Fiqh Benefits of the Conquest

Shaykh Yasir Qadhi explains:

The Conquest is a treasury of fiqh, many rulings every Muslim knows were settled here.

❧The one-third of a bequest

Gravely ill and thinking himself dying, Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ asked to will away two-thirds of his wealth, then a half; both the Prophet ﷺ refused. At a third he said, الثُّلُثُ وَالثُّلُثُ كَثِير, "a third, and a third is much", for "to leave your heirs wealthy is better than to leave them begging." Hence one may bequeath at most a third outside the Qurʾānic shares.

❧The child belongs to the marriage-bed

In a custody dispute settled now, the Prophet ﷺ ruled الْوَلَدُ لِلْفِرَاشِ وَلِلْعَاهِرِ الْحَجَر, "the child is for the bed, and for the fornicator is the stone": a child is ascribed without question to the married couple, and rumour is not pursued.

❧And more

Travel permits breaking the fast and shortening the prayer, but travel begins outside the city, not at one's door (they broke fast past Dhū al-Ḥulayfah). Qaṣr is a firm Sunnah, the Prophet ﷺ shortened even before the Kaʿbah for all nineteen days, though its time-limit is disputed (most say about four days; Ibn Taymiyyah, no fixed limit, judging by whether one still lives as a traveller). A convert's marriage stays valid if the spouse accepts Islam within a period (as spouses converted apart at the Conquest, with no new contract). A wife may take from a stingy husband's wealth bi-l-maʿrūf (Hind's ḥadīth). What is unlawful to use is unlawful to sell. Fully white hair is recommended to be dyed, avoiding black (Abū Quḥāfah). One may enter Mecca without iḥrām for a genuine need (the Prophet ﷺ entered in armour). And breaking a single clause of a treaty voids the whole of it, as Quraysh's breach had licensed the Conquest itself. The theological benefit stands above them all: كَتَبَ اللَّهُ لَأَغْلِبَنَّ أَنَا وَرُسُلِي, "Allāh has decreed: I and My messengers shall prevail", victory, in the end, belongs to the people of taqwā.