Answer to a Question
Dear brother, After greetings,
In The Islamic Personality, Volume 2, regarding the subject of prisoners, you state that Surah Muhammad ﷺ was revealed before Badr, even though there are narrations to the contrary. What is the evidence for its revelation before Badr?
Yes, there are narrations stating that Surah Muhammad was not revealed before Badr.
However, there are reasons that outweigh these narrations:
a - The Messenger ﷺ ruled on the prisoners on the day of Badr, which means that the ruling on prisoners had already been revealed, as the Messenger ﷺ does not rule without revelation.
b - There is no ruling for prisoners in the Noble Qur'an except in Surah Muhammad ﷺ:
فَإِمَّا مَنًّا بَعْدُ وَإِمَّا فِدَاءً
"thereafter [is] either generosity or ransom." (Surah Muhammad [47]: 4)
c - The verse:
فَإِذَا لَقِيتُمُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فَضَرْبَ الرِّقَابِ حَتَّىٰ إِذَا أَثْخَنْتُمُوهُمْ فَشُدُّوا الْوَثَاقَ فَإِمَّا مَنًّا بَعْدُ وَإِمَّا فِدَاءً
"So when you meet those who disbelieve [in battle], strike [their] necks until, when you have inflicted slaughter upon them, then secure their bonds, and either [confer] favor afterwards or ransom [them]" (Surah Muhammad [47]: 4).
The verse begins with the word فَإِذَا, meaning that the ruling in the verse was revealed before any fighting took place. The verse clarifies the ruling on prisoners when fighting occurs, and no fighting occurred that involved prisoners requiring a ruling except for Badr.
Furthermore, the saying of the Almighty:
حَتَّىٰ إِذَا أَثْخَنْتُمُوهُمْ فَشُدُّوا الْوَثَاقَ
"until, when you have inflicted slaughter upon them, then secure their bonds" (Surah Muhammad [47]: 4)
is an explanation of the ruling for the time when capture occurs in battle, which is after ithkhan (inflicting heavy losses). Thus, it must have been revealed before the Battle of Badr because the matter of ithkhan first occurred in Badr. Therefore, clarifying that capture only happens after ithkhan is the clarification of a new ruling that had not yet taken place.
Therefore, the literal wording (mantuq) of the verse indicates that it was revealed before the occurrence of fighting and was revealed to clarify the ruling on prisoners before fighting and before the occurrence of ithkhan: فَإِذَا لَقِيتُمُ and حَتَّىٰ إِذَا أَثْخَنْتُمُوهُمْ. The verse is given preference (tarjih) over the Hadith as long as they cannot be reconciled; otherwise, reconciliation would have been prioritized. Since reconciliation is not possible—because the narrations claim the ruling on prisoners came after Badr, while the verse indicates the ruling on prisoners was before Badr—the principle of tarjih is applied. Thus, the verse is preferred over the contradicting narrations. This is confirmed and strengthened by the fact that there is no ruling for prisoners except in Surah Muhammad, and there was no fighting that required a ruling for prisoners except in Badr, and the Messenger ruled on the prisoners in Badr while he ﷺ does not rule except by revelation.
2 Muharram 1425 AH 22/02/2004 CE