Download PDF: [S] The Bani Mustalliq and Zakaah

It is mentioned that in the fifth year of Hijrah when the Muslims were victorious against the Bani Mustalliq and when the Holy Prophet – may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him – married one of the females of this tribe, Ummul Mo’mineen, Hadrat Sayyidah Juwayriyyah -may Allah be pleased with her, as an act of respect, all the prisoners of this tribe were freed by the blessed companions. They also made a statement that it would be improper to keep in captivity members of that tribe into which the Holy Prophet – may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him – had married. When the Bani Mustalliq saw the immense kindness of the Muslims, the entire tribe accepted Islam. Thereafter, the Holy Prophet – may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him – sent Waleed bin Uqbah to this tribe as his special emissary to collect the Zakaah from them and have it distributed among the poor of this tribe.

 

When the members of this tribe saw this, they all came outside their camps and waited in full armour waiting to meet and greet Waleed bin Uqbah. However, it must also be remembered that during the days of ignorance, there was also a conflict which had occurred between Waleed bin Uqbah and members of this tribe.

 

Therefore, when Waleed bin Uqbah saw the behaviour of this tribe and the manner in which they were waiting to greet him, he completely misunderstood this behaviour. Without investigating this further, he immediately returned to Madina Shareef and informed the Holy Prophet – may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him – that the Bani Mustalliq had become Murtads and that they had refused to give their Zakaah.

 

This news greatly disturbed the Holy Prophet – may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him – and other Muslims in general. As a matter of fact, preparations for war also got under way by the Muslims.

 

On the other side, the people of the Banu Mustalliq were also greatly surprised at the behaviour of Waleed bin Uqbah and when they came to know that a wrong impression about them had been presented in the blessed court of the Holy Prophet – may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him – they sent a high level delegation to the Holy Prophet – may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him – to prove their innocence.

 

In the subsequent hearing which took place, on one side there was the Bani Mustalliq and on the other side was Waleed bin Uqbah. After listening to both parties, the Holy Prophet – may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him – remained silent and waited for Divine Revelation in this regard. Finally, this was sent in the form of a few verses in Surah Hujuraat. In these verses, not only the truth was revealed but a set of rules was also put forward in cases of this nature. (Khazaa’inul Irfaan, 614)