The Prisoners of Badr

Another issue dealt with in the āyāt of Sūrat al-Anfāl is the prisoners of war. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) has seventy prisoners of war, so he invites the Ṣaḥābah for shūrā, and he hears various opinions. Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq (may Allah be pleased with him) speaks, and his opinion was: O Messenger of Allah, these are our relatives, these are our tribe — ask for ransom. This ransom will strengthen us, it will strengthen Islam, and maybe these people will become Muslim. So that was the opinion of Abū Bakr: he says, O Messenger of Allah, they are your people, your relatives — let them live, be lenient to them, perhaps Allah will forgive them. ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb said: O Messenger of Allah, they exiled you and called you a liar — bring them close and strike their necks. This was the opinion of ʿUmar. In another narration it says: Abū Bakr said, O Messenger of Allah, these are your close relatives, your tribal brothers — I think you should accept ransom from them; what we receive from them will give us power against the unbelievers, and Allah might well give them guidance so that they become allied to us. ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb said: I don't agree with Abū Bakr. I think you should hand over to me so-and-so — referring to one of his relatives — and I'll strike his neck; and you hand over ʿAqīl to his brother ʿAlī so he can strike his neck, and you hand over to Ḥamzah so-and-so, his brother, so he can strike his neck. That way Allah will know that we feel no leniency towards the mushrikīn — these men are their chieftains, their very leaders. And in another narration, ʿAbdullāh ibn Rawāḥah spoke, and he said: I suggest, O Messenger of Allah, you find a valley with many trees, make them enter it, and then set them on fire — you burn them in that valley. That was the opinion of ʿAbdullāh ibn Rawāḥah.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) went in, and then he came out, and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: Allah softens the hearts of men concerning Him so that they become softer than soft, and Allah hardens the hearts of men so that they become harder than stone. You, Abū Bakr, are like Ibrāhīm, who said:

Whoever follows me is of me, and whoever disobeys me, then You are Forgiving and Merciful. You, Abū Bakr, are like ʿĪsā, who said:

If You punish them, they are Your servants; if You forgive them, then You are the All-Powerful and Wise. So the analogy for Abū Bakr is that he is similar to Ibrāhīm and ʿĪsā, who were lenient with their people. You, ʿUmar, are like Nūḥ, who said:

O Lord, do not leave on the earth any place for the unbelievers — Nūḥ made duʿāʾ to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, to obliterate, to destroy all of the kuffār. And ʿUmar, you are like Mūsā, who said:

O Allah, destroy their wealth and make their hearts hard, for they will not believe until they see the painful punishment.^*** And the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: let none be exempt from either ransom or having their heads struck off. So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was inclined to adopt the opinion of Abū Bakr, and he was willing to accept ransom.

One day, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb came out and saw that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and Abū Bakr were weeping. He said — actually, the following day, ʿUmar said: I went to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) early in the morning; he was with Abū Bakr, and they were weeping. I asked: O Messenger of Allah, tell me why you and your companion are weeping — if I find a reason to weep, I'll do so; if I don't, I'll pretend to weep at your weeping. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: I am weeping at how your companions proposed to me that I accept ransom — your punishment for doing so was shown to me, and it was closer than this tree. Meaning: Allah, Mighty and Majestic, wasn't happy that the Muslims accepted ransom.