So we mentioned Allah revealed a verse that the harsher treatment would have bee

n better than mercy at this time. What is the wisdom behind this?
1. Allah says "It is not appropiate any prophet has prisoners of war until he es
tablishes his authority in the land". You see forgiveness when its done out of w
eakness is not considered to be effective. Whereas forgiveness at power is the m
ost effective, its the most genuine forgiveness. Thus Allah is hinting at this s
tage of weakeness it would have been better to execute to get to the upper hand.
And we will discuss very explicitly about the pragmatism of Islam. Those system
s of "turn the other cheek" are simply unrealistic. No country can exist with th
is ideal. Thus these teaching cannot be the soically viable rule of society. To
always forgive and turn the other cheek would mean others would just take advant
age of you. And indeed never has any society that claims to follow this ideology
has really followed it. Rather, Islam is far more realistic and perfect. It tea
ches the general rule is forgiveness, but at time you send the message of "don't
mess with me". It needs to be demonstrated at times. Allah is saying you are st
ill humilitated and oppressed - so you should not have forgiven at this stage. L
ook at the practical element of our religion.
2. Another wisdom is that, for every two you save, one will come back to fight y
ou. And it's the exact same enemy who comes back to kill you. And indeed some of
those came back for Uhud, Ahzab etc.
3. A third wisdom Umar RA related to himself: it was to demonstrate to the tribe
s that "we are more loyal to Allah that we are to tribalism". That Umar RA said
"give me my tribe" - thus no one will accuse Banu Hisham killed Banu Adi etc. An
d this took years for the Quraysh to understand. That how could such a disparite
d group, all from different backgrounds and tribes, would unite and fight as one
. At this Abu Bukr RA got extremely angry and he uttered a literal type of curse
word. And Abu Bukr is the most humble, honest and peaceful! But this made him s
o angry that he cursed him with vulgar speech.
Nonetheless Allah accepted the Itjihad of the prophet PBUH and the 70 prisoners
were taken back. However, on the way back, two prisoners were executed. The gene
ral rule is that prisoners of war are not executed - some scholars say this is t
he only time a PoW was executed under the prophet PBUH. And those two were Anath
r ibn Harith and Uqbah ibn Abi Mua'ayt. As for Anathhr ibn Harith: Ibn Ishaaq sa
id he was of the shaytan of the Quraysh. And it's said over 8 verses were reveal
ed about him. He was of those who before the coming of Islam, had lived abroad i
n Hira, the capital of the Lakamid dynasty in Irqa. So he had an outside educati
on. When the Qur'an was revealed, he became the most sarcastic commentator of th
e Qur'an. And he would say "what are these fables/stories? I can give you better
fables". And its said every verse in the Quran wherein Allah says "they say the
se are just fables..." is a reference to Anathr. And "Who does more injustice th
at the one who says, I can reveal as Allah reveals". And this is Anathr who said
this. And its said when the prophet PBUH used to narrate the stories of the Qur
an, he would say "leave this man, I can tell you better stories" and he would na
rrate stories of the ancient persian kings etc. So this guy, Anathr, had many of
such stories. Also Anathr and Uqbah, the both of them decided to travel to Yath
rib and ask the jews trick questions to trick the prophet PBUH with in early Isl
am. The three trick questions: tell us about zulkarnain, the ruh (spirit) They t
ravelled all the way to just trap the prophet PBUH. And they came back so happy
and proud - but of course he answered it. As for Uqbah, he was one of the most v
ile and evil people. He physically carried the carcuss when the prophet PBUH was
in sajadah. Abu Jahal taunted "Who will get it etc" and Ibn Ishaaq says "the mo
st despicable of them stood up" - and can you imagine a noble man who is a rich
person, will take stinking rotting dead intestines and throw it on the prophet P
BUH. He was also the one who physically tried to choke the prophet PBUH while he
was praying. And Abu Bukr RA came to save him and said "will you kill a man jus
t because he says Allah is his Lord?!" - and this is now in the Quran.

And when Uqbah was brought out to be executed he said "why me?" And Ali RA said
"because of your animosity to Allah and his Messenger". And also right when he w
as about to be killed, he begged for his life. And he said "Oh Muhammad who will
take care of my children?" And the prophet PBUH gave a response "The Fire". Wha
t did the prophet PBUH mean by this?
1. Don't worry about your children you have to worry about the fire.
2. If they follow your footsteps they will join you in the fire.
Also here he is grovelling for forgiveness but where was his own sympathy when t
he prophet PBUHs daughter had to come running to take the intenstines off the ba
ck of the prophet PBUH while he was in sajadah. Where is his bravery now? Also,
our religion shows harshness when it is due, and mercy when it is due. That peop
le like Uqbah and Anathr, there is no forgiveness and frankly these people were
to the level off Ummayah, Abu Jahal etc. And perhaps to demonstrate a special de
ath for them, they survived during the war but were executed after.
The prophet PBUH left from the planes of Badr on Monday 20th Ramadan. And the mu
slims were waiting patiently to find out what happened. And the rumours had come
but they couldn't firmly believe until Zaid ibn Harithah returned, the adopted
'son' of the prophet PBUH. And the prophet PBUH sent him on is own camel Al Qasw
a. And the camel everyone recognised - and they all saw Zaid shouting "Allahu ak
bar" and he starts mentioning the names of all those who had been killed. And it
s a list of every single famous person of the Quraysh. And indeed if you think a
bout it, its unbelievable. When the muslims heard this they became happy. Howeve
r, the munafiqoon started right now - the group that was to become the munaafiqs
, they started mumbling and whispering upon themselves. That clearly Zaid has go
ne crazy - Muhammad has been killed and he's taken his camel and come back. So t
he neo hypocrites began saying the prophet PBUH is dead. There is one footnote o
f a sad news: the takbeer came the same day, same hour and same minute as when U
thman buried Ruqayya, the daughter of the prophet PBUH. And if you think about o
f it, the battle of Badr up until this point is the happiest occasion ever. Yet
still Allah willed on that day a tragedy striked. The order of his daughters we
don't know: some say she was the 1st or 2nd. But for sure she was teh first to d
ie. After her Uthman RA married Umme Kulthoom. So it's as if Allah is showing no
matter how happy you are this world is a world of test and trials. It's a tempo
rary abode. As the prophet PBUH said "everyone one of us has a long list but dea
th comes and draws a line in that list wherever it is". So through this death it
's as if the prophet PBUH is being shown even during this time of happiness, the
ultimate happiness is in the next life. So the news spread among the people and
they all gathered waiting for the prophet PBUH to come.
The prophet PBUH arrived back the same day with the 70 prisoners, took them to t
he masjid and told each person who captured them to look after them. And the chi
efton of the Quraysh among the prisoners were taken care off by the prophet PBUH
himself. And indeed never ever in the history of mankind has this happened: tha
t the chiefton of the other armies is being taken care of by the leader of the o
ther army. Suhail ibn Amar was the foremost amongst them - he and Abu Suffyan we
re now the top of the Quraysh. Sauda, the wife of the prophet PBUH, was with the
mother of those who killed Abu Jahal. And when she heard the Quraysh had surren
dered and the prophet PBUH had come back, she rushed back home and she barged in
to her own house and therer in the corner of her own room she saw Suhail ibn Amr
. And when she sees the leader of the Quraysh she said "I forgot who I was and I
simply said that 'Ya Aba Yazeed, you surrendered like this? Why didn't you die
an honourable death?'" She feels a disgrace the leader of the Quraysh is sitting
as a prisoner. Sauda said "I didn't even realise what I said, until I heard the
prophet PBUH next to me saying 'You are stoking him to fight against Allah and
his messenger?'". And Sauda said "I lost sense of what I was saying when I saw h

im sitting like this - I couldn't control myself". And the prophet PBUH accepted
the excuse. This shows us the humanity of the companions. If the prophet PBUH c
an forgive a mistake that outwardely is a type of kuffar, then what about us? In
deed in her emotion she lost control of her rationality. There are many other ex
amples like this: in the desert where the man blurted out "Oh Allah you are my s
ervant; I am your rub" even the prophet PBUH excused this mistake and smiled at
it. The point is, when anyone we know makes a mistake out of emotion, and then r
ecognises the mistake, you should just move on as the prophet PBUH did.
The prophet PBUH as we mentioned gave every PoW to the one who captured him. And
he said "I command you to treat them with kindness". And Ibn Ishaaq mentions ma
ny stories: the brother of Mus'ab ibn Omair, Abu Aziz, said he was assigned to a
group of ansari. And he said whenever they sat down to eat, they would give him
the bread and meat, and they would take the dates and water - why? He himself s
ays "because the prophet PBUH told them to treat me with kindness. And out of em
barrasment I would put the bread back in front of them; but they would put it ba
ck in front of me". And this is the beauty of Islam: strictness in the time of s
trictness and kindness when its needed. And this is an unparalleled treatment of
prisoners of war ever. Our shariah gave these rights when no other culture gave
them. That prisoners were treated royally and they were given better food. Just
imagine, which ruler has ever taken a prisoner of war and let him live in his o
wn house? This is what makes Islam such a beautiful, practical religion. So the
prophet PBUH sent the message back to the Quraysh of the randsom moneys. The cor
rect opinion is that every prisoner was given a price suitable for him. The rich
had to pay more; the poor prisoners paid a lower randsom so much so the poorest
could back without paying anything. Also every prisoner is known to the prophet
PBUH and their wealth.
The ansari came to the prophet PBUH and told him "I will gift Al Abbass to you".
But the prophet PBUH said "No - do not decrease it by one coin". And that ansar
i got a very high price i.e. 4000 dinar. Not just that, the prophet PBUH told hi
m Al Abbass he should also pay the randsom of Aqil and Nawfal who were both his
nephews. Aqil is the oldest, then Ja'far and then Ali. Nawfal ibn Harith, where
Harith is the oldest son of Abdul Muttalib.
Al Abbass came to the prophet PBUH and said "I am a muslim so why are putting a
randsom on me?" The prophet PBUH said "Allah knows - if what you say is true All
ah will give you something better. But we have to judge you by your actions and
you fought us". Abbass himself says Surah Anfal verse 70 was revealed because of
him:
O Prophet, say to whoever is in your hands of the captives, "If Allah knows [any
] good in your hearts, He will give you [something] better than what was taken f
rom you, and He will forgive you; and Allah is Forgiving and Merciful."
So Abbass told the prophet PBUH that "I don't have any money". What did the prop
het PBUH say? "Where is that money you and Umme Fudl hid on such and such a day?
" So immediately he said "I swear by the One Who has sent you, you are the messe
nger of Allah for no one knows about this". And Abbass used to say later on "Wal
ahi I wished the prophet PBUH had taken more because what I got in return was mu
ch more than he took". Abbass was a very shrewd businessman.
Its also reported authentically that some captives had no money but could read a
nd write. And so the prophet PBUH told them they could go free if they taught th
e children of the Ansar how to read and write. The prophet PBUH wanted to spread
literacy at a time when literacy wasn't encouraged. Also, Islam was a civilisat
ional force: it came to a group that didn't care about culture, history, science
, reading and writing etc. It raised the Arabs up to be the leaders of the world
and its truly profound.

Abl As ibn Rabbiyah was the husband of Zainab bint Muhammad. Thus he was the son
in law of the prophet PBUH, and Zainab is most likely the eldest. Abl As's moth
er was Khadija's older sister, Haala. So Khadija is Abl As's aunty. This marriag
e had taken place in the days of Jaheleya. And Abl As was a loving husband - so
Abl As is fighting against the muslim and the ransdom was sent to him aswell. It
's said when the randsom came, Zainab gave some of her jewellary. One part of th
at was an item Khadjiah used to wear. When the prophet PBUH saw this very neckla
ce his heart melted. The very footsteps of Hala would bring the prophet PBUH to
tears and Aisha RA would get jealous when Hala visited the prophet PBUH. So when
the prophet PBUH saw the necklace, he requested to those who captured Abl As, t
o set him free without a randsom.
Another story was the randsom of Amr ibn Abu Suffyan. He was of course the leade
r of the caravan. And he is the undisputed leader of the Quraysh. So he has been
tramutised the most since now all the pressure is on him. In trying to save his
camels and the caravan, disaster befell Mecca. So he was told to randsom his so
n Amr. And when Abu Suffyan heard he said "Do they expect me to give up my money
as well as my blood? Let him remain in their hands - he will stay there as long
as they want". The only reason is that deep down inside they wouldn't kill/tort
ure his son. That no matter how much he hated Islam and the prophet PBUH, he kno
ws his son is in safe hands. He knows they will take good care of him. But he di
d a very evil deed to get his son back that goes against the principles of Islam
and Jaheleya. That is, many months later, one of the eldery people of Madinah c
ame to do business in Mecca and tawaaf. And we said many time Mecca was a haram.
It was a law the Quraysh themselves upheld at all times. So when this ansari ca
me, Abu Suffyan kidnapped him in broad daylight and said "I will not release him
until you release my son". And so the prophet PBUH released the son of Abu Suff
yan without a randsom: and again we see the double standard of the Quraysh. That
they went crazy when a sahabi killed someone during the sacred months. But when
their cheifton kidnaps someone in broad daylight in front of the kab'ah no one
utters a word. Also the prophet PBUH deals with them despite the fact its unfair
- the ansari, Sa'ad ibn Nouman, is not to blame.
Another story is that of Abu Aziz ibn Omair who became very happy when he saw Mu
s'ab ibn Omair, his brother, but Mus'ab told the ansari who captured him "make s
ure he dosen't escape because his mother is very wealthy and she will pay top do
llar". So his brother says "ya akhi this is how you treat me?" But Mus'ab says "
Hasaa akhi i.e. this is my brother, not you".
For those who couldn't afford any randsom, they were all sent back without any r
andsom. This shows us again the pragmatism of the prophet PBUH.
And in fact many of the prisoners of Badr eventually accepted Islam. Either befo
re the conquest or immediately after: Nawfal ibn Harith, Abbass, Aqil ibn Abu Ta
lib, Suhayl ibn Amr etc. This shows us the wisdom that mercy is thel general rul
e.
Now what was the effect of Badr in Mecca and Madinah? In Madinah two things are
significant politically:
1. All the pagans that remained in Madinah realised they have to abandon their p
aganism. And so the last remnants of idoletry in Madinah vanished. And so pagani
sm dissapared; there was never a command to stop worshipping idols. Slowly more
and more converted, and eventually they all had to convert. However, at this nif
aaq was born. Nifaaq is a post Badr phenomenon. And its said that Abdullah ibn U
bay who was the eldest chiefton of the tribes of Yathrib; when he heard Zaid say
ing all of these names, he said "It appears the matter has been settled (i.e. Is
lam is supreme and Muhammad is here to stay)". Thus he outwardely accepted Islam
but was hypocrticial.

Regarding Abl As - the prophet PBUH sent two companions to a certain place outsi
de of Mecca. And he told them to wait there for two days and that they will get
a visitor. And it turns out Zainab was that visitor. The deal was Abl As could g
o for Zainab in return. Recall Zainab was a muslim since the prophet PBUH began
preaching, but Abl As was a mushrik. And at this point you could still be marrie
d to a mushrik (verses weren't revealed yet). And so Zainab was sent outside the
city to be taken back to Madniah. Abl As always treated her honourably and neve
r prevented her to practice Islam. Later on he did embrace Islam. So when Abl As
came back, rumours began to spread Zainab might be going back. The prophet PBUH
did not say this but people knew Abl As did not pay his randsom so guessed this
was the case. Hind, the wife of Abu Suffyan, visited Zainab and said "I've hear
d you going to Madinah. There's no need for you to leave, but come to me and I w
ill prepare your bags for you". Why? She has a plan that Zainab should never go
back. Because then they will still have a hostage i.e. the daughter of the proph
et PBUH. So Hind tells her if you ever plan to leave "I will pack your stuff". Z
ainab was very tempted but she said something didn't feel right and therefore sh
e didn't mention when she was going to leave. When she finished preparing her br
other in law, Abl As's brother Qinana, took her outside of the city. So this was
pre agreed i.e. on this date, at this time.
So Qinana in broad daylight takes Zainab's bags, put them on his camel, put Zain
ab on the camel and started to walk out the city. This was of course not wise at
all. The news spread across Mecca that Zainab is leaving and immediately some o
f the Quraysh gather a enotourage to stop her from leaving. And they surrounded
Zainab, and Qinana is trying to protect her. It's said at this time Zainab was p
regnant with a child. A certain Qurayshi by the name of Habar ibn Al Aswad ibn M
uttalib, was the one who thrusted a spear to the camel and the camel jumped up,
and Zainab fell 15 feet from the camel and started to bleed then and there and s
uffered a miscarriage. And some people also say she was so severely wounded this
was one of the reasons she died an early death. Recall all of the daughters of
the prophet PBUH died in his lifetime except Fatimah RA. And so Qinana jumped in
front of her and said "Anyone who approaches me I will kill them before you kil
l me - and you all know how good a marksmen I am". Until finally Abu Suffyan hea
rs of whats going on, and he rushes on his horse and calms the situation. And pr
omises them Zainab will not leave but then tells Qinana "you acted foolishly - d
id you expect us to just leave in broad daylight? Go back to the people, wait so
me while and then queitly hand her over". He is trying to say "don't humiliate u
s - go queitly when no one is looking". And it shows us: here is Qinana, not a m
uslim but he's an honorable man. It also showed the intellegance of Abu Suffyan.
This man, Habar ibn Al Aswad ibn Muttalib, his grandson was amongst those who pa
rticipated with Muhammad ibn Qasim in the conquest of Sind. And eventually this
grandson, his progeny, founded a dynasty that was called the Habard dynasty. And
at least 7 generations afterwards - and they ruled for over 200 years and minte
d coins. And there are cities in Sind founded by the Habarids.