Why Not Us?

After Khaybar, the Prophet ﷺ divided the share of the near kin from the fifth of the spoils. He gave it to Banu Hashim and Banu al-Muttalib and did not give it to Banu Nawfal or Banu 'Abd Shams, the clans of Jubayr and of 'Uthman ibn 'Affan.

Jubayr and 'Uthman went to him and said: "These are our brothers of Banu Hashim, and we do not deny their merit, because of the place Allah put you among them. But what about our brothers of Banu al-Muttalib, whom you have given and left us out? We are all equally related to you."

The Prophet ﷺ replied, "We and Banu al-Muttalib have never been separated, in the days of ignorance or in Islam. We and they are one thing," and he interlaced his fingers. The answer reminds us that the Prophet's ﷺ decisions were based on the bond of standing together through hard times, when Banu al-Muttalib stood with the Prophet ﷺ in the boycott of the valley, not just on blood.

01Why it matters

Loyalty in hardship creates a bond that outweighs mere lineage.

02Reflection

Who stood with you in a hard time, and have you stood with them since?

03Sources

Sahih al-Bukhari 3140 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
Sahih al-Bukhari 3502 Sahih · in the two Sahihs

What the hadith grades mean

Sahih (authentic): an unbroken chain of trustworthy, precise narrators, free of hidden flaws or contradiction. It is acted upon.
Hasan (good): like sahih, but a narrator's precision is slightly lighter. It is also accepted and acted upon. "Hasan sahih" means it reaches sahih by its routes.
Da'if (weak): a break in the chain or a narrator who is not reliable enough. It is not used to establish beliefs or rulings.
Very weak (munkar, matruk): a seriously flawed chain or a narrator accused of lying. It is not relied on at all.
Mawdu' (fabricated): falsely attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It may not be narrated as his words except to warn against it.
The two Sahihs: every hadith with a full chain in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim is accepted as sahih by the scholars of hadith.
Historical report: biographies and histories (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabari) record events with chains that are often incomplete. They are used for the story, not for rulings.
Hadith scholars grade a narration; the four madhhabs do not. Where a hadith carries a ruling, the page shows which schools act on it.

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