Ibn Isḥāq said (1): When the people turned and fled, some coarse desert Arabs let loose the rancour that lay within them. Abū Sufyān Ṣakhr ibn Ḥarb—whose Islam was still doubtful and who still carried his divining arrows that day—remarked, “Their rout will not cease until they reach the sea!” Kaladah ibn al-Ḥanbal, who was with his half-brother Ṣafwān ibn Umayyah and who remained a polytheist under the respite granted him by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, cried out, “Today the sorcery has been annulled!” Ṣafwān retorted, “Be quiet—may Allah break your teeth! By Allah, to have a man of Quraysh rule over me is dearer to me than to have a man of Hawāzin do so.”

Imām Aḥmad narrated (2): ʿAffān ibn Muslim told us; Ḥammād ibn Salamah related to us, from Isḥāq ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ṭalḥah, from Anas ibn Mālik, that Hawāzin came to Ḥunayn on the day of the battle bringing their women, children, camels and sheep, and placed them in rows to make themselves appear more numerous before the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. When the two forces met, the Muslims turned their backs and fled, just as Allah Most High has said. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ called out,

“O servants of Allah! I am the servant of Allah and His Messenger!”

He then proclaimed,

“O Ansār! I am the servant of Allah and His Messenger!”

Allah thereupon routed the polytheists; not a sword was swung nor a spear thrust. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then announced, “Whoever kills an unbeliever shall have his spoils.” Abū Ṭalḥah killed twenty men that day and took their belongings.

Abū Qatādah said, “O Messenger of Allah, I struck a man across the shoulder-strap while he was wearing a coat of mail, and he fell dead. Look and see who has taken it.” A man stood up and said, “I am the one who took it—compensate him for it and give it to me.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was never asked for anything without granting it or remaining silent; on this occasion he remained silent. ʿUmar said, “By Allah, Allah would not restore such booty to one of His lions only for you to give it away to the likes of him!” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ replied, “ʿUmar has spoken the truth.”

Abū Ṭalḥah then encountered Umm Sulaym, who was carrying a dagger. He asked, “What is this?” She replied, “If any of the polytheists comes near me, I shall rip open his belly with it.” Abū Ṭalḥah said, “Do you hear what Umm Sulaym is saying?” At this the Messenger of Allah ﷺ laughed. She added, “O Messenger of Allah, kill—after us—some of those recently freed captives, for they deserted you!” He said, “Allah has sufficed and dealt kindly, O Umm Sulaym.”

Muslim (3) relates the incident of Umm Sulaym’s dagger, and Abū Dāwūd (4) transmits the saying, “Whoever kills an enemy combatant may keep his spoils,” both through the narration of Ḥammād ibn Salamah. ʿUmar’s remark in this report is considered unusual; the more widespread version attributes it to Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq.

Imām Aḥmad also said (5): ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ibn ʿAbd al-Wārith told us, my father related to us, Nāfiʿ Abū Ghālib—who had witnessed Anas ibn Mālik—related: al-ʿAlāʾ ibn Ziyād al-ʿAdawī asked, “Abū Ḥamzah, at what age was the Messenger of Allah ﷺ when he was commissioned?” He replied, “Forty years old.” He asked, “And what happened thereafter?” He answered, “He remained in Mecca for ten years, and in Madinah for ten years,”