others besides you. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and his companions, whenever they took spoils of war, they would gather them, and a fire would descend from heaven and consume them. Then Allah sent down this verse: "If not for a decree from Allah that preceded" to the end of the two verses.

9896 - My father narrated to us, al-Musayyab ibn Wadih narrated to us, Abu Ishaq narrated to us, from Za'idah, from al-A'mash, from Abu Salih, from Abu Hurayrah, he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said—and he mentioned the like of it, and added in it: So the people rushed into the spoils of war before they were made lawful for them.

9163 - My father narrated to us, 'Abd Allah ibn Ja'far al-Raqqi narrated to us, 'Ubayd Allah ibn 'Amr narrated to us, from Zayd ibn Abi Unaysah, from 'Amr ibn Murrah, from Khaythamah, who said: Sa'd was sitting one day while a group of his companions were with him, when he mentioned a man, and they spoke ill of him. He said: "Refrain regarding the companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), for we committed a sin with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and Allah, the Almighty, sent down: "If not for a decree from Allah that preceded" (the verse). So we used to think that it was a mercy from Allah that had preceded."

In one of the narrations from Ibn 'Abbas, there is the like of that.

The Second Aspect:

9164 - My father narrated to us, Abu Salih, the scribe of al-Layth, narrated to us, Mu'awiyah ibn Salih narrated to us, from 'Ali ibn Abi Talhah, from Ibn 'Abbas, regarding His saying: "It is not for a Prophet to have captives until he dominates in the land." And that was on the day of Badr; the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) took the spoils before they were commanded to do so. Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, had already written in the Mother of the Book (Al-Umm al-Kitab) that spoils and captives are lawful for Muhammad and his nation, and He had not made them lawful for any nation before them. They took the spoils and captured the captives before it was revealed to them concerning that. Allah said: "If not for a decree from Allah that preceded," meaning in the first Book, that spoils and captives are lawful for you, "a great punishment would have touched you for what you took."

It was narrated from Qatadah that he said: By the lawfulness of spoils for this nation.

It was narrated from Sa'id ibn Jubayr, who said: My knowledge had preceded that I had made the spoils lawful for you. And likewise, it was narrated from 'Ata' ibn Abi Rabah.

9165 - 'Ammar ibn Khalid narrated to us, Abu Sayfi narrated to us, he said: I heard Sa'id ibn Abi Sa'id al-Maqburi, from Abu Hurayrah, regarding His saying: "If not for a decree from Allah that preceded, a great punishment would have touched you for what you took of the captives," he said: Allah, the Almighty, says: If it had not preceded in My knowledge that I would make the spoils lawful, a great punishment would have touched you for what you took.