أسرى
Asrā
Topic
The Quran’s rule for prisoners taken in battle: release them with grace or for ransom (47:4).
What it means
“When you meet those who disbelieve, strike their necks until you have subdued them, then bind the captives firmly, and afterwards either release them as a favour or for ransom, until the war lays down its burdens” (47:4). After Badr, the question of the prisoners was disputed: Abu Bakr advised ransom and Umar execution, and 8:67 says a prophet should not take captives until he has fully established himself in the land (Sahih Muslim). The prisoners were afterwards ransomed.
What the sources say
The Prophet is reported to have told the Companions to treat the prisoners well, and the Companions gave them the better of their own food (Ibn Hisham). Classical jurists listed further options, including enslavement and, in some schools, execution, drawing on later practice. Many contemporary scholars hold that the Quran’s own two options bind.