His Suggestion Regarding the Prisoners of Badr

With regard to the Holy Prophet (sa) seeking counsel on what to do with the prisoners of Badr and Hazrat Abu Bakr’s (ra) suggestion being implemented, Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad Sahib (ra) writes:

“When the Holy Prophet (sa) returned to Medina, he sought counsel as to what should be done with the prisoners. Generally, it was a practice in Arabia to execute prisoners or make them permanent slaves. However, the disposition of the Holy Prophet (sa) was averse to such harsh measures. Moreover, no divine injunctions in this respect had been revealed either. Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) submitted, ‘In my opinion, they should be released on ransom, because after all, they are our brethren and kindred. Who knows, if tomorrow, devotees of Islam are born from among these very people.’ However, Hazrat Umar (ra) opposed this view and said, ‘There should be no consideration of kinship in a matter of religion. These people have become deserving of execution due to their actions. My opinion is that all of them should be executed. As a matter of fact, the Muslims should execute their respective relatives by their own hands.’

“Swayed by his innate nature of mercy, the Holy Prophet (sa) approved of the proposal made by Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra). He thus, issued an order against execution and directed that such idolaters who pay their ransom, would be released. Subsequently, a divine injunction was also revealed to this effect.”

(Sirat Khatamun-Nabiyyin, Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad (ra), pp. 367-368)