—mounted on a young camel, carrying with him some personal gear and a leather skin filled with milk. He greeted us with the greeting of Islam, but we held back. Muḥallim then charged at him and killed him on account of an old score between them, seizing his camel and his belongings.
When we returned to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ we reported the matter, whereupon the Qur’an was revealed concerning us: “O you who believe, when you go forth in the path of Allah, investigate, and do not say to the one who offers you peace, ‘You are not a believer’” (4:94), to the end of the verse.
Hammād ibn Salamah also transmitted it from Ibn Isḥāq.
Hammād ibn Salamah, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, said: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn al-Zubayr told me that he heard Ziyād ibn Ḍumayrah ibn Saʿd al-Ḍumarī relate—from his father and grandfather, both of whom had been present at Ḥunayn with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ—that the Prophet prayed Ẓuhr and then sat in the shade of a tree. ʿUyaynah ibn Badr came forward demanding retaliation for the blood of ʿĀmir ibn al-Aḍbaṭ, the chief of Qays, while al-Aqraʿ ibn Ḥābis pleaded on behalf of Muḥallim ibn Juthāmah, the chief of Khindif. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to ʿĀmir’s people, “Would you accept from us fifty camels now and fifty more when we return to Medina?”
ʿUyaynah ibn Badr replied, “By Allah, I will not let him go until I make his women taste the heat of grief just as he made my women taste it.”
Then a man of Banū Layth called Ibn Mukaytil—an unimposing fellow—stood up and said, “Messenger of Allah, the only likeness I find for this slain man at the dawn of Islam is sheep that come to drink, the first of which is shot so the rest flee. Lay down a precedent today and do not change it tomorrow.”
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ again said, “Will you accept fifty camels now and fifty when we return?” He persisted until they agreed to accept the blood-money.
Muḥallim’s people then said, “Bring him so that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ may seek forgiveness for him.” So a tall, heavy-set man came, wrapped in a mantle and prepared for execution, and he stood before