 'Abbas said: They began to fight the infidels. Then there was a call to The Ansar. Those (who called out to them) shouted: O ye party of the Ansar! O party of the Ansar! Banu al-Harith b. al-Khazraj were the last to be called. Those (who called out to them) shouted: O Banu Al-Harith b. al-Khazraj! O BanU Harith b. al-Khazraj! And the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) who was riding on his mule looked at their fight with his neck stretched forward and he said: This is the time when the fight is raging hot. Then the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) took (some) pebbles and threw them in the face of the infidels. Then he said: By the Lord of Muhammad, the infidels are defeated. 'Abbas said: I went round and saw that the battle was in the same condition in which I had seen it. By Allah, it remained in the same condition until he threw the pebbles. I continued to watch until I found that their force had been spent out and they began to retreat.

A version of the tradition has been transmitted through another chain of narrators. In this version the words uttered by the Prophet (ﷺ) (after he had thrown the pebbles in the face of the enemy) are reported as

" By the Lord of the Ka'ba, they have been defeated." And there is at the end the addition of the words:" Until Allah defeated them" (and I imagine) as if I saw the Prophet of Allah (ﷺ) chasing them on his mule.

'Abbas reported

I was with Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) on the Day of Hunain. The rest of the hadith is the same but with this variation that the hadith transmitted by Yonus and Ma'mar is more detailed and complete.

It has been narratedon the authority of Abu Ishaq who said

A man asked Bara' (b. 'Azib): Did you run away on the Day of Hunain. O, Abu Umira? He said: No, by Allah, The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) did not turn his back; (what actually happened was that) some young men from among his companions, who were hasty and who were either without any arms or did not have abundant arms, advanced and met a party of archers (who were so good shots) that their arrows never missed the mark. This party (of archers) belonged to Banu Hawazin and Banu Nadir. They shot at the advancing young men and their arrows were not likely to miss their targets. So these young men turned to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) while he was riding on his white mule and Abu Sufyan b. al-Harith b. 'Abd al-Muttalib was leading him. (At this) he got down from his mule, invoked God's help, and called out: I am the Prophet. This is no untruth. I am the son of 'Abd al-Muttalib. Then he deployed his men into battle array.

It has been narrated (through a different chain of transmitters) by Abu Ishiq that a person said to Bara' (b. 'Azib)

Abu Umara, did you flee on the Day of Hunain? He replied: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) did not retreat. (What actually happened was that some hasty young men who were either inadequately armed or were unarmed met a group of men from Banu Hawazin and Banu Nadir who happened to be (excellent) archers. The latter shot at them a volley of arrows that did not miss. The people turned to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). Abu Sufyan b. Harith was leading his mule. So he got down, prayed and invoked God's help. He said: I am the Prophet. This is no untruth. I am the son of Abd al-Muttalib. O God, descend Thy help. Bara' continued: When the battle grew fierce. we, by God. would seek protection by his side, and the bravest among us was he who confronted the onslaught and it was the Prophet (ﷺ).

It has been narrated through a still different chain of transmitters by the same narrator (i. e. Abu Ishaq) who said

I heard from Bara' who was asked by a man from the Qais tribe: Did you run away from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) on the Day of Hunain? Bara' said: But the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) did not run away. On that day Banu Hawzzin took part in the battle as archers (on the side of the disbelievers). When we attacked them, they retreated and we fell upon the booty; (they rallied) and advanced towards us with arrows. (At that time) I saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) riding on his white mule and Abu Sufyan b. al-Harith was holding its bridle. He (the Messenger of Allah was saying: I am the Prophet. This is no untruth. I am a descendant of 'Abd al-Muttalib.