Surah Al-Anfaal (8) — Ayah 68

(Ayah 68) {لَوْ لَا كِتٰبٌ مِّنَ اللّٰهِ سَبَقَ …:} Here, “the Book written by Allah” can mean several things. One is that if war booty had not been made lawful for this Ummah, as is understood from the hadith in Bukhari (335) [ وَ أُحِلَّتْ لِيَ الْغَنَائِمُ ] (“And war booty has been made lawful for me”), and Ibn Jarir (may Allah have mercy on him) preferred this view. Another is that the sins of the Companions who participated in Badr had already been forgiven, etc. (Ibn Kathir, Fath al-Qadeer) Some scholars have said that the presence of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was a barrier to the descent of punishment, as He said: «وَ مَا كَانَ اللّٰهُ لِيُعَذِّبَهُمْ وَ اَنْتَ فِيْهِمْ» [ الأنفال : ۳۳ ] “And Allah would not punish them while you are among them.” Shah Abdul Qadir (may Allah have mercy on him) writes: “It had already been written that among those captives, many were destined to become Muslim.” (Mawdhih) In short, if these things had not already been decreed, punishment would have descended upon you.

68. 1. There is a difference among the commentators regarding what this written matter was. Some have said that by this is meant the permissibility of war booty, i.e., since it was decreed in destiny that war booty would be lawful for the Muslims, therefore, by taking ransom you have done a permissible act. If it had not been so, then because of taking ransom, a great punishment would have afflicted you. Some have taken the forgiveness of the people of Badr as the meaning, some have taken the presence of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ as a prevention from punishment, etc.

Had it not been for a prior decree from Allah, a severe punishment [70] would have afflicted you for what you have taken (as ransom).

[70]
Consultation Regarding the Prisoners of Badr and the Rebuke from Allah:

Regarding the circumstances of the revelation of verses 67 and 68, consider the following two hadiths:
1. Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas ؓ narrates that after the Battle of Badr, when the prisoners were captured, the Prophet ﷺ asked Abu Bakr Siddiq ؓ and Umar ؓ: "What is your opinion regarding these prisoners?" Abu Bakr ؓ said, "O Prophet of Allah! They are cousins and family members. My opinion is that ransom should be taken from them so that we may gain strength against the disbelievers, and perhaps Allah will guide them to Islam." Then the Prophet ﷺ asked Umar ؓ: "O Ibn Khattab! What is your opinion?" He replied, "O Messenger of Allah! My opinion is different from Abu Bakr Siddiq ؓ. My opinion is that you hand them over to us so that we may strike their necks. Hand over Aqil to Ali so that he may strike his neck. Hand over so-and-so to me so that I may strike his neck, because these people are the pillars and leaders of disbelief." Sayyiduna Umar ؓ says that the Prophet ﷺ inclined towards the opinion of Abu Bakr Siddiq ؓ and not towards his own. The next morning, I saw that the Prophet ﷺ and Abu Bakr Siddiq ؓ were sitting and weeping. I said, "O Messenger of Allah! Tell me, why are you and your companion weeping? If I find reason to weep, I will weep, and if not, I will at least make a weeping face because of you." The Prophet ﷺ said, "I am weeping because of what your companions suggested to me regarding releasing the prisoners for ransom. Their punishment was presented before me, closer than this tree." Thus, Allah revealed these verses: ﴿ماكان لنبي..﴾ [مسلم، كتاب الجهاد، باب الامداد بالملائكة فى غزوة بدر]
2. Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud ؓ says that on the day of Badr, the war prisoners were brought to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. The Prophet ﷺ asked the companions: "What is your opinion regarding these prisoners?" Then the entire story is mentioned in this hadith. Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Each of them will either have to pay ransom or his neck will be struck." Abdullah bin Mas'ud ؓ says, "I said, 'O Messenger of Allah! Except Suhail bin Bayda, because I have heard that he mentions Islam.' At this, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ remained silent. I was very afraid that day that stones might rain down on me from the sky. While I was in this fear, the Prophet ﷺ said, 'Except Suhail bin Bayda,' and in the Quran, these verses were revealed according to the opinion of Sayyiduna Umar ؓ: ﴿ماكان لنبي..﴾ [ترمذي، ابواب التفسير]

Was the Rebuke Due to the Decision to Take Ransom or Due to Taking Prisoners Instead of Killing?

Further detail is that in the Battle of Badr, seventy (70) disbelievers were killed and seventy (70) were taken prisoner. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was given the choice regarding the prisoners: either they be killed or released for ransom, and this choice was meant as a test for the Muslims to see which of the two options they would choose. For this decision, the Prophet ﷺ called a council, and the majority opinion was to release them for ransom. The Prophet ﷺ, due to his natural gentleness, also preferred this decision. But Allah's pleasure was that instead of taking ransom from the prisoners, they should be killed. For this reason, rebuke was revealed in these verses, as is evident from the narration of Abdullah bin Abbas ؓ. Because it was quite possible that if these seventy leaders of disbelief had been killed, the disbelievers would not have dared to attack Madinah again. Another explanation is that the rebuke was not because the majority of the companions, including the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, chose the opinion of taking ransom and made an ijtihadi (interpretive) error. Because when the Prophet ﷺ had already been given the choice between killing or ransom, then there is no reason for rebuke upon accepting the opinion of ransom. Rather, the real reason for this rebuke was that the companions did not kill the majority of the prisoners on the battlefield itself. In other words, the rebuke is directed towards those companions who, for worldly benefit, imprisoned these disbelievers instead of killing them, and the words of the verse: ﴿مَا كَانَ لِنَبِيٍّ اَنْ يَّكُوْنَ لَهٗٓ اَسْريٰ حَتّيٰ يُثْخِنَ فِي الْاَرْضِ﴾ also clarify this meaning.

The Amount of Ransom:

The amount of ransom taken from these prisoners was four thousand dirhams per person, and among these prisoners were his uncle Sayyiduna Abbas ؓ, his son-in-law Abu Al-As, Naufal bin Harith, and his cousin Aqil bin Abi Talib. His daughter Sayyida Zainab sent as ransom the necklace that her mother Sayyida Khadijah ؓ had given her as part of her dowry at the time of marriage. When the Prophet ﷺ saw that necklace, his eyes became moist, and in an emotional tone, he asked the companions: "If you wish, I will release Zainab's prisoner and return Zainab's necklace." The Prophet ﷺ asked this because the ransom money was also counted among the collective spoils of war. Thus, the companions ؓ gave their permission, even though at that time the Prophet ﷺ was the commander-in-chief, the head of the Islamic state, and such a Messenger whose unconditional and unquestioned obedience was obligatory upon all Muslims. But when it came to justice, the Prophet ﷺ considered the consent of the companions ؓ necessary. This is the difference between Islamic and non-Islamic values. Then the Prophet ﷺ also showed extreme leniency in the collection of ransom. Those disbelievers who did not have ransom money and were literate, their ransom was set that they would teach ten children to read and write. And some disbelievers were released merely on the promise that they would not participate in any future war against the Muslims.