(Qur’an 2:246)

They justified the call to fight by saying they had been driven from their homes and their children, yet even so they still held back from what they had been commanded to do. Because of this, the spoils of war were not made lawful for them, nor were they permitted to take women as those whom their right hands possess.

It is well known that the greatest believing nation before us was the Children of Israel, as is stated in the rigorously authenticated ḥadith found in the two Ṣaḥīḥs. Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with them) reported:

“One day the Prophet ﷺ came out to us and said, ‘The nations were presented before me. I saw a prophet accompanied by a single man, a prophet accompanied by two men, a prophet with a small group, and a prophet with no follower at all. Then I saw a vast multitude filling the horizon, and I hoped it would be my community. I was told, “This is Moses and his people.” I was then told, “Look,” and I saw another vast multitude covering the horizon. I was told, “These are your community, and with them are seventy thousand who will enter Paradise without reckoning.”’

“The people dispersed without the matter being clarified for them. The Companions began discussing it, saying, ‘As for us, we were born into idolatry but we have believed in Allah and His Messenger, whereas these are our children.’ When this reached the Prophet ﷺ he said, ‘They are those who neither seek omens, nor cauterise themselves, nor ask others for ruqyah, and they rely upon their Lord.’

“ʿUkāsha ibn Miḥṣan stood up and said, ‘Am I among them, O Messenger of Allah?’ He replied, ‘Yes.’ Another man then rose and asked, ‘Am I among them?’ The Prophet said, ‘ʿUkāsha has beaten you to it.’”

For this reason the consensus of this community is binding proof: Allah, exalted is He, has informed that they enjoin every good and forbid every evil. Therefore, if they were unanimously to declare lawful something forbidden or