The Mercy That Followed

So when these āyāt were revealed, ʿAbdullāh ibn Jaḥsh and his followers were happy, at least, that Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, had mentioned that the people of Quraysh had committed greater sins, and now they were eager to get credit for what they had done — even though the āyah itself calls it a mistake. So Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, reveals the following āyah, āyah 218:

Indeed, those who have believed and those who have emigrated and fought in the cause of Allah, those expect the mercy of Allah, and Allah is forgiving and merciful. So Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, is telling them that they can expect the mercy of Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, and expect to get credit for what they had done, and expect to be given the reward of the mujāhidīn. Not only that: ʿAbdullāh ibn Jaḥsh and his sariyyah were, according to the scholars, the first to take prisoners in the path of Allah, the first to take booty of war in the path of Allah, and the first to kill a disbeliever in the path of Allah — first in these three areas, and that was an honour bestowed on them.

When these āyāt were revealed, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) took the caravan and took the two men as prisoners. So the people of Quraysh came to ransom them. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, "I fear that I might have harmed Saʿd ibn Mālik and ʿUtbah ibn Ghazwān" — two of the members of the sariyyah of ʿAbdullāh ibn Jaḥsh had lost a camel, so they went looking for it, and had not come back yet. So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) told the people of Quraysh, "I am not going to hand over my two men until my two men come back — I fear that you might kill them." This shows the care the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) had for his followers. He said, "I am not giving you your two men until my two men come back," and this is how the Muslims should be — they should never give one another up. So when Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ and ʿUtbah ibn Ghazwān came back, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) released the two prisoners of Quraysh; they were ransomed, and the people of Quraysh had to pay money to free them. And one of them, al-Ḥakam ibn Kaysān, became Muslim and stayed — he did not go back, and he died a shahīd later on. While the other, ʿUthmān ibn al-Mughīrah, went back to Makkah and died a disbeliever.