The Book of Jihad and Expeditions

(i) Then be (the Messenger of Allah) said with his hands one upon the other: Kill them (who stand in your way).... (ii) They (the Ansar) replied: We said so, Messenger of Allah! He said: What is my name? I am but Allah's bondman and His Messenger.

We came to Mu'awiya b. Abu Sufyan as a deputation and Abu Huraira was among us. Each of us would prepare food for his companions turn by turn for a day. (Accordingly) when it was my turn I said: Abu Huraira, it is my turn today. So they came to my place. The food was not yet ready, so I said to Abu Huraira: I wish you could narrate to us a tradition from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) until the food was ready. (Complying with my request) Abu Huraira said: We were with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) on the day of the Conquest of Mecca. He appointed Khalid b. Walid as commander of the right flank, Zubair as commander of the left flank, and Abu 'Ubaida as commander of the foot-soldiers (who were to advance) to the interior of the valley. He (then) said: Abu Huraira, call the Ansar to me. So I called out to them and they came hurriedly. He said: O ye Assembly of the Ansaar, do you see the ruffians of the Quraish? They said: Yes. He said: See, when you meet them tomorrow, wipe them out. He hinted at this with his hand, placing his right hand on his left and said: You will meet us at as-Safa'. (Abu Huraira continued): Whoever was seen by them that day was put to death. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) ascended the mount of as-Safa'. The Ansar also came there and surrounded the mount. Then came Abu Sufyan and said: Messenger ot Allah, the Quraish have perished. No member of the Quraish tribe will survive this day. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: Who enters the house of Abu Safyin will be safe, who lays down arms will be safe, who locks his door will be safe. (some of) the Ansar said: (After all) the man has been swayed by tenderness towards his family and love for his city. At this, Divine inspiration descended upon the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). He said: You were saying that the man has been swayed by tenderness towards his family and love for his city. Do you know what my name is? I am Muhammad, the bondman of God and His Messenger. (He repeated this thrice.) I left my native place for the take of Allah and joined you. So I will live with you and die with you. Now the Ansar said: By God, we said (that) only out of our greed for Allah and His Messenger. He said: Allah and His Apostle testify to you and accept your apology.

I heard the Prophet (ﷺ) say on the day of the Conquest of Mecca: No Quraishite will be killed hound hand and foot from this day until the Day of judgment.

When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) made peace with the people of Hudaibiya, 'Ali drew up the agreement between them, and so he wrote: Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah. (This is followed by the same wording as we have in the previous tradition except the omission of the words: This is what he has settled.)

Sahal b. Hunaif stood up on the Day of Siffin and said: O ye people, blame yourselves (for want of discretion) ; we were with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) on the Day of Hudaibiya. If we had thought it fit to fight, we could fight. This was in the truce between the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and the polytheists. Umar b. Khattab came, approached the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and said: Messenger of Allah, aren't we fighting for truth and they for falsehood? He replied: By all means. He asked: Are not those killed from our side in Paradise and those killed. from their side in the Fire? He replied: Yes. He said: Then why should we put a blot upon our religion and return, while Allah has not decided the issue between them and ourselves? He said: Son of Khattab, I am the Messenger of Allah. Allah will never ruin me. (The narrator said): Umar went away, but he could not contain himself with rage. So he approached Abu Bakr and said: 'Abu Bakr, aren't we fighting for truth and they for falsehood? He replied: Yes. He asked: Aren't those killed from our side in Paradise and those killed from their side in the Fire? He replied: Why not? He (then) said: Why should we then disgrace our religion and return while God has not yet decided the issue between them and ourselves? Abu Bakr said: Son of Khattab, verily, he is the Messenger of Allah, and Allah will never ruin him. (The narrator continued): At this (a Sura of) the Qur'an (giving glad tidings of the victory) was revealed to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). He sent for Umar and made him read it. He asked: Is (this truce) a victory? He (the Messenger of Allah) replied: Yes. At this Umar was pleased, and returned.

It appeared to me as if I saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) (and heard him) relate the story of a Prophet who had been beaten by his people, was wiping the blood from his face and was saying. My Lord, forgive my people, for they do not know.

A version of the tradition with a slightly different wording has been narrated by another chain of transmitters.

This is what has been related to us by Abu Huraira from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). (With this introduction) he narrated a number of traditions. One of these was that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: Great is the wrath of Allah upon a people who have done this to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and he was at that time pointing to his front teeth. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) also said: Great is the wrath of Allah upon a person who has been killed by the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) in the way of Allah, the Exalted and Glorious.

He (the Messenger of Allah) loved to repeat the supplication thrice. He was saying: O Allah, it is for Thee to deal with the Quraish (repeating these words thrice). And among the Quraish, he mentioned (the names of) al-Walid b. 'Utba and Umayya b. Khalaf. (The narrator says there is no doubt about the names of these persons but he has forgotten the name of the seventh man).

Messenger of Allah, has there come upon you a day more terrible than the day of Uhud. He said: I have experienced from thy people and the hardest treatment I met from them was what I received from them on the day of `Aqaba. I betook myself to Ibn `Abd Yalil b. `Abd Kulal with the purpose of inviting him to Islam, but he did not respond to me as I desired. So I departed with signs of (deep) distress on my face. I did not recover until I reached Qarn al-Tha`alib. Where I raised my head, lo! near me was a cloud which had cast its shadow on me. I looked and lo! there was in it the angel Jibril who called out to me and said: God, the Honoured and Glorious, has heard what thy people have said to thee, and how they have reacted to thy call. And He has sent to thee the angel in charge of the mountains so that thou mayest order him what thou wishest (him to do) with regard to them. The angel in charge of the mountains (then) called out to me, greeted me and said: Muhammad, God has listened to what thy people have said to thee. I am the angel in charge of the mountains, and thy Lord has sent me to thee so that thou mayest order me what thou wishest. If thou wishest that I should bring together the two mountains that stand opposite to each other at the extremities of Mecca to crush them in between, (I would do that). But the Messenger of Allah (may peace he upon him) said to him: I rather hope that God will produce from their descendants such persons as will worship Allah, the One, and will not ascribe partners to Him.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was in a cave (or raid) when his finger was hurt.

This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Aswad b. Qais with the same chain of transmitters.

Do not scatter the dust over us (Not minding this remark), the Prophet (ﷺ) greeted them, stopped, got down from his animal, invited them to Allah, and recited to them the Qur'an. 'Abdullah b. Ubayy said: O man, if what you say is the truth, the best thing for you would be not to bother us with it in our assemblies. Get back to your place. Whoso comes to you from us, tell him (all) this. Abdullah b. Rawaha said: Come to us in our gatherings, for we love (to hear) it. The narrator says: (At this), the Muslims, the polytheists and the Jews began to rebuke one another until they were determined to come to blows. The Prophet (ﷺ) continued to pacify them. (When they were pacified), he rode his animal and came to Sa'd b. 'Ubida. He said: Sa'd, haven't you heard what Abu Hubab (meaning 'Abdullah b. Ubayy) has said? He has said so and so. Sa'd said: Messenger of Allah, forgive and pardon. God has granted you a sublime position, (but so far as he is concerned) the people of this settlement had-decided to make him their king by making him wear a crown and a turban (in token thereof), but God has circumvented this by the truth He has granted you. This has made him jealous and his jealousy (must have) prompted the behaviour that you have witnessed. So, the Prophet (may peace upon him) forgave him.

Who will ascertain for us what has happened to Abu Jahl? Ibn Mas'ud went (to gather this information). He found that the two sons of 'Afra' had struck him and he lay cold at the point of death. He caught him by his beard and said: Art thou Abu Jahl? He said: is there anybody superior to the person you have killed, or (he said) his people have killed him. Ibn Mas'ud says that, according to Abu Mijlaz, Abu Jahl said: Alas! a person other than a farmer would have killed me.

Who will kill Ka'b b. Ashraf? He has maligned Allah, the Exalted, and His Messenger. Muhammad b. Maslama said: Messenger of Allah, do you wish that I should kill him? He said: Yes. He said: Permit me to talk (to him in the way I deem fit). He said: Talk (as you like). So, Muhammad b. Maslama came to Ka'b and talked to him, referred to the old friendship between them and said: This man (i. e. the Holy Prophet) has made up his mind to collect charity (from us) and this has put us to a great hardship. When be heard this, Ka'b said: By God, you will be put to more trouble by him. Muhammad b. Maslama said: No doubt, now we have become his followers and we do not like to forsake him until we see what turn his affairs will take. I want that you should give me a loan. He said: What will you mortgage? He said: What do you want? He said: Pledge me your women. He said: You are the most handsome of the Arabs; should we pledge our women to you? He said: Pledge me your children. He said: The son of one of us may abuse us saying that he was pledged for two wasqs of dates, but we can pledge you (cur) weapons. He said: All right. Then Muhammad b. Maslama promised that he would come to him with Harith, Abu 'Abs b. Jabr and Abbad b. Bishr. So they came and called upon him at night. He came down to them. Sufyan says that all the narrators except 'Amr have stated that his wife said: I hear a voice which sounds like the voice of murder. He said: It is only Muhammad b. Maslama and his foster-brother, Abu Na'ila. When a gentleman is called at night even it to be pierced with a spear, he should respond to the call. Muhammad said to his companions: As he comes down, I will extend my hands towards his head and when I hold him fast, you should do your job. So when he came down and he was holding his cloak under his arm, they said to him: We sense from you a very fine smell. He said: Yes, I have with me a mistress who is the most scented of the women of Arabia. He said: Allow me to smell (the scent on your head). He said: Yes, you may smell. So he caught it and smelt. Then he said: Allow me to do so (once again). He then held his head fast and said to his companions: Do your job. And they killed him.

I heard from Bara' a similar tradition except that he said:" These people (the Meccans) rebelled against us."

O God, there is no good but the good of the Hereafter. So help Thou the Ansar and the Muhajirs. Shaiban substituted" So forgive Thou" for" So help Thou".

I went out before the Adhan for the morning prayer had been delivered. The milch she-camels of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) were grazing at Dhu Qarad. 'Abd al-Rahman b. Auf's slave met me and said: The milch she-camels of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had been taken away. I said: Who has taken them away? He said: (the people belonging to the tribe of) Ghatafan. I cried thrice: Help! I made the whole city between the two lavas hear my cry. Then I ran straight in their pursuit until I overtook them at Dhu Qarad where they were just going to water their animals. I, being an archer, began to shoot them with my arrows and was saying: I am the son of al-Akwa'. And today is the day when the cowards will meet their doom. I continued to chant until I rescued the milch she-camels from them, and snatched from them thirty mantles. Now, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and some other people came along. I said: Prophet of Allah, I have prevented them from water while they were thirsty. So you should send a force (to punish them). He (the Holy Prophet) said: Ibn al-Akwa', you have taken (what, you have taken). Now let them go. Then we returned and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) made me mount behind him on his she-camel until we entered Medina.

If I had not the fear of committing (sin) for concealing the knowledge I would not have written to him. Najda wrote to him saying (after praising the Almighty and invoking blessings on the Prophet): Tell me whether the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) took women to participate with him in Jihad; (if he did), whether he allotted them a regular share from the booty; whether he killed the children of (the enemy in the war), how long an orphan would be entitled to consideration as such, and for whom the Khums (fifth part of the booty) was booty. Ibn Abbas wrote to him: You have written asking me whether the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) took women with him to participate in Jihad. He did take them to the battle and sometimes he fought along with them. They would treat the wounded and were given a reward from the booty, but he did not assign any regular share for them. And the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) did not kill the children of the enemy, so you should not kill the children. Also you have written to me asking me when the orphanhood of an orphan comes to an end. By my life, if a man has become bearded but is still incapable of getting his due from others or fulfilling his obligation towards them, (he is yet an orphan to be treated as such), but when he can look after his interests like grown-up people, he is no longer an orphan. And you have written to me inquiring about Khums as to whom it is meant for. (In this connection) we (the kinsmen of the Messenger of Allah) used to say: It is for us, but those people (i.e. Banu Umayya) have denied it to us.

Najda b. 'Amir al-Haruri wrote to Ibn Abbas asking him about the slave and the woman as to whether they would get a share from the booty (it they participated in Jihad) ; about the killing of (enemy) children (in war) ; about the orphan as to when his orphanhood comes to an end; about kinsmen (of the Holy Prophet) as to who they are. He said to Yazid: Write to him. (If he were not likely to fall into folly, I would not have written to him.) Write: You have written asking about the woman and the slave whether they would get a share of the booty if they participated in Jihad. (You should know that) there is nothing of the sort for them except that they will be given a prize. And you have written asking me about the killing of the enemy children in war. (You should understand that) the Messenger of Allah (may peare be upon him) did not kill them. and thou shouldst not kill them unless thou knew what the companion of Moses (i. e. Khadir) knew about the boy he had killed. And you have written asking me about the orphan as to when the period of his orphanhood comes to an end, so that the sobriquet of" orphan" is dropped from him. (In this regard, you should know that) the sobriquet" orphan" will not be dropped from him until he attains maturity of body and mind. And you have written asking me about the close relatives (of the Holy Prophet) as to who they are. We think that it is we, but our people have denied us this (position and its concomitant privileges).