A Lion of Allah and a Hyena of Quraysh

Some events that occurred during the Battle of Ḥunayn. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: man qatala qatīlan fa-lahu salabuh — whoever kills an enemy gets his possessions. Abū Qatādah (may Allah be pleased with him) — and this narration is in al-Bukhārī (4321) and other books of hadith — says that there was one of the mushrikūn who raised his hand to strike a Muslim. So I came from behind him and struck him with my sword on his shoulder, until my sword cut deep through the armour. So the blow was strong enough to break through the armour and cut into his shoulder. So the man turned around and embraced me — he embraced him so hard that Abū Qatādah said: I felt death. He was almost going to die because of the powerful embrace of this man. But then the man fell down dead. And then the retreat occurred, and I was among those who were retreating. I saw ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, and I said to him: what is happening? ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb said: this is the decree of Allah — amru Allāh, the decree of Allah (ʿazza wa jall).

When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said that whoever killed someone, his possessions belonged to him, Abū Qatādah was searching for somebody to bear witness for him that he was the one who had killed this man. So he stood up and said: man yashhadu lī? Nobody bore witness for him. He did it again: man yashhadu lī? No one stood up. He did it a third time: man yashhadu lī? — who will bear witness for me? Nobody bore witness. And then one man from Quraysh stood up and said: O Messenger of Allah, I am the one who took the possessions of that man who was killed; so ask Abū Qatādah to let me have them.

Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq (may Allah be pleased with him) intervened and said: no, by Allah; we are not going to take from a lion from among the lions of Allah, leaving him with nothing, and give it to a hyena of Quraysh. Abū Bakr is talking about Abū Qatādah, describing him as a lion — and Abū Qatādah was a lion; some of the incidents relating to Abū Qatādah (may Allah be pleased with him), one of the fighters among the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them all), have been spoken of. So Abū Bakr did not want Abū Qatādah to lose his spoils — for the sake of whom? For the sake of a man from Quraysh who had probably only just become Muslim. And Abū Bakr called him a hyena; and one can see the comparison between a lion and a hyena. And eventually Abū Qatādah took his spoils, because the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) told the man: aʿṭih — give him what belongs to him. Abū Qatādah said: I took those possessions, and I sold them, and with them I bought a small number of date palms; and he said: this was the first wealth I owned in Islam — the first property I owned in Islam. So Abū Qatādah had had nothing, and the first possession or property he owned came to him from ghanīmah fī sabīl Allāh.