st difficult tests in this world came to the prophets (AS). Sometimes they would be physical, in the form of torture or punishment; falling sick, being poisoned, and sometimes it would be from emotions or being hurt from people, sometimes being hurt from those closest to them, like their wives, children, blood relatives or tribes. After the prophets (AS), the highest status belongs to the sahaba of the prophet (SAW). They were also put through extremely difficult tests. In one battle, the battle of Hunayn which took place after the conquest of Makkah, the battle itself was a test because the Muslims went in overconfident due to their numbers, and for the first time, it looked like they were going to outnumber their enemy. They said, “There is no way we can lose because of smaller numbers.” Very early in the battle, Allah (SWT) showed them that their numbers were not going to give them victory. Then, the prophet (SAW) called the ansar, the people of Madinah, close to him, and the people who took the Bay’ah, the oath of allegiance under the tree, rushed to the prophet (SAW), and he moved forward with them, changing the flow of the battle. Ultimately, they won. This battle perhaps brought them the greatest amount of war spoils (meaning wealth that is conquered and taken after a battle) more than any other battle. The reason for this was that the chief of the people of Hunayn told his people to bring everything they had, including thousands of camels, goats and sheep into the battlefield to remind them what would happen if they were to lose the battle. They also brought all of their family members and their wealth of gold and silver. This was a huge tribe.
So, when the Muslims won, all of this came into their hands, so there was an enormous amount of wealth to be distributed. Now, as I mentioned, this happened right after the conquest of Makkah, and at the conquest of Makkah, just before, during and shortly after, everyone of Quraysh had accepted Islam. Everyone who had been fighting against the prophet (SAW) all of these years had finally accepted Islam. People like Abu Sufiyan, for example, who had waged war against the Muslims multiple times, became Muslim; his son, Mu’awiya became Muslim, Ikrima, the son of Abu Jahl became Muslim, and Hind, the wife of Abu Sufiyan became Muslim. These were all very staunch enemies. There was a huge number of recent converts in the religion, and they were so new that they did not know much about Islam and were still very shaky. They had also lost many battles against the Muslims, in that they had lost their wealth, their children (in the sense that they had lost their fathers) and so the prophet (SAW) used almost all of this wealth to give to the new Muslims. When this happened, some of the ansar were surprised and hurt. They said, “When help is required in the battlefield, our name is called; ‘Come, O ansar.’ And when it is time to distribute the wealth, it is given to those who have not sacrificed for Islam yet.” These types of words reached the prophet (SAW), so he collected all of the ansar in a small field, and when he arrived, he asked them of the statements that he was hearing. Some of the senior sahaba said, “O prophet of Allah, this came from youngsters among us. The majority of us would never dare say such a thing.” He said, “Weren’t you people all astray, and I came to you and guided you to Allah (SWT) through me?” They said, “Yes.” He said, “Weren’t you people impoverished and in complete poverty? Did Allah (SWT) not make you wealthy and prosperous through me?” Once again, they replied, “Yes.” The prophet (SAW) said, “You do not have to say yes. You could say ‘O prophet (SAW); we supported you when there was no one with you, we gave you our wealth when you had no wealth, and we gave you our resources when you had no resources.’ If you wanted to have said this, you could have.” They said, “We would never say such a thing.” The prophet (SAW) said, “It would be true. But let me explain something to you; you people have such a place in the heart that no one else could occupy. If all of mankind were to walk down one path and the ansar were to walk down another, I would choose the path that the ansar are walking on, and if it were not for the fact that Allah (SWT) made Hijrah happen, I would be one of the ansar instead of someone from Makkah. These people have come recently into Islam and I have given them all of this wealth to make up for the many losses that they have been enduring. It is material wealth; things that Allah (SWT) has no value for, nor do I have any value for. How would you like if people went home with camels and goats, and you went home with Allah (SWT) and his prophet on your side? What would you rather have?” They all said, “We would rather have Allah and his prophet.” The prophet (SAW) said, “Indeed, when this war ends, these people will go home with their goats and sheep; but I will go home with you all back to Madinah.”
In that way, they let everything go and apologized, but look at the lesson here; that even after doing everything, they did not get any monetary gain. This is a testament to their ikhlas and sincerity, that they only did things to please Allah (SWT). Tomorrow, we may also be in a position where we are doing many good things and we see the opportunity to benefit somehow and to exploit that either for financial gain or to make a name for ourselves, but that is our test that Allah (SWT) puts us through. If we stay pure in our intention that we are doing whatever we are doing for the sake of Allah (SWT), then we will go home with Allah (SWT) and his prophet (SAW) on his side; otherwise, we will be going home, maybe with some monetary benefits, but Allah (AWJ) and his prophet (SAW) will never be pleased with us. May Allah (SWT) enable us to take lessons from these people who are our guides and models, and also give us the ability to be sincere in all of our endeavors from the beginning to the end.
