seek money, then ask, and you will be given whatever you wish.” The next day, he said to him, “What do you have to say, Thumamah?” He replied, “I have what I told you: if you show me favor, you show favor to one who is grateful; [if you kill me, you kill a man whose blood will be avenged; and if you seek money, ask, and you will be given.]” (1) So he left him until the day after next, then said to him, “What do you have to say, Thumamah?” He replied, “I have what I told you.” He said, “Release Thumamah.”

Thumamah went to a palm grove near the mosque and bathed. He then entered the mosque and said, “I bear witness that there is no god worthy of worship but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. O Muhammad, by Allah, there was no face upon the earth more hateful to me than yours, but now your face has become the most beloved of all faces to me. By Allah, there was no religion more hateful to me than your religion, but now your religion has become the most beloved of all religions to me. By Allah, there was no land more hateful to me than your land, but now your land has become the most beloved of all lands to me. Your horsemen captured me while I was intending to perform the lesser pilgrimage; what do you advise?” The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, gave him glad tidings and instructed him to perform the lesser pilgrimage. When he arrived in Mecca, someone said to him, “Have you abandoned your religion?” He replied, “No; rather, I have accepted Islam with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. By Allah, not a single grain of wheat from al-Yamamah shall reach you until the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, grants permission for it.” (2)

Abd al-Wahhab ibn Muhammad al-Khatib informed us; Abd al-Aziz ibn Ahmad al-Khallal informed us; Abu al-Abbas al-Asamm related to us; al-Rabi informed us; al-Shafi‘i informed us; Abd al-Wahhab ibn Abd al-Majid al-Thaqafi informed us, from Ayyub, from Abu Qilabah, from Abu al-Muhallab, from Imran ibn Husayn, who said: The Companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, captured a man from Banu Aqil and bound him securely. Thaqif had captured two men from among the Prophet’s Companions, peace and blessings be upon him, so the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, ransomed him in exchange for the two men whom Thaqif had captured. (3)

His saying, exalted is He: “until the war lays down its burdens”: that is, its weights and loads—meaning, until the people engaged in war lay down their weapons and cease fighting.

The basic meaning of wizr is that which a person carries; weapons are therefore called burdens because they are carried.

It was also said that “war” means the combatants, as in such collective nouns as “the drinking party” and “the riders.”

It was also said that “burdens” means sins; its meaning, then, is: until the combatants lay aside its sins by repenting from their disbelief and believing in Allah and His Messenger.

And it was said: until your war and fighting remove the burdens of the polytheists and the evil of their deeds, through their accepting Islam. The meaning of the verse is: inflict heavy losses upon the polytheists through killing and capture, until the followers of all religions enter Islam and the religion belongs entirely to Allah, so that there is no