Section: Quraysh sends to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to ransom their captives

Ibn Isḥāq said (1): Among the prisoners was Abū Wadāʿah ibn Ḍubayrah al-Sahmī. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ remarked, “He has in Mecca an intelligent, wealthy merchant son; I can almost see him coming to ransom his father.”

When Quraysh had cautioned one another, “Do not rush to ransom your prisoners, lest Muḥammad and his Companions take advantage of you,” al-Muṭṭalib ibn Abī Wadāʿah—the very man the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had in mind—agreed, saying, “You are right; do not be hasty.” Yet he slipped away under cover of night, reached Madinah, ransomed his father for four thousand dirhams, and departed with him.

I say: This was the first captive to be ransomed. After that, Quraysh began sending for the ransom of their prisoners. Makriz ibn Ḥafṣ ibn al-Akhyaf came to ransom Suhayl ibn ʿAmr, who had been taken by Mālik ibn al-Dukhshum of the Banū Sālim ibn ʿAwf. Concerning this Mālik recited:

In mutaqārib metre
“I captured Suhayl, and I would not trade
a single slave of all mankind for him.
Khandaf well knows that, when wrongs are done,
her champion youth is Suhayl, the brave.
With a keen-edged blade I struck till it bent,
and forced myself upon the standard-bearer.”

Ibn Isḥāq said (2): Suhayl was a man distinguished by a mark—his lower lip was split. (3)

Ibn Isḥāq said (4): Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr ibn ʿAṭāʾ of Banū ʿĀmir ibn Luʾayy related to me that ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb said to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, “Let me pull out Suhayl ibn ʿAmr’s two front teeth so that his tongue will loll and he will never again address people against you.”

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ replied, “I will not mutilate him, lest Allah mutilate me, even though I am a Prophet.”

I say: This report is mursal, indeed muʿḍal.

Ibn Isḥāq said (5): I have also heard that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to ʿUmar on that occasion, “Perhaps he will one day take a stand you will not reproach.”

I say: That is precisely the stand Suhayl took in Mecca after the Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed away, when some of the Arabs apostatized and hypocrisy surfaced in Madinah and elsewhere. Suhayl rose in Mecca, addressed the people, and steadied them upon the Upright Religion, as will be mentioned in its proper place.