Minorities in an Islamic State — Page 15
15 It is interesting to note that the Prophet sa paid the damages to the heirs of Mu h ayyi s ah ra out of his own pocket. 16 Once some Muslims, who were fed up with the machinations of the Jews of Khaiber, misappropriated some of their fruits and animals. The Prophet sa was furious when he came to learn of this and said: "Allah does not allow you to enter the houses of the People of the Book without their permission. Similarly it is absolutely illegal to pluck fruits from their orchards". 17 An An sa r i reports: "Once I accompanied the Prophet sa on a journey. I was hungry and had nothing to eat. I spotted some goats belonging to some non-Muslims, which I captured, killed and put the cauldron on fire. Meanwhile the Holy Prophet sa arrived and came to know of what I had done. He had a bow in his hand, with which he struck at the cauldron and threw it away, and declared, 'loot is as illegal as a dead carrion'. " 18 It is reported in the Musnad Im a m Ahmad bin H anbal that once some children were overtaken by the rush of battle and were trampled to death. The Prophet sa was shocked at this, to console him one of the companions submitted: