Hadithcore
Sahih al-Bukhari, 3139
sahih

Narrated Jubair bin Mut`im:

The Prophet (ﷺ) talked about war prisoners of Badr saying, "Had Al-Mut`im bin Adi been alive and interceded with me for these mean people, I would have freed them for his sake."

حَدَّثَنَا إِسْحَاقُ بْنُ مَنْصُورٍ، أَخْبَرَنَا عَبْدُ الرَّزَّاقِ، أَخْبَرَنَا مَعْمَرٌ، عَنِ الزُّهْرِيِّ، عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ جُبَيْرٍ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ فِي أُسَارَى بَدْرٍ ‏

‏ لَوْ كَانَ الْمُطْعِمُ بْنُ عَدِيٍّ حَيًّا، ثُمَّ كَلَّمَنِي فِي هَؤُلاَءِ النَّتْنَى، لَتَرَكْتُهُمْ لَهُ ‏

‏‏.‏

References2 variants
In-Book Reference
Book 57, Hadith 47
USC-MSA web (English) reference
Vol. 4, Book 53, Hadith 367 (deprecated numbering scheme)
Sharh · explanationclick to expand
One who fails to thank people, then he has not been thankful to Allah.The Prophetﷺ was the keenest on preserving the rights of people, and he treated them with kindness, and interacted and addressed the people according to their status and appropriate positions, giving them the due value and respect which they deserved. Al-Mut’im ibn ‘Adiyy was the one who endeavoured to overturn the scroll that Quraysh had suspended on the Ka’bah, which entailed boycotting Banee Haashim and Banee al-Muttalib.Hence, the Prophet ﷺ noted this noble deed of his. In this hadeeth, Jubayribn Mut’im reports that the Prophet ﷺ said after the Battle of Badr that took place in the second year of the Hijrah, that if al-Mut’im ibn ‘Adiyy was alive and appealed tohim to forgive those dirtypolytheist prisoners, he would have approved his request and would have set them free without ransom. The Prophet ﷺ wanted to express his gratitude to him not only due to his noble endeavours to end the boycott of Banee Haashim that Quraysh had previously initiated,as written on their scroll that was hung on the Ka’bah.It was also becausewhen he ﷺ returned from Taaif to Makkah, he returned under his protection. However, the death of al-Mut’im happened in the month of Safar during the second year of the Hijrah, about seven months before the Battle of Badr. It is possible that by this statement, the Prophet ﷺ wanted to comfort the heart of his son Jubayribn Mut’im and incline his heart further towards Islam. The statement of the Prophet ﷺcontains anindication of the lofty status of the Prophet ﷺ and belittlement of the condition of those disbelievers, as his words showed that he did not care about them such that he would not mind entrusting their affairs to a polytheist who had some status in his eyes. The reasons the Prophet ﷺcalled the disbelieving prisoners‘ dirty and stinkingindividuals’ is either due to their ritual impurity due to their disbelief or because those to whom he referred were those whose bodies had turned to stinking corpses thrown into the well of Badr. However, if al-Mut’im interceded with the Prophet ﷺto hand their bodies over, then the Prophet ﷺ would have turned their bodies over to him. This hadeeth shows that it is permissible to show compassion to prisoners and effectuate their release without ransom, and that it is allowed to accept the intercession of a noble person on behalf of sinners in order to attract his heart to Islam. Itshows that one should give the best rewardto someone who did a favour or a kind act for him. .
Related hadiths4
Compare isnād across 4 related chains →