فَإِذا لَقِيتُمْ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فَضَرْبَ الرِّقَابِ حَتَّى إِذَا أَثْخَنتُمُوهُمْ فَشُدُّوا الْوَثَاقَ فَإِمَّا مَنًّا بَعْدُ وَإِمَّا فِدَاءً حَتَّى تَضَعَ الْحَرْبُ أَوْزَارَهَا (4:47)

So, when you come across those who disbelieve, heads are to be struck off until when you have really routed them, bind them as captives. When you have bound them, then favour is to be done or ranson is to be taken. [This policy should remain] until war lays down its weapons. (47:4)

It is evident from the words of this verse that until its revelation no war had begun with the disbelievers, though circumstances had reached the extent that it could begin anytime. On this occasion, Muslims were told that if they encounter the disbelievers of Arabia, who had rejected the truth in spite of being convinced about it, then the real requirement is to put them to death. They deserve no lenience after their insistence on deliberately denying the truth unveiled to them by the Prophet (sws). So when they are encountered in battle, as much of them should be slain as is possible. Only when they are totally routed should the rest be captured as captives. But when the are made captives, they can either set them free after accepting some ransom or set them free as a favour. No other option is available to them. They should continue with this policy until these disbelievers give up fighting. Thus further head it is said: ذالك(this is what you should do). [1]

The words that have been used to state this directive read as: فَإِمَّا مَنًّا بَعْدُ وَإِمَّا فِدَاءً (thereafter free them as a favour or free them with ransom). The word مَنًّا (mannan) here is a verbal noun of a suppressed verb and does not occur in contrast to قَتْل (murder), but rather in contrast to فِدَاءً (fida’an). Those who have a flare for language know that if the word فِدَاءً means “to set free after accepting ransom”, then since the word will also mean “to set free as a favour without accepting ransom” since it is used after إِمَّا in contrast to فِدَاءً it cannot refer to any other form of favour.

Although this directive is stated in the surah with reference to the mushrikun of Arabia, nothing in it restricts its application to them only. Therefore, it will apply to other combatants – whether of those times or of later – as well.

Three types of captives, however, were an exception to this rule:

1. Brutal adversaries about whom the verdict of God was that according to the dictates of the law of itmam al-hujjah [2] they were required to be slain wherever found. Examples of people who were killed as a result were ‘Uqbah ibn Abi Mu‘it, Nadr ibn Harith [3] and Abu ‘Azzah [4] – the captives of the battles of Badr and Uhud. Similarly, at the conquest of Makkah, certain others were also slain as an exception to the general amnesty granted because of their open enmity. [5]

2. The captives of the Banu Qurayzah who met a fate decided by an arbitrator appointed by themselves: their men were slain and their women and children were sold as slaves. [6]

3. Captives who were slaves prior to their capture and, on certain instances, were distributed among people as slaves. [7]

It is obvious that these three cases were exceptions, and the directive stated in the above quoted verse never related to them. Consequently, if all the incidents of the Prophet’s times regarding prisoners of war are studied, it can be safely concluded that barring these three exceptions everything done was in conformity with the above quoted directive of Surah Muhammad.

Following are the details:

1. As long as the prisoners remained in captivity of the state authorities, they were treated in a befitting manner. It is known that the prisoners of Badr were distributed among the Companions (rta) and the Prophet (sws) himself directed the Companions (rta) in the words: إِسْتَوْصُوْا بِالْاُسَارَى خَيْرا (treat these prisoners well). [8] One of the prisoners Abu ‘Aziz says that he was kept in a house of the Ansar tribe. He goes on to say that his hosts fed him with chapati while they themselves just ate dates. [9] When Thumamah ibn Uthal, a chief of Yamamah, was taken into custody, he, at the behest of the Prophet (sws), was fed with good food and milk as long as he remained in captivity. [10]

2. Most prisoners of the battle of Badr were set free after accepting ransom from them. Those among them who could pay in cash were exacted a ransom that ranged from one thousand to four thousand dirhams per prisoner, while those among them who were not in a position to pay this amount were set free if they taught ten children each from among the Ansar to read and write. Abu Sufyan’s son, ‘Amr, was set free in exchange for Sa‘d ibn Nu‘man whom he had imprisoned. [11] Among the captives of the battle of Bani Mustaliq, Juwayriyah was freed after her father, Harith ibn Abi Darar paid the ransom money. [12] Once Abu Bakr (rta) was sent on a military campaign. Among the captives, there was a beautiful lady. The Prophet (sws) sent her to Makkah and was able to win the freedom of many prisoners in lieu of her. [13] Similarly, a prisoner of the Bani ‘Aqil was sent to Ta’if and in lieu of him, two prisoners in the custody of the Banu Thaqif were released. [14]

3. Some captives were set free without any ransom. Among the captives of Badr, Abual-‘As, Muttalab ibn Hantab, Wahb ibn ‘Umayr ibn Wahb and Abu ‘Azzah were set free like this. [15] At the time of the truce of Hudaybiyyah, about 80 people from Makkah suddenly attacked the Muslims at night from the direction of Tan‘im. All of them were caught and the Prophet (sws) set them free without any ransom money as well.[16] Thumamah ibn Uthal, referred to earlier, was also set free on similar grounds. [17]

4. On some occasions, the prisoners were distributed among people so that they could directly deal with them or their relatives on the principle of فَإِمَّا مَنًّا بَعْدُ وَإِمَّا فِدَاءً (thereafter free them as a favour or free them with ransom), the prisoners of the battle against the Bani Mustaliq, were distributed thus. However, once the Prophet (sws) married Jawayriyah after she had been set free, all the Muslims set free the prisoners in their custody without any ransom saying that these prisoners had now become the relatives of the Prophet (sws). Prisoners from about one hundred families were released in this way. [18] The prisoners of the military campaign against the Hawazin tribe were also similarly set free by the Prophet (sws) without taking any ransom from the people. [19] Similar was the case of the prisoners of the Hunayn battle. When the tribe of Hawazin came to buy the freedom of their prisoners, it came to their knowledge that all their prisoners had been distributed. At their request, the Prophet (sws) gathered all Muslims among whom these prisoners had been distributed. When all had assembled, the Prophet (sws) expressed his opinion that as these people who had come to fetch the prisoners had repented, everyone should release the prisoners they had in custody. He further said that whoever wanted to set them free without any ransom should do so, and others who wanted ransom would be granted the ransom by the state treasury. As a result of this request, 6000 prisoners were set free, and those among the Muslims who demanded ransom were paid by the state treasury. [20]

5. Widows and other helpless women among these prisoners who had been similarly distributed were generally set free by the respective owners and married to them on the basis of their free consent. On these very grounds, the marital knot was tied between Safiyyah (rta) and the Prophet (sws). [21]

(Javed Ahmed Ghamidi)

(Translated by Dr. Shehzad Saleem)

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[1]. This has been stated because once warfare ends with them, the only option for them would be to either accept faith or face death.

[2]. Communicating the truth to the extent that no one is left with any excuse to deny it.

[3]. Ibn Hisham,Al-Sirah al-nabawiyyah, vol. 2, 215.

[4]. Ibid., vol. 3, 83.

[5]. Ibid., vol. 4, 41.

[6]. Al-Bukhari, Al-Jami‘ al-sahih, 698-699, (no.4122); Muslim, Al-Jami‘ al-sahih, 785, (no.4598); Ibn Hisham,Al-Sirah al-nabawiyyah, vol. 3,188-189, 192.

[7]. Al-Bukhari, Al-Jami‘ al-sahih, (no.3144); Muslim, Al-Jami‘ al-sahih, 729, 792, (nos.4294, 4621); Ibn Hisham,Al-Sirah al-nabawiyyah, vol. 4,105.

[8]. Ibn Hisham,Al-Sirah al-nabawiyyah, vol. 2, 217.

[9]. Ibid.

[10]. Ibid., vol. 4,215.

[11]. Ibn Sa‘d, Al-Tabaqat al-kubra, vol. 2, 22;Ibn HishamAl-Sirah al-nabawiyyah,vol. 2, 221.

[12]. Ibn Hisham,Al-Sirah al-nabawiyyah,vol. 3, 232.

[13]. Muslim, Al-Jami‘ al-sahih, 777, (no.4573); Abu Da’ud, Sunan, vol. 3, 64, (no. 2697).

[14]. Muslim, Al-Jami‘ al-sahih, 720, (no.4245); Al-Tirmidhi, Al-Jami‘ al-kabir, vol. 3, 227-228, (no.1568); Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad,vol. 5, 588, 597, (nos. 19326, 19378).

[15]. Ibn HishamAl-Sirah al-nabawiyyah,vol. 2, 228; Ibid., vol. 3, 50.

[16]. Muslim, Al-Jami‘ al-sahih, 811, (no.4679); Abu Da’ud, Sunan, vol. 3, 61, (no. 2688).

[17]. Al-Bukhari, Al-Jami‘ al-sahih, 741-742, (no.4372); Muslim, Al-Jami‘ al-sahih, 782-783, (no.4589).

[18]. Ibn Hisham,Al-Sirah al-nabawiyyah,vol. 3, 231.

[19]. Ibn Kathir,Al-Sirah al-nabawiyyah,vol. 3, 453.

[20]. Al-Bukhari, Al-Jami‘ al-sahih, 730, (nos.4318-4319); Ibn Hisham,Al-Sirah al-nabawiyyah,vol. 4, 104-106.

[21]. Al-Bukhari, Al-Jami‘ al-sahih, 713, (no. 4201); Muslim, Al-Jami‘ al-sahih, 600, (no.3497)