and he must choose whatever is most beneficial for the Muslims, for he is acting on their behalf in a fiduciary capacity. Consequently, he may not disregard the option that secures their advantage, since any one of these courses may, in certain situations, be the soundest choice for particular captives.
2 – Al-Muṭʿim was one of the five men who tore up the document Quraysh had drafted to boycott Banū Hāshim until they surrendered the Prophet ﷺ to be killed. Al-Muṭʿim ibn ʿAdī passed away a few months before Badr.
3 – Hadith 1118 establishes the permissibility of executing a captured unbeliever when doing so brings a clear benefit to the Muslims or averts harm from them. The three captives from Badr who were put to death were:
• Ṭuʿaymah ibn ʿAdī of Banū Nawfal ibn ʿAbd Manāf;
• al-Naḍr ibn al-Ḥārith of Banū ʿAbd al-Dār;
• ʿUqbah ibn Abī Muʿayṭ of Banū Umayyah ibn ʿAbd Shams ibn ʿAbd Manāf.
Their detention and subsequent execution were due to their long record of grave and well-known offenses against the Prophet ﷺ and his followers in Mecca, as detailed in the historical and sīrah sources.
4 – Al-Albānī remarks: “In short, I have found no chain of transmission for the story of ‘the three who were killed’ that carries probative weight, despite its fame in the sīrah works. I have, however, located an independent basis for the story of ʿUqbah alone, in the report recorded by Abū Dāwūd and al-Bayhaqī: al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Qays appointed Masrūq to a post, whereupon ʿImārah ibn ʿUqbah ibn Abī Muʿayṭ objected, saying, ‘Will you employ a man from the remnants of the murderers of ʿUthmān?’ Masrūq replied, ‘ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd narrated to us that when the Prophet ﷺ intended to kill your father, he asked, “Who will look after the children?” and the Prophet answered, “The Fire.”’ The chain of this report is made up entirely of transmitters accepted by the two Shaykhs.”
5 – Hadith 1119 demonstrates the permissibility of ransoming Muslim prisoners in exchange for prisoners from the polytheists; the supporting evidence has already been cited.