When One Man Challenged the Prophet's Justice
The Origin of the First Innovation in Islam: The Story of Dhu al-Khuwaysirah's Accusation
Summary
This Islamic lecture discusses an incident from the time of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) that occurred after the Battle of Hunain, a few weeks following the conquest of Mecca. The speaker explains the historical context of how many Arabs had recently accepted Islam, and describes how the Prophet distributed al-fai (spoils of war designated for the leader) strategically to tribal leaders to maintain their allegiance to Islam. A man named Dhu al-Khuwaysirah criticized the Prophet's distribution as unjust, accusing him of not being motivated by sincerity to Allah. This incident is presented as the origin point of the first theological innovation (bid'ah) in Islam—the belief that even the Prophet could be unjust—which the speaker traces as the root cause of major divisions and conflicts in Islamic history for the next 1500 years.
Note: This transcript was generated using YouTube's automatic captioning, with AI-assisted cleanup for readability. It may contain inaccuracies due to background noise, audio quality, or limitations of the transcription software — particularly during Arabic recitation. Listener discretion is advised; please refer to the original video for precise wording.
Abdullahb. He narrates an incident that occurred in the time of the prophet sallall.aii wasam on the heels of the battle of Hunain. As we mentioned before, the battle of Hunain was a battle that took place only a few weeks after the conquest of Mecca. Now why is that important? Why is that relevant to our story? This is very relevant because of all the battles which the prophet sallall.aii wasallam attended. The battle of Hunain is probably the battle which there were most new Muslims attending with the prophet sallall.aii wasallam. The army was filled with people that had accepted Islam after the conquest of Mecca. So they had waited to accept Islam until they almost had no other choice. And I say almost because they wanted to hold out on accepting Islam. And many of them the only reason they were holding out was just stubbornness and arrogance. There was no other reason. Islam had become incredibly common place in the Arab Peninsula at this time. Most of the tribes have moved towards accepting Islam and following Islam, accepting the prophet sallall.aii wasallam. Many companions had accepted Islam prior to the conquest of Mecca including and many of the elder chieftains in Mecca had held out to the last minute. So when the prophet sallallah.aii wasallam came and Mecca then became the house of Allah that was overseen by the Muslim the idols were removed. it was announced that the next year so the conquest of Mecca took place in the seventh year. Some historians place it in the eighth year after Hijra. When it took place in the month of Ramadan, there were still people that may have been traveling to come for Hajj that year of the next following years only 3 months. And so the prophet sallall.aii alaihi wasallam did not make Hajj that year because there would be a huge mixture of mushik that were still coming and they were on their way and they had not accepted Islam and they did a lot of indecent things when they came for Hajj some of them made in the nude there was a lot of idolatry many pagans were were coming to attend into the hedge season. And so it was too late to stop them at that point because they had not heard and two or 3 months at that time was not enough time for the news to spread that Mecca is now part of the Muslim and the Muslim state. And so the prophet sallallah.aii wasallam held off making Hajj immediately. He did not make Hajj that year. He waited and he sent Abu Bakr to make Hajj and he took with him. And that is when the announcement was made during Hajj of the opening verses of. And so it was announced to everyone that this is the final year that idolattors will be allowed near the Kaa. This is it. Anyone who wants to return in the following year or subsequent years, you must accept Islam. It is only for the Muslim. Now this is the house of Allah. No more u idolatry will be accepted. And then they also disallowed a lot of other things such as making B in the nude and all of these things these indeencies and these beliefs and superstitions that went along with Hajj in the time of Jah. So that was right after the conquest of Mecca which is why the prophet sallall.aii alaihi wasallam made Hajj in the ninth year after Hijra in the ninth year after Hijra which was his last year and he passed away a few months afteratam. So the battle of took place right after the conquest of Mecca all of those new Muslims some of the Arab tribes that were begrudging begrudgingly attending at the time. So a lot of mistakes were made during the battle of Hanimain. And so of these kinds of unsavory characters that were with the Muslim army during the battle of Hunain is this man here that we're going to read about in this incident who says faith.
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And and sobb says after the battle of the messenger of Allaham gave of his portion this was not of The the unfell that is what is divided into five portions. 1/5if is to muslim. The other four fifths of the spoils of war. Whatever is on the battlefield at that point that is distributed amongst the troops and the soldiers as Allah has mentioned and decided. This is different than what the prophet is distributing here in this narration. He distributed all of the Now comes al what is al fate? Al fate is what is given to the leader or traditionally at that time was given to the general of a military that had won on the battlefield from the village or from the state that was conquered. So it will be things like land houses, it will be things like livestock etc. Traditionally in Arab culture at that time all of it went to the general. All of it. It was considered to be his alone and he would either keep it or give it to his minions. However, the fate was distributed and used by the prophet sallall.aii alaihi wasallam as an incentive to bring tribe leaders into Islam or to keep them in Islam. People who had only accepted Islam because the Muslims were winning. That's the only reason they accepted Islam. And so a person who comes only for that reason, that tribe leader has hundreds, thousands of people standing behind him that are watching to see what the tribe leader is doing. If he accepts Islam, they will all accept Islam. If he leads leaves Islam, they will all leave Islam. If he fights against the Muslim, they will all fight to the death with him against the Muslim. And so it becomes very important to incentivize these tribe leaders to remain Muslim. And Allah has even given a portion of zaka to a non-Muslim in order to incentivize non-Muslims to be reasonable with the Muslim as Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions in TBA. So this fate is completely to the prophet's discretion even by standards. He can give it to whomever he chooses. wasam. He didn't keep it for himself and he didn't give it to his closest companions. Who did he give it to? He started to give to some tribe leaders like and apostated from Islam after the prophet's death to show you how unstable these people's Islam was at the time. He apostated and he joined a man who claimed to be a prophet and a messenger and he fought with him until he was captured and literally put in a cage before he entered into Islam a second time begrudgingly. So these are the types of people that the prophet sallallah.aii wasallam gave this fate to. Now when he distributed it, a man commented who was upset that he didn't receive any and he said he said by Allah this distribution is not just and it is not Allah Allah's u Allah Allah's is not sincerity that is driving this distribution. So he's in he is accusing the prophet sallall.aii alaihi wasallam of being unjust and accusing him of doing things for other than the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala which is a a very bold accusation and this man's name is he was referred to as duler is his actual first name he is from Benny Zra and he is the father of the first innovation in Islam which happened during the time of the companions and the were later fought against by Aliib. The are the ones responsible. He is the forefather of those who later ended up murdering Afan. later murdering Ali Talib, later causing the battle that took place between even some of the companions in the battle of the camel and also the battle of Sufi and also the misunderstanding that took place between and the armies of Hashem. and the armies of all of this happened because of what? Because of it started where? It started with this statement. Just take a moment to really reflect on that. All of that bloodshed, all of that murder, all of that misery, all of that innovation which is still present today 1500 years later. Where did it start? By a man who was upset that he didn't get what he had his heart set on of that which is extra. And so he accused he accused the prophet sallall.aii wasallam. What was the innovation? The innovation was perhaps even the messenger of Allah at times is not just that's the innovation. The innovation is a belief that even the messenger of Allah Muhammad Sam is unjust at times and is motivated by other than Allah. This is an incredible innovation in Islam. It's the first innovation and he is considered the forefather and spiritual father of all innovation that came after this is and so when he said this said I I'm going to tell the messenger of Allah what you just said. So I came to the prophet and I told him what this man had said. The prophet sallall.aii wasallam got very upset. He said.
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We And so he when he heard this, Ib says the prophet sallall.aii wasallam became so angry that his face changed and his face got so red it was a surf which is a a type of very deep dark maroon red that they used to dye clothes at the time. So the prophet Sam responded and said, "Who then is left on the earth that's going to be just if Allah and his messenger are not just?" Then he said, "Then the prophet sallall.aii alaihi wasallam said, "May Allah have mercy upon MS. He was harmed by his people more than this, but in spite of that, he was still patient." And this narration is collected by both and Muslim. Alhamdulillah. Yeah. Come on.