Hadith Text
وعنِ ابْنِ مَسْعُودٍ رضي اللَّهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ:
لَمَّا كَانَ يَوْمُ حُنَيْنٍ آثَرَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ نَاساً فِي الْقِسْمَةِ: فَأَعْطَى الأَقْرَعَ بْنَ حَابِسٍ مِائَةً مِنَ الإِبِلِ وأَعْطَى عُيَيْنَةَ بْنَ حِصْنٍ مِثْلَ ذَلِكَ، وَأَعْطَى نَاساً مِنْ أَشْرَافِ الْعَرَبِ وَآثَرَهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ فِي الْقِسْمَةِ.
فَقَالَ رَجُلٌ: وَاللَّهِ إِنَّ هَذِهِ قِسْمَةٌ مَا عُدِلَ فِيهَا، وَمَا أُرِيدَ فِيهَا وَجْهُ اللَّهِ، فَقُلْتُ: وَاللَّهِ لأُخْبِرَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، فَأَتَيْتُهُ فَأَخْبَرْتُهُ بِمَا قَالَ، فَتَغَيَّرَ وَجْهُهُ حَتَّى كَانَ كَالصِّرْفِ.
ثُمَّ قَالَ: «فَمَنْ يَعْدِلُ إِذَا لَمْ يَعْدِلِ اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ؟» ثُمَّ قَالَ: «يَرْحَمُ اللَّهُ مُوسَى! قَدْ أُوْذِيَ بِأَكْثَرَ مِنْ هَذَا فَصَبَرَ».
فَقُلْتُ: لَا جَرَمَ لَا أَرْفَعُ إِلَيْهِ بَعْدَهَا حَدِيثاً.
مُتَّفَقٌ عَلَيْهِ.
وقوله «كَالصِّرْفِ» هو بِكَسْرِ الصَّادِ الْمُهْمَلَةِ: وَهُوَ صِبْغٌ أَحْمَرُ.
Full Translation
On the authority of Ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) who said:
On the day of Hunayn, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ gave preference to some people in the distribution of the spoils of war. He gave al-Aqra’ ibn Habis one hundred camels, and gave ‘Uyaynah ibn Hisn the same, and he gave to several of the leaders among the Arabs and favored them that day in the distribution.
A man said: “By Allah, this is a division in which justice has not been done, and in which the face of Allah was not sought.” I said: “By Allah, I will certainly inform the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about this.” So I went to him and told him what the man had said. His face changed until it became like al-ṣirf (a deep red dye).
Then he said: “Then who will be just if Allah and His Messenger are not just? Then he said: May Allah have mercy on Musa — he was hurt more than this and yet he was patient.”
I said: “By Allah, I will never again bring him a report like that.”
Agreed upon.
Meanings of Key Words
- Yawmu Hunayn (يَوْمُ حُنَيْنٍ) — the day of Hunayn; after the battle of Hunayn and the conquest of Ta’if, the Prophet ﷺ distributed the spoils in Jirana. The distribution was not haphazard — it was a calculated political and communal act with specific purposes in mind
- Aathara nasan fi al-qisma (آثَرَ نَاساً فِي الْقِسْمَةِ) — favored some people in the distribution; aathara — gave more, put ahead, prioritized. The Prophet ﷺ distributed the spoils with a wisdom that was not always visible to the onlooker. He was not distributing equally — he was distributing according to the needs of the Ummah at that moment
- Al-Aqra’ ibn Habis wa Uyaynah ibn Hisn — two powerful Bedouin leaders from Najd; their tribes were influential, their conversion important, and their inclusion in the early Muslim community critical. The Prophet ﷺ was using the distribution to consolidate the nascent Muslim state, not merely to pay out loot
- Ashraf al-‘Arab — the leaders, the nobles, the notable people among the Arabs; the Quraysh and other tribal leaders who had recently entered Islam after the conquest of Makkah and whose allegiance was fragile. The Prophet ﷺ was securing them with strategic gifts — a political act disguised as a religious distribution
- Qismah ma ‘udila fiha (قِسْمَةٌ مَا عُدِلَ فِيهَا) — this division in which justice has not been done; the man’s claim was categorical. Not “I think” or “perhaps.” He swore by Allah that there was no justice in this distribution, converting a strategic act into a moral accusation
- Ma urida fiha wajhu Allah (مَا أُرِيدَ فِيهَا وَجْهُ اللَّهِ) — and in which the face of Allah was not sought; this was the most severe part of the accusation. Not only that the distribution was unjust, but that the Prophet ﷺ was acting for worldly reasons — to please people, to secure power — not for Allah. The same accusation that later opposition would use against the Prophet ﷺ and the khulafa’ was being voiced in this moment
- Val-lahi la ukhbiranna (وَاللَّهِ لأُخْبِرَنَّ) — by Allah, I will certainly inform; Ibn Mas’ud’s oath reflects how shocking the man’s statement was to him. He did not dismiss it. He treated it as something so serious that it had to be brought to the Prophet ﷺ immediately
- Fataghayyara wajhuhu hatta kana kaṣ-ṣirf (فَتَغَيَّرَ وَجْهُهُ حَتَّى كَانَ كَالصِّرْفِ) — his face changed until it became like ṣirf. The scholars explain ṣirf as a deep red dye — the color of intense anger that rises to the skin but does not spill over. The Prophet ﷺ did not strike, did not curse, did not expel. The anger was visible in the face alone
- Fa man ya’dilu idha lam ya’dilil-Lahu wa rasuluhu (فَمَنْ يَعْدِلُ إِذَا لَمْ يَعْدِلِ اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ) — then who will be just if Allah and His Messenger are not just? A rhetorical question that turns the accusation back on the claimant. If the two most just entities in existence are unjust, then justice itself has no center, no standard, no reference point. The Prophet ﷺ is not saying “I am perfect.” He is saying the distribution was done in accordance with the justice Allah had revealed to him — and if that is not justice, then there is no such thing
- Yarhamu Allah Mūsa qad uwudhi bi akthara min hadha fa sabara (يَرْحَمُ اللَّهُ مُوسَى! قَدْ أُوْذِيَ بِأَكْثَرَ مِنْ هَذَا فَصَبَرَ) — May Allah have mercy on Musa — he was harmed more than this and yet he was patient; the Prophet ﷺ does not descend into argument. He references the story of Musa — the Prophet who was thrown into the river as an infant, whose people repeatedly disobeyed and disbelieved, who was tested beyond what most prophets ever face — and notes that Musa was patient. The implication is clear: if Musa endured greater harm and remained patient, the companions should be able to endure a accusation that did not match his actual suffering
- La jarana la arfa’u ilayhi ba’daha hadithan (لَا جَرَمَ لَا أَرْفَعُ إِلَيْهِ بَعْدَهَا حَدِيثاً) — by Allah, I will never again bring him a report like that; Ibn Mas’ud’s resolution after seeing the Prophet ﷺ’s grief. The report was not a lie — the man had spoken. But Ibn Mas’ud recognizes that there is a dimension of the Prophet ﷺ’s dignity and honour that should not be exposed to careless or hasty reporting
Hadith Lessons
This hadith leaves the battlefield of Hunayn and enters the quieter, more intimate space of the Prophet ﷺ’s inner life. The companions had been fighting, winning, collecting spoils. The Prophet ﷺ had been distributing, securing alliances, laying the foundations of the nascent state. Then, a man whispers a claim that strikes at the heart of prophethood itself: the Prophet ﷺ is unjust, and he is acting for worldly reasons, not for the sake of Allah.
The Prophet ﷺ — the man whose life was the embodiment of justice — had been accused of injustice. The man who had never claimed anything for himself, who had given away every share he had except a small portion that was returned to him, was being told that his distribution was not done for the face of Allah. The accusation was public, categorical, and dangerous.
The Prophet ﷺ’s Anger — And Where It Stopped
The Prophet ﷺ’s face changed until it became like ṣirf — a deep red dye. The anger was visible on the skin, in the color of the blood rising to the surface. But it did not go beyond that. He did not order the man arrested. He did not expel him from the community. He did not strike him or curse him. The anger was contained within the space of his own face.
The scholars of hadith note this as one of the most powerful demonstrations of the Prophet ﷺ’s character: he was capable of anger — and he chose not to act on it. The anger was not for himself. It was for the sanctity of the accusation. It was evidence that the Prophet ﷺ would not be indifferent to accusations against his justice — but that he would not be vindictive either. The anger was a sign that he recognized the gravity of what was happening — not a sign that he would descend to the level of the accusation.
Then came the rhetorical question — not a curse, not a rebuke, but a logic that exposed the absurdity of the claim. If Allah and His Messenger are not just, then justice itself has no center. The Prophet ﷺ did not deny that the distribution was unequal — it was unequal by design. He denied that the inequality was a sign of injustice. The unequal distribution was doing what justice sometimes must do — giving more to those whose inclusion in the community would secure the survival and growth of the religion.
Musa ibn Imran — The Prophet of Greater Affliction
Then the Prophet ﷺ brought Musa into the scene. He did not say: I am better than you. He said: May Allah have mercy on Musa — he was harmed more than this and yet he was patient.
The reference to Musa is not a mere consolation. It is a calibration. Musa had been:
- Cast into the river as an infant
- Hostile to the people of his mother’s people
- Disobeyed repeatedly by his own community
- Challenged by magicians, kings, and rebellious followers
And despite all of that, Musa had remained patient. The Prophet ﷺ is not saying that the companions’ suffering was nothing. He is saying that the history of prophecy was built on patience in the face of accusations, misunderstandings, and rejection — and that if Musa endured greater harm with patience, the companions could endure an accusation that did not match their actual suffering.
The lesson is not that accusations are not painful — they are. The lesson is that the standard of the Prophet is not to retaliate on his own behalf, but to hold patience in the face of misunderstanding, to trust that Allah knows the truth, and to let the matter rest in Allah’s hands.
Ibn Mas’ud’s Resolution — And What It Teaches
After seeing the Prophet ﷺ’s reaction, Ibn Mas’ud said: I will never again bring him a report like that. Not because the man had not spoken, or because the accusation was false — he had spoken, and the accusation was a real statement. But Ibn Mas’ud realized that there is a difference between reporting a fact and exposing the Prophet ﷺ to unnecessary pain.
The scholars of tarbiyah draw from this Ibn Mas’ud’s wisdom: not every truth should be brought to the Prophet’s ﷺ ears. There is a wisdom in discernment — in knowing when something should be reported, and when it should be held back, not out of concealment, but out of protection for the one who carries the weight of the Ummah. The Prophet ﷺ had enough to carry — he did not need every whisper repeated to him.
Three Questions to Close With
- The Prophet ﷺ did not repel the accusation with logic alone — he exposed its absurdity by asking who would be just if Allah and His Messenger were not. Is there a judgment I am holding against someone in authority that, if I applied it consistently, would leave me without any standard of justice at all?
- The Prophet ﷺ referenced Musa, the prophet who was tested far more than he was, and noted that Musa was patient. When I am accused or misunderstood, is my suffering closer to the Prophet ﷺ and Musa — or is it something smaller that I am magnifying?
- Ibn Mas’ud resolved never to bring such a report again. Is there a difference in my life between speaking truth and exposing someone unnecessarily — and what would it mean to hold that distinction?