Is taking hostages permitted in Islam?

Sources

• ✓ Sahih Muslim 32:69

  Sunni SAHIH

  Sahih Muslim · Book 32, Hadith 69 · Narrated by Ibn Abbas

  On the day of Badr, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) looked at the polytheists—there were one thousand—and his companions were three hundred and nineteen men. He faced the Qiblah and raised his hands, supplicating his Lord: 'O Allah, fulfill for me what You promised me. O Allah, grant me what You promised me. If this group of Muslims perish, there will be no one worshiping on earth.' He kept supplicating until his cloak slipped from his shoulders. Abu Bakr came, took his cloak, and threw it over his shoulders, then held him from behind and said: 'O Prophet of Allah, enough pleading to your Lord; He will fulfill His promise to you.' Then Allah revealed: "When you asked help from your Lord, He answered you: 'Indeed, I will reinforce you with a thousand angels following one another.'" Allah thus granted him angels for support. Meanwhile, a Muslim man was chasing a polytheist ahead of him and heard the sound of a whip and the horseman say 'Come forward Hayzum.' The pursued man fell down, his nose broken and face split as if struck by a whip, turning green altogether. An Ansari came and described this to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), who confirmed it as the third heavenly reinforcement. Seventy of the enemy were killed and seventy were taken captive. The Messenger of Allah asked Abu Bakr and Umar about the captives. Abu Bakr said: 'O Prophet of Allah, they are kin and tribe; I think they should pay ransom to give us strength against the idolaters and possibly Allah will guide them to Islam.' The Prophet said to Umar: 'What do you think?' Umar replied: 'By Allah, O Messenger of Allah, I do not think as Abu Bakr thinks, rather I think we should overpower them and behead them; they are the leaders of disbelief.' The Prophet preferred Abu Bakr's view. The next day, the narrator saw the Prophet and Abu Bakr sitting and crying. When asked the reason, the Prophet said he was crying over the ransom offered by his companions. Allah then revealed permission concerning prisoners and spoils.

• ✓ Al-Kafi 1:37

  Shia

  Al-Kafi · Book 1, Hadith 37

  Regarding the saying of God, Exalted, 'That He may test you as to which of you is best in deeds,' he explained: It does not mean the most numerous deeds, but the most correct. Success is in the fear of God, sincere intention, and good conduct. Then he added: Perseverance in deeds until sincerity is achieved is harder than the deeds themselves. The pure deed is that no one seeks your praise for it except God, and the intention is better than the deed. Indeed, intention is the deed. Then he recited: 'Say: Each one works according to his manner,' meaning according to his intention. — OR — There is no harm in making ablution with water that a meat-eating animal drank from. — OR — Your land is most pleasing to God that which you generously extend upon your dependents. — OR — The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), when he sent an emir over a detachment, commanded him to fear God first especially with himself, then generally in relation to his companions. Then he said: "Fight in the name of God, in the cause of God, kill those who disbelieve in God, do not betray, do not mutilate, do not kill infants or the one who surrenders, do not burn palm trees, do not drown them in water, do not cut down fruit trees, do not burn crops, lest you may need them, do not sterilize the animals whose meat is eaten except what you are forced to eat. And when you encounter the enemy of the Muslims, call them to one of three things; if they respond, accept it and refrain from fighting them: call them to Islam, if they accept, accept them; call them to emigration after Islam, if they accept, accept them and refrain from fighting; if they refuse immigration and prefer to stay in their land and refuse to enter the land of emigration, they are like the Arabs of the Believers’ desert tribe, the same law applies to them, and they have no share in booty or division except through migration for the cause of God. If they refuse both, call them to pay the jizya while subdued, if they pay, accept it and refrain from fighting them; if they refuse, seek help from God and fight them in God’s way fully. — OR — A man from Khorasan said to him with desperation, "May I be your ransom, I have not been blessed with a child." He said to him, "When you return to your land and intend to visit your family, recite, whenever you wish, the prayer of Dhul-Nun." When he went away upset, thinking that we could do nothing for him, he called out in the darkness, "There is no god but You, glory be to You, indeed I was among the wrongdoers," three times. Then he will be granted a child, God willing. — OR — I asked Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him) about a man who dies without leaving wealth. He said, "He has a third of his wealth, and the woman also has a third." — OR — I said to him, 'May Allah reform you, we have abandoned our markets waiting for this matter until a man among us almost asks with his own hand.' He said, 'O Abu Abdul Hamid, do you think that he who restrains himself for Allah, Allah will not provide a way out for him? Indeed, by Allah, Allah will surely provide a way out for him. May Allah have mercy on a servant who revives our matter.' I said, 'May Allah reform you, these Murji'ah say, "We have no obligation to remain as we are until what you say comes to pass, then we will be equal.