Al-ʿAḍbāʾ, the Camel of Banū ʿUqayl

And then Ibn Kathīr talks here about the camel of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), al-ʿAḍbāʾ, and the story of this camel, because here it was mentioned that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was riding al-ʿAḍbāʾ and had Salamah ride with him. So what is the story of al-ʿAḍbāʾ? Al-ʿAḍbāʾ was a very fast camel, and it belonged to a man from Banū ʿUqayl. So how did it end up in the hands of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)? This hadith is narrated by Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal. It says that al-ʿAḍbāʾ belonged to a man from Banū ʿUqayl. It was a racing camel, a very fast camel — the racing camel of the pilgrims.

This man was taken captive by the Muslims along with his camel. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) passed by him while he was tied up, and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was riding a donkey then. So the man called out to Muḥammad (peace be upon him): why did you take me, and take the one that outstrips the pilgrims? This man from Banū ʿUqayl was protesting: why was he arrested? Why was he taken captive? He was travelling somewhere in Arabia, and the Companions saw him, captured him, brought him to Madīnah and tied him up. And the reason he was protesting when he saw Muḥammad (peace be upon him) passing by him was that his particular tribe were not in a state of war with the Muslims. They were not fighting the Muslims; there was no battle between them and the Muslims. So why was I taken?

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) answered him: we take you because of the offence of your allies, Thaqīf. Now, Thaqīf were at war with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). Up until that moment there had been no battles between the Muslims and Thaqīf, but Thaqīf were supportive of Quraysh in their efforts, and they were against Islam in general. We know the story of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) when he went to al-Ṭāʾif — Thaqīf are the tribe that lives in al-Ṭāʾif — and we know what happened to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) on that journey. So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: we have taken you captive because of the actions of your allies, Thaqīf. At that particular moment, Thaqīf had taken two Muslims captive. So now the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) had taken this man captive in return against Thaqīf, even though this man himself was not from Thaqīf; he was from Banū ʿUqayl, the allies of Thaqīf.

So what did the man say? He said: I am a Muslim. What did the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) tell him? He told him: had you said it when you had authority over your own affair, you would have succeeded completely — meaning, had you said so when you were free. Now you are a captive, and you are trying to claim that you are a Muslim; this would have benefited you before. The man said: O Muḥammad, I am hungry, so feed me, and I am thirsty, so give me to drink. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) told him: this is your need. In this regard, there are rights for the prisoner: he is fed and he is provided for. So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) told him: this is your need; here, take what you need.

In fact, there are stories from the Battle of Badr that when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, treat the prisoners well, the Anṣār would give the prisoners — the mushrikūn of Quraysh, who had come out to fight against the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) — the wheat bread, while they, the Anṣār, would eat the dates. Wheat bread was considered the better-quality food, so they would give them the bread and keep the dates for themselves. So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) told him: this is your need; we are not going to prevent you from eating and drinking.

What happened next? He was used as ransom for the two Muslims who had been taken prisoner. However, he was not given his camel back; the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) took that camel for himself. So this man from Banū ʿUqayl was used in this prisoner exchange: he was exchanged for the two Muslim prisoners, and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) took the camel for himself, and it was a very fast and good camel.