the tribes’ chiefs and the celebrities of Makkah. The first to receive booty and the ones who obtained  the greatest number of shares were the people who had recently embraced Islam.
Abu Sufyan bin Harb was given a hundred camels and forty (gold) ounces and yet he said, “What  about  my son, Yazeed’s Share?” So he was given the same quantity for his son as well. But yet he  exclaimed:
“And what about the share of Mu‘âwiyah, my second son?” So the Prophet (peace be upon him) gave
Mu‘âwiyah as much as he gave his father and brother. Hakeem bin Hizam was given a hundred  camels,  but he was given a hundred more when he demanded. Safwan bin Omaiyah was given three hundred  camels - a hundred camels at each time. It is thus mentioned in Shifâ, Book by Qadi Iyadh. The
Prophet (peace be upon him) gave Al-Harith bin Harith bin Kilda a hundred camels. He also gave some  chiefs of Quraish and other clans a hundred camels; he gave others fifty and some others had forty.
Eventually it was spread among people that “Muhammad grants generously and fears not to grow  poor.” This made bedouins gather around him expecting to be given some wealth. They were so many  that they forced the Prophet (peace be upon him) to seek refuge against a tree and they even took  away his garment, “O people!“ He said, “Give me back my garment! For I swear by the One in Whose
Hand is Muhammad’s soul, that if I had as many numerous camels as the number of Tihama trees, I  would distribute them among you. You know quite well that I am neither mean nor coward or a liar.”
Standing by his camel he plucked out a hair of his camel’s hump and held it between his two fingers,  lifted it up and said: “O people, I swear by Allâh that I get nothing but one-fifth of your booty, and  this  very fifth goes back to you.”
As soon as he had given the new converts, the Messenger of Allâh (peace be upon him) ordered Zaid  bin Thabit to fetch the booty and summon people. Then he ordained shares to people. A footman’s  share was four camels and forty sheep, and a horseman would take twelve camels and a hundred and  twenty sheep. This distribution of booty was based on a wise policy. In this world there are lots of  people who know the truth only when it comes through their stomachs and they do not recognize it if  it  comes through their brains. The similitude of such people is as the guidance of an animal to its herd  by  means of a bunch of clover held at a constant distance off its mouth. The animal would try all the time  to catch it, so it would eventually go into the herd safely. In the same way you have to do various  kinds  of temptations to make certain kind of people familiarize Islam and be pleased with.
THE HELPERS (Al-Ansar) ARE FURIOUS AT THE MESSENGER OF ALLAH (p  eace be upon him)
:
At first the Prophet’s policy of distribution was uncomprehended by many a man. Therefore  sharptongued  people started expressing their objections. The Helpers were among those who were afflicted  by this policy. They were deprived of Hunain gifts though they had been the ones who were  summoned  at Hunain hard times and they were the first to rush to fight with the Messenger of Allâh (peace be  upon him) and standfast till the defeat turned into victory. Now here they are watching those who  escaped fill their hands with booty while they are given nothing.
On the authority of Ibn Ishaq: “When the Messenger of Allâh (peace be upon him) had given Quraish  and Arab tribes those gifts and allotted nothing to the Helpers, a group of the Helpers felt so uneasy  about it that a lot of ill-statements against the Prophet (peace be upon him) were spread among them  to an extent that one of them said: “By Allâh, the Messenger of Allâh (peace be upon him) was  illspoken  of by his folksmen!” And those ill-statements went on spreading till Sa‘d bin ‘Ubadah met the
Messenger of Allâh (peace be upon him) , who in his turn faced his people after a while.
Sa‘d bin ‘Ubadah said: “O Messenger of Allâh, this group of the Helpers are furious at you about the  distribution of the booty that you had won. You have allotted shares to your own kinsmen and  forwarded lots of gifts to the Arab tribes. But this group has obtained nothing.” The Prophet (peace be  upon him) asked Sa‘d exclaiming: “Sa‘d, what do you think of all that?” Sa‘d replied: “O Messenger of
Allâh. You know that I am nothing but a member of this group.” “Call out on your people and bring  them forth to me into this shed.” Said the Prophet (peace be upon him).
So Sa‘d went out and summoned them. When some Emigrants came, he let them in but forbade