Fath al-Rabbani

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was granted victory in the Battle of Khaybar, Sayyiduna Hajjaj bin Alat (may Allah be pleased with him) submitted: O Messenger of Allah! My family and wealth are in Makkah, and I have a considerable amount of wealth there. I wish to go there to retrieve it, so do I have your permission to say some things against you merely to please the disbelievers? The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) granted him permission to say whatever he wished. He went to Makkah and visited his wife, saying: Gather all the wealth you have in one place; I want to buy the spoils of war taken from Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and his companions. They have been defeated and their wealth has been plundered. This news spread throughout Makkah. The Muslims there became ashamed because of this news, while the polytheists began to express joy and happiness. When this news reached Abbas, he was so shocked that he collapsed and could not get up. Maqsim narrated that he took hold of one of his sons, Qutham, lay down, and placed him on his chest, saying: O Qutham, come to me. O Qutham, come to me. You resemble Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him); your nose is also slightly raised like his. He is the Prophet of Allah, who has bestowed countless favors upon creation. Whoever Allah humiliates and disgraces will remain humiliated and disgraced. Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) says that then Abbas sent a slave to Hajjaj bin Alat (may Allah be pleased with him) and asked: What news have you brought, and what are you saying? Whatever you are saying, Allah Almighty had promised them something much better than that. Sayyiduna Hajjaj bin Alat (may Allah be pleased with him) said to his messenger slave: Convey my greetings to Abu al-Fadl (may Allah be pleased with him) and tell him to meet me privately in one of his houses; I have good news for him. The slave returned, and when he reached the door of the house, he said: O Abu al-Fadl! Congratulations to you on good news. Sayyiduna Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) immediately jumped up with joy and kissed him between the eyes. The slave informed him of what Hajjaj bin Alat had said, and Abbas set him free. Then Sayyiduna Hajjaj (may Allah be pleased with him) came and informed him that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had conquered Khaybar and obtained the wealth of the Jews as spoils of war, and according to Allah’s command, the spoils obtained there had been distributed among all the entitled parties, and the Messenger of Allah had chosen Safiyyah, the daughter of Huyayy, for himself. He (peace and blessings be upon him) had given her the choice: if she wished, he would set her free and marry her, or if she wished, she could return to her family. She chose that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) should set her free and marry her. I have only come here to collect my left-behind wealth; I wish to gather it and take it away, and I had sought permission from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) for this, and he granted me permission that I may say whatever I wish in this matter merely to please the disbelievers. Keep my words hidden for three days, after which you may mention them to people as you see fit. Accordingly, whatever jewelry and belongings Hajjaj’s wife had, she gathered it all and handed it over to him. Then he took the goods and left. Three days later, Abbas came to Hajjaj’s wife and asked: What did your husband do? She replied that he had left on such-and-such a day, and said: O Abu al-Fadl! May Allah never disgrace you. The things that reached you were extremely hard for us to bear. He said: Yes, Allah will never disgrace me, and thanks be to Allah, what has happened is what we desired. Allah has granted victory at Khaybar through His Messenger, and the spoils obtained there have been distributed according to Allah’s command, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) has chosen Safiyyah bint Huyayy for himself, and then said to her: If you wish to go to your family, you may go. She said: By Allah, I believe all your words are true. Abbas further said: I am telling the truth; what I am telling you is exactly what happened. After this, Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) went to the gatherings of Quraysh. Whenever he passed by them, they would say: O Abu al-Fadl! May you have goodness. He would say: Thanks be to Allah, I have received nothing but goodness. Hajjaj bin Alat (may Allah be pleased with him) informed me that Allah has granted victory at Khaybar through His Messenger, and the spoils obtained there have been distributed according to Allah’s prescribed shares, and Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) has kept Safiyyah bint Huyayy for himself. Hajjaj (may Allah be pleased with him) had told me to keep these things hidden for three days; he had only come here to collect his wealth and belongings, which he took and left. The sadness that had spread among the Muslims because of Hajjaj’s words now returned to the polytheists, and they became sorrowful. The Muslims and others who had gone to Abbas’s house in grief and sadness now left and went to Abbas, and he informed them of the true situation. Upon hearing this in detail, all the Muslims became truly delighted, and all the grief and sorrow returned to the polytheists.