The Revelation That Followed

Why? Allah, Mighty and Majestic, revealed āyāt 67 to 69 of Sūrat al-Anfāl:

It is not for a prophet to have captives until he inflicts a massacre upon Allah's enemies in the land. Some of you desire the commodities of this world, but Allah desires for you the Hereafter, and Allah is exalted in might and wise. If not for a decree from Allah that preceded, you would have been touched for what you took by great punishment. Two things in this āyah. Number one: the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) should have executed them all. That is what would have pleased Allah, Mighty and Majestic — to execute all of these prisoners. Why? Allah says: it is not for a prophet to have captives of war until he inflicts a slaughter upon Allah's enemies in the land. A newly forming state, a jamāʿah, needs to show its strength in the beginning, and asking for ransom here is less of a strong option compared to the execution of all of those prisoners.^‡

However, Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says in the following āyah that if it wasn't for a decree that had already gone before, they would have been touched by punishment. Allah has made asking for ransom ḥalāl, and Allah has made ghanīmah ḥalāl; therefore what the Muslims did was allowed, otherwise they would have been punished. So it is hoped that this issue is clear. Mujāhid and … say, of "were it not for a decree from Allah that came previously", that it is … while the majority opinion, as Ibn Kathīr states, is that it is the decree allowing ghanīmah and ransom. So it is allowed — what the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) did was allowed; however, it would have been better if ransom had not been accepted and these prisoners had been executed.