I wrote to Nafi' inquiring from him whether it was necessary to extend (to the disbelievers) an invitation to accept (Islam) before meeting them in fight. He wrote (in reply) to me that it was necessary in the early days of Islam. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) made a raid upon Banu Mustaliq while they were unaware and their cattle were having a drink at the water. He killed those who fought and imprisoned others. On that very day, he captured Juwairiya bint al-Harith. Nafi' said that this tradition was related to him by Abdullah b. Umar who (himself) was among the raiding troops.
It has been reported from Sulaiman b. Buraida through his father that when the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) appointed anyone as leader of an army or detachment he would especially exhort him to fear Allah and to be good to the Muslims who were with him. He would say:
Fight in the name of Allah and in the way of Allah. Fight against those who disbelieve in Allah. Make a holy war, do not embezzle the spoils; do not break your pledge; and do not mutilate (the dead) bodies; do not kill the children. When you meet your enemies who are polytheists, invite them to three courses of action. If they respond to any one of these, you also accept it and withhold yourself from doing them any harm. Invite them to (accept) Islam; if they respond to you, accept it from them and desist from fighting against them. Then invite them to migrate from their lands to the land of the Muhajireen and inform them that, if they do so, they shall have all the privileges and obligations of the Muhajireen. If they refuse to migrate, tell them that they will have the status of Bedouin Muslims and will be subjected to the Commands of Allah like other Muslims, but they will not get any share from the spoils of war or Fai' except when they actually fight with the Muslims (against the disbelievers). If they refuse to accept Islam, demand from them the Jizya. If they agree to pay, accept it from them and hold off your hands. If they refuse to pay the tax, seek Allah's help and fight them. When you lay siege to a fort and the besieged appeal to you for protection in the name of Allah and His Prophet, do not accord to them the guarantee of Allah and His Prophet, but accord to them your own guarantee and the guarantee of your companions for it is a lesser sin that the security given by you or your companions be disregarded than that the security granted in the name of Allah and His Prophet be violated. When you besiege a fort and the besieged want you to let them out in accordance with Allah's Command, do not let them come out in accordance with His Command, but do so at your (own) command, for you do not know whether or not you will be able to carry out Allah's behest with regard to them.
It has also been narrated by Sa'd b. Abu Burda through his father through his grandfather that the Prophet of Allah (ﷺ) sent him and Mu'adh (on a mission) to the Yemen, and said (by way of advising them):
Show leniency (to the people) ; don't be hard upon them; give them glad tidings (of Divine favours in this world and the Hereafter) ; and do not create aversion. Work in collaboration and don't be divided.
It has been narrated on the authority of Ibn 'Umar that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:
When Allah will gather together, on the Day of Judgment, all the earlier and later generations of mankind, a flag will be raised (to mark off) every person guilty of breach of faith, and it will be announced that this is the perfidy of so and so, son of so and so (to attract the attention of people to his guilt).
USC-MSA web (English) reference : Book 19, Hadith 4313
Hadith 1742
Chapter 32: The Book of Jihad and Expeditions - كتاب الجهاد والسير
وَحَدَّثَنِي مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ رَافِعٍ، حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الرَّزَّاقِ، أَخْبَرَنَا ابْنُ جُرَيْجٍ، أَخْبَرَنِي مُوسَى، بْنُ عُقْبَةَ عَنْ أَبِي النَّضْرِ، عَنْ كِتَابِ، رَجُلٍ مِنْ أَسْلَمَ مِنْ أَصْحَابِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم يُقَالُ لَهُ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ أَبِي أَوْفَى فَكَتَبَ إِلَى عُمَرَ بْنِ عُبَيْدِ اللَّهِ حِينَ سَارَ إِلَى الْحَرُورِيَّةِ يُخْبِرُهُ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم كَانَ فِي بَعْضِ أَيَّامِهِ الَّتِي لَقِيَ فِيهَا الْعَدُوَّ يَنْتَظِرُ حَتَّى إِذَا مَالَتِ الشَّمْسُ قَامَ فِيهِمْ فَقَالَ " يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ لاَ تَتَمَنَّوْا لِقَاءَ الْعَدُوِّ وَاسْأَلُوا اللَّهَ الْعَافِيَةَ فَإِذَا لَقِيتُمُوهُمْ فَاصْبِرُوا وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ الْجَنَّةَ تَحْتَ ظِلاَلِ السُّيُوفِ " . ثُمَّ قَامَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَقَالَ " اللَّهُمَّ مُنْزِلَ الْكِتَابِ وَمُجْرِيَ السَّحَابِ وَهَازِمَ الأَحْزَابِ اهْزِمْهُمْ وَانْصُرْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ " .
It is narrated by Abu Nadr that he learnt from a letter sent by a man from the Aslam tribe, who was a Companion of the Prophet (ﷺ) and whose name was 'Abdullah b. Abu Aufa, to 'Umar b. 'Ubaidullah when the latter marched upon Haruriyya (Khawarij) informing him that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) in one of those days when lie was confronting the enemy waited until the sun had declined. Then he stood up (to address the people) and said:
O ye men, do not wish for an encounter with the enemy. Pray to Allah to grant you security; (but) when you (have to) encounter them exercise patience, and you should know that Paradise is under the shadows of the swords. Then the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) stood up (again) and said: O Allah. Revealer of the Book, Disperser of the clouds, Defeater of the hordes, put our enemy to rout and help us against them.
USC-MSA web (English) reference : Book 19, Hadith 4318
Hadith 1744
Chapter 32: The Book of Jihad and Expeditions - كتاب الجهاد والسير
حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ يَحْيَى، وَمُحَمَّدُ بْنُ رُمْحٍ، قَالاَ أَخْبَرَنَا اللَّيْثُ، ح وَحَدَّثَنَا قُتَيْبَةُ بْنُ، سَعِيدٍ حَدَّثَنَا لَيْثٌ، عَنْ نَافِعٍ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، أَنَّ امْرَأَةً، وُجِدَتْ، فِي بَعْضِ مَغَازِي رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم مَقْتُولَةً فَأَنْكَرَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَتْلَ النِّسَاءِ وَالصِّبْيَانِ.
It is narrated on the authority of 'Abdullah that a woman was found killed in one of the battles fought by the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). He disapproved of the killing of women and children.
It is reported on the authority of Sa'b b. Jaththama that the Prophet of Allah (ﷺ), when asked about the women and children of the polytheists being killed during the night raid, said:
It is narrated on the authority of 'Abdullah that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) ordered the date-palms of Banu Nadir to be burnt and cut. These palms were at Buwaira. Qutaibah and Ibn Rumh in their versions of the tradition have added:
So Allah, the Glorious and Exalted, revealed the verse:" Whatever trees you have cut down or left standing on their trunks, it was with the permission of Allah so that He may disgrace the evil-doers" (lix. 5).
It has been narrated by Abu Huraira that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:
One of the Prophets made a holy war. He said to his followers: One who has married a woman and wants to consummate to his marriage but has not yet done so; another who has built a house but has not yet erected its roof; and another who has bought goats and pregnantshe-camels and is waiting for their offspring-will not accommpany me. So he marched on and approached a village at or about the time of the Asr prayers. He said to the sun: Thou art subserviant (to Allah) and so am I. O Allah, stop it for me a little. It was stopped for him until Allah granted him victory. The people gathered the spoils of war (at one place). A fire approached the spoils to devour them, but it did not devour them. He (the Holy Prophet) said: Some of you have been guilty of misappropriation. So one man from each tribe should swear fealty to me. The did so (putting their hands into his). The hand of one man stuck to his hand and the Prophet (ﷺ) said: Your tribe is guilty of misappropriation. Let all the members of your tribe swear fealty to me one by one. They did so, when the hands of two or three persons got stuck with his hand. He said: You have misappropriated. So they took out gold equal in volume to the head of a cow. They-placed it among the spoils on the earth. Then the fire approached the spoils and devoured them. The spoils of war were not made lawful for any people before us, This is because Allah saw our weakness and humility and made them lawful for us.
A hadith has been narrated by Mus'ab b. Sa'd who heard it from his father as saying:
My father took a sword from Khums and brought it to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said: Grant it to me. He refused. At this Allah revealed (the Qur'anic verse):" They ask thee concerning the spoils of war. Say: The spoils of war are for Allah and the Apostle" (viii. 1).
It has been narrated on the authority of Ibn Umar that the Prophet (ﷺ) sent an expedition to Najd and I was among the troops. They got a large number of camels as a booty. Eleven or twelve camels fell to the lot of every fighter and each of them also got one extra camel.
A hadith has been narrated by Salim who learnt it from his father and said:
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) gave us an extra (camel) besides our share of Khums; (and in this extra share) I got a Sharif (and a Sharif is a big old camel).
It has been narrated on the authority of 'Abd al-Rahman b. Auf who said:
While I was standing in the battle array on the Day of Badr, I looked towards my right and my left, and found myself between two boys from the Ansar quite young in age. I wished I were between stronger persons. One of them made a sign to me and. said: Uncle, do you recognise Abu Jahl? 1 said: Yes. What do you want to do with him, O my nephew? He said: I have been told that he abuses the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). By Allah, in Whose Hand is my life, if I see him (I will grapple with him) and will not leave him until one of us who is destined to die earlier is killed. The narrator said: I wondered at this. Then the other made a sign to me and said similar words. Soon after I saw Abu Jahl. He was moving about among men. I said to the two boys: Don't you see? He is the man you were inquiring about. (As soon as they heard this), they dashed towards him, struck him with their swords until he was killed. Then they returned to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and informed him (to this effect). He asked: Which of you has killed him? Each one of them said: I have killed him. He said: Have you wiped your swords? They said: No. He examined their swords and said: Both of you have killed him. He then decided that the belongings of Abu Jahl he handed over to Mu'adh b. Amr b. al-Jamuh. And the two boys were Mu'adh b. Amr b. Jawth and Mu'adh b. Afra.
Auf b. Malik has narrated that a man from the Himyar tribe killed an enemy and wanted to take the booty. Khalid b. Walid, who was the commander over them, forbade, him. 'Auf b Malik (the narrator) came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and informed him (to this effect). The latter asked Khalid:
What prevented you from giving the booty to him? Khalid said: I thought it was too much. He (the Holy Prophet) said: Hand it over to him. Now when Khalid by Auf, the latter pulled him by his cloak and said (by way of chafing him): Hasn't the same thing happened what I reported to you from the Messenger of Allah (may peace he upon him)? When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) heard it. he was angry (and said): Khalid, don't give him, Khalid, don't give him. Are you going to desert the commanders appointed by roe? Your similitude and theirs is like a person who took camels and sheep for grazing. He grazed them and when it was time for them to have a drink, he brought them to a pool. So they drank from it, drinking away its clear water and leaving the turbid water below So the clear water (i. e. the best reward) is for you and the turbid water (i e. blame) is for them.
We fought the Battle of Hawazin along with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). (One day) when we were having our breakfast with the Messenger of Allah (may peace he upon him), a man came riding a red camel. He made it kneel down, extracted a strip of leather from its girth and tethered the camel with it. Then he began to take food with the people and look (curiously around). We were in a poor condition as some of us were on foot (being without any riding animals). All of a sudden, he left us hurriedy, came to his camel, untethered it, made it kneel down, mounted it and urged the beast which ran off with him. A man on a brown rhe-camel chased him (taking him for a spy). Salama (the narrator) said: I followed on foot. I ran on until I was near the thigh of the she-camel. I advanced further until I was near the haunches of the camel. I advanced still further until I caught hold of the nosestring of the camel. I made it kneel down. As soon as it placed its knee on the ground, I drew my sword and struck at the head, of the rider who fell down. I brought the camel driving it along with the man's baggage and weapons. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) came forward to meet me and the people were with him. He asked: Who has killed the man? The people said: Ibn Akwa'. He said: Everything of the man is for him (Ibn Akwa').