Maʿn al-Qazzāz reported: Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr told us, from Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saw Abū Qatādah praying while gathering up his hair to keep it from the ground. The Prophet wished to cut it, but Abū Qatādah said, “Messenger of Allah, if you let it be, I will surely please you.” So he left it. Not long after, Masʿadah al-Fazārī raided the herds of the people of Madinah; Abū Qatādah mounted his horse, killed him, and covered the corpse with his cloak. (1)

Ḥammād ibn Salamah related—Isḥāq ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Abī Ṭalḥah told us, from Anas—that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever kills a disbeliever, his spoil belongs to him.” Abū Qatādah then said, “Messenger of Allah, I struck a man across the base of his neck while he was wearing his coat of mail, but I could not finish him off.” Another man said, “I took it; appease him for it and give it to me.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was never asked for anything without either granting it or remaining silent, and on this occasion he remained silent. ʿUmar thereupon said, “Never will Allah turn it over to one of His lions only for you to take it from him!” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ laughed and said, “ʿUmar has spoken the truth.” (2)

Mālik transmitted—from Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd, from ʿUmar ibn Kathīr ibn Aflah, from Abū Muḥammad, the freedman of Abū Qatādah—that Abū Qatādah said: “We went out with the Prophet ﷺ in the year of Ḥunayn …,” the report continuing along the same lines. In it Abū Bakr says, “By Allah, no! He would not single out one of Allah’s lions and hand you his spoil.” The Prophet then gave me the coat of mail, and I sold it. With the proceeds I bought a mikhrāf (a date orchard); it was the first property I ever owned. (3)

Al-Wāqidī reported: Usāmah ibn Zayd al-Laythī narrated to us, from al-Aʿraj, from ʿAbd Allah ibn Abī Qatādah, from his father, who said, “On the day of Ḥunayn I killed a man, and then another man came …”