The Madinan Period, Part 6: The Rulings and the Aftermath of Badr
Section 20 of 20 · The Life of the Prophet Muhammad: The Madinan Period
Abū al-Bukhturī
One of the noble men of Quraysh was Abū al-Bukhturī; he was a mushrik, a disbeliever, but he wasn't cruel against the Muslims — in fact, he was one of the men who participated in ending the siege against the Muslims. If it is remembered, in Makkah there was a siege that lasted for three years against Banū Hāshim and Banū al-Muṭṭalib, the family of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). Abū al-Bukhturī was one of the men who ended this siege, so the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was grateful to him, and he asked the Muslims not to kill him if they saw him in battle. So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) — and there's a lesson to learn here — that some mushrikīn, even though they're mushrikīn, disbelievers, if they do you good, then reciprocate. So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: if you see him, don't kill him, leave him. So one of the Anṣār saw Abū al-Bukhturī ibn Hishām and told him that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) told them not to kill him. Abū al-Bukhturī said: what about my companion? He had a friend with him. The Anṣārī said: well, no, we're not going to spare your companion's death — we're going to kill him. Abū al-Bukhturī ibn Hishām said — and thus the Anṣārī was forced to fight Abū al-Bukhturī, and he was killed. Then the Anṣārī went back to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and said: I swear by Him who sent you with the truth, I did try to take him prisoner to bring him to you, but he insisted on fighting me, so I fought back and killed him.
Our Lord, grant us good in this world, and good in the Hereafter, and save us from the punishment of the Fire.
***
* Kept as given. The wife of al-ʿAbbās is named here as Umm al-Faḍl; she is recorded elsewhere by the name Lubābah bint al-Ḥārith.
** The name is unclear, heard as "Ibn Khuzayr". The observation quoted is Ibn Kathīr’s own, in his account of Badr in al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah.
*** This comparison of Abū Bakr to Ibrāhīm and ʿĪsā, and of ʿUmar to Nūḥ and Mūsā, is carried here as one continuous account with the shūrā over the captives and the weeping that followed it, as given in the source. The two portions are narrated separately: the shūrā and the weeping through ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, related by Muslim; the comparison to the four prophets through ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd, related by Aḥmad.
**** Kept as given. The historian named here as al-Amawī, credited with the observation that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was not content with three men of the Anṣār alone answering the duel, could not be identified with confidence.
***** Kept as given. Ḥārithah's death is elsewhere described as being struck by a stray arrow of unknown origin (sahmun gharbun), rather than confirmed friendly fire.
****** This account is related by al-Bukhārī, on the authority of Anas ibn Mālik, in the Book of Jihād, chapter on the martyr struck by a stray arrow; the statement that Ḥārithah's is the highest level is given there directly, rather than as a comparison against other levels left open.
† Kept as said. Six shares of four per cent make twenty-four per cent, not the twenty per cent of the fifth. Ibn Kathīr, from Ibn ʿAbbās, has the fifth divided into five shares, the mention of Allah going with the share of the Messenger; after the Prophet (peace be upon him), the shares of the Messenger and of the near relatives lapsed and the fifth was divided among the orphans, the needy and the traveller.
‡ Kept as said. Ibn Kathīr reads 8:67 as a rebuke for preferring the goods of this world, and reports that the majority of scholars leave the disposal of captives (execution, ransom or exchange) to the judgement of the Muslim leader.