Junadah ibn Abi Umayyah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated: We camped at Dabiq under Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah. It reached Habib ibn Maslamah that the ruler of Cyprus was heading toward Azerbaijan’s route with emeralds, rubies, pearls, and more. Habib went out, killed him, and brought what he had. Abu Ubaidah wanted to take a fifth, but Habib ibn Maslamah said: “Do not deprive me of sustenance Allah granted me, for the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) gave the spoils to the killer.” Mu‘adh said: “O Habib, I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: ‘A man gets only what his leader willingly gives.’”
1 [Narrated by At-Tabarani in Al-Mu‘jam al-Kabir and Al-Awsat]
This Hadith is hasan due to multiple narrations
2 and is supported by Bukhari and Muslim’s narration from Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf, who said: “I was standing in the ranks on the day of Badr and looked to my right and left, finding two young Ansari boys. I wished I were between stronger men. One nudged me and said: ‘Uncle, do you know Abu Jahl?’ I said: ‘Yes, what do you want with him, nephew?’ He said: ‘I heard he insults the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). By the One in Whose Hand is my soul, if I see him, my shadow won’t leave his until one of us dies.’ I was amazed. The other nudged me, saying the same. Soon, I saw Abu Jahl moving among the people. I said: ‘Don’t you see? That’s the man you asked about.’ They rushed him with their swords, struck, and killed him, then went to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and informed him. He said: ‘Which of you killed him?’ Each said: ‘I killed him.’ He said: ‘Have you wiped your swords?’ They said: ‘No.’ He looked at their swords and said: ‘Both of you killed him.’
3 He awarded the spoils to Mu‘adh ibn Amr ibn al-Jumuh.” The two were Mu‘adh ibn Amr ibn al-Jumuh and Mu‘adh ibn Afra’.
In another narration by them: Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: On the day of Badr, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Who will check what Abu Jahl did?” Ibn Mas‘ud went and found that Afra’s two sons had struck him until he was lifeless. He took his beard and said: “Are you Abu Jahl?” He replied: “Is there anyone greater than the man you killed?” In another narration: “If only it wasn’t a farmer who killed me.” Ad-Darimi narrated from him: On that day, meaning Hunayn, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Whoever kills a disbeliever gets his spoils.” Abu Talhah killed twenty men
4 that day and took their spoils.
Commentary and footnotes (2)
Note 1
(1) The statement: “The fire came and consumed it, etc.”: If you ask: What is the wisdom in the fire consuming their spoils but making them lawful for us? I say: For them, it was to ensure their fighting was not for spoils due to their lack of sincerity. For this nation, spoils were made lawful because sincerity predominates among them, needing no additional incentive. As stated in (‘Umdat al-Qari).
Note 1
(١)قوله: فجاءت النار فأكلتها إلخ: فإن قلت: ما الحكمة في أكل النار غنائمهم والتحليل لنا؟ قلت: جعل هذا فيحقهم حتى لا يكون قتالهم لأجل الغنيمة؛ لقصورهم في الإخلاص، وأما تحليلها في حق هذه الأمة فلكون الإخلاصغالبًا عليهم، فلم يحتج إلى باعث آخر. كذا في (عمدة القاري).