A Wise And Great Stance

In the eighth year of Hijrah (= Migration to Medina), and after the conquest of Makkah, Muslims under the leadership of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) had to face the fighters of Taif, who consist of men from the tribes of Hawazin and Thaqif. These tribes called for a gathering to discuss how to react to the triumph of Muslims who had already recovered Makkah. They decided to fight against the Muslims. The gathering was presided by Malik bin Auf from Hawazin, who asked the fighters to take with them their families and wealth, mainly camels and sheep. They started encampment at a valley called Awtas, half-way between Makkah and Taif.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) marched to Hunain, near Awtas. His army consisted of twelve thousand soldiers; ten from Medina and two thousand who joined them from Makkah. This army reached a narrow and steep side in the valley of Hunain. As they seemed over-confident with their number, they said: “We will not be defeated today because of deficiency in our numbers”.  Although the Hawazin and Thaqif were only about three thousand, the Muslims were taken in a severe ambush by Hawazin. The situation became so alarming, that the Mulims’ lines were shattered in a few hours of fighting; they ran for their lives in every direction, as recorded by God in the Qur’an: “God has already helped you on many fields, and on the day of Hunain, when your vast numbers were pleasing to you; but it availed you nothing and the earth, for its breadth it was straitened for you, then you turned back, retreating” (9:25).

But the Prophet (peace be upon him), just as it happened in Uhud three years earlier, held his ground with a few Muslims around him. He asked Al-‘Abbas, his uncle who had a strong voice to shout at the top of his voice and call his people: “O Ansar! O comrades of the Pledge of Ridwan!” They answered: Here we are O Prophet! Here we are O Prophet! About a hundred of the Ansar dismounted their fleeing camels, which they could not control. They all came and joined the very close companions, and gathered around the Prophet. Among them were Abubakr, Omar, Ali, Al-Abbas, Usamah bin zaid, Abusufyan bin Alharith.

Now that the tiny minority of Muslims came back and joined the Prophet (peace be upon him) with renewed belief and motivation, they charged the enemy, and the fortunes of the battle were reversed, and God helped them: “Then God sent down His (gift of) inner peace upon His messenger and upon the believers, and sent down legions which you could not see, and chastised those who were bent on denying the truth: for such is the recompense of all who deny the truth” (9:26).

When they were sincere and steadfast, although less in number, God helped them. So they reversed the outcome of the battle and won it, as God recounted the sincerity and steadfastness of the fighters of Bani Israel under the leadership of Talut: “How often a little company has overcome a numerous company by God’s leave, and God is with those who are patient” (2:249).

Now we will come to see the wise and great stance of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) when distributing the war spoils:

The accumulated spoils of the battle of Hunain were huge. The tribes of Hudhayl, Thaqif and their allies were among the richest in Arabia. What Muslims gained from this battle was tremendous spoils. According to the historians there were: twenty-four thousand camels, more than forty thousand heads of sheep, four thousand ounces of silver, and six thousand captives, men, women and children.

Before leaving the battlefield the Prophet (peace be upon him) distributed the bulk of the war spoils. He gave large portions of it to the “freed ones” from Quraysh (those who used to be his grimmest enemies but surrendered at the conquest of Makkah), but gave nothing to the Ansar and Muhajireen.

Abusufyan bin Harb, who was among the most esteemed personalities of Makkah, and who had just become Muslim after the conquest of Makkah was treated with great generosity; he was given a hundred camels and forty ounces of silver. He also asked for a gift for his son Yazid, and he was given another hundred camels and forty ounces of silver for him. Then he asked for his son Mu’awiyah, and he was given another hundred camels and forty ounces of silver.

Hakeem bin Hazm was given a hundred camels. He asked again and got another hundred camels. Suhayl bin ‘Amr, (who was the chief negotiator of the Quraysh at Hudaybiyah) received a hundred camels. And the Prophet gave tremendous wealth to some other personalities of Makkah who just became Muslims. The Prophet also distributed some of the spoils of considerable shares among the heads of the Bedouin tribes, that fought with the Muslims. However, nothing was given either to the Ansar or the Muhajireen, who felt unfairly treated. Especially among the Ansar, feelings of bitter indignation were running high.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) heard about the murmurings and resentments of the Ansar, so he called them for a meeting. When they were assembled in his council, he said to them: “O men of the Ansar, what is this statement I have heard of you? And what is this resentment in your hearts against me? Did I not find you poor, and God made you rich? Were you not enemies of one another, and God softened your hearts towards each other, and gave you peace and reconciliation?”

The Ansar answered: “Yes indeed, God and His Messenger are most kind and generous”.

The Prophet continued: “Are you angry with me, because of these trivialities of this world (meaning spoils), which I gave to these people (= the new Muslims) hoping to win over their hearts to Islam, while entrusting you to your faith and conviction? Are you not satisfied that men should take away flocks and herds, while you take back with you the Messenger of God? By Him, in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, but for the migration (the hijrah), I should like to have been one of the Ansar myself! If all men take one way, and the Ansar another, I will take the way of the Ansar, may God give mercy to the Ansar, their sons, and their sons’ sons!” The people wept until tears ran down their beards, as they said: “We are indeed satisfied with the Messenger of God as our lot and portion, O Messenger of God!”.

This wise stance that the Prophet has taken in the way he distributed the war spoils, in his dealing with the newly surrendered to God, and with those who were already firmed in their faith, was indeed great and remarkable!