no sooner had I seen her than I felt jealous of her beauty, and I thought: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ will notice in her what I have just seen.

When she entered upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ she said, “I am Juwayriya bint al-Harith, the daughter of the chief of his people. I have suffered a hardship that is not hidden from you. I have concluded a contract of manumission, so help me.” He replied, “Shall I offer you something better? I will pay off your contract and marry you.” She answered, “Yes.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ did so.

When the people learned that he had married her, they said, “They are now the in-laws of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ!” Thereupon everyone released the captives of Banū al-Muṣṭaliq who were in their hands. Because of her, one hundred households of Banū al-Muṣṭaliq were set free. I do not know of any woman who brought greater blessing to her people than she did. Her given name was Barrah, but the Messenger of Allah ﷺ changed it to Juwayriya.

Yūnus also narrated, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Ḥibbān, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Bakr, and ʿĀṣim ibn ʿUmar ibn Qatāda told me, in the story of Banū al-Muṣṭaliq:

While the Prophet ﷺ was still encamped there, Juhjāh ibn Saʿīd al-Ghifārī—a servant of ʿUmar—and Sinān ibn Zayd fought over access to the water. Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā related to me that they jostled at the watering place and a scuffle broke out. Sinān cried, “O Ansar!” while Juhjāh shouted, “O Muhajirun!”

Zayd ibn Arqam and a group of the Ansar were sitting with ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy—meaning Ibn Salūl—when he heard of it. He said, “They have risen against us in our own land! By Allah, we and these ragged Qurayshites are just like the saying, ‘Feed your dog and it will devour you.’ By Allah, when we return to Madinah, the more honourable will surely expel the more abased from it!”

He then turned to those of his clan who were present and said, “This is what you have brought upon yourselves: you lodged them in your land and shared with them your wealth. Had you withheld from them, by Allah, they would have left your land.”

Zayd overheard these words and, though he was still a youth, went straight to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ—ʿUmar was with him at the time—and reported what he had heard. ʿUmar said, “O Messenger of Allah, command ʿAbbād…"