Abū ʿAzzah's Second Chance

The only prisoner of war taken by the Muslims in the Battle of Uḥud, ironically, was Abū ʿAzzah — the same Abū ʿAzzah who had been captured by the Muslims at the Battle of Badr, where he told the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) that he was poor and had daughters, so the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) set him free without paying any ransom, and took from him an oath that he would never support an enemy against the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), and Abū ʿAzzah agreed. But when he went back to Makkah, and it was time for the people of Quraysh to leave for the Battle of Uḥud, they told him to join. He said, "No, I have given my word to Muḥammad (peace be upon him) that I am not going to fight against him." But they kept on trying to convince him until they fooled him and deceived him, and he did join the army, and Subḥānallāh, he ended up as the only one taken as a prisoner of war — this was a sign from Allah. Now he again tried the same trick: "My daughters are in need, and I am a poor man, so set me free." The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) told him, "I will not let you stroke your beard and say that you have deceived Muḥammad twice," and he ordered him beheaded. It was of a case such as this that it would be said, "A believer is not stung twice from the same hole" (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, no. 6133): a Muslim should not be fooled, a Muslim should not be tricked, and a Muslim should not be naïve.