Mishkat al-Masabih 3869

Abu Hurayrah reported God’s Messenger as saying, “A prophet who went out on an expedition told his people that no man should follow him who had married a woman with whom he wished to cohabit but had not yet done so, or who had built houses on which he had not yet put the roofs, or who had bought sheep or pregnant she-camels and was expecting them to produce young.

He then went on the expedition and approached the town at the time of the afternoon prayer or thereabouts. He then told the sun that both it and he were under command and prayed God to keep it back for them, so it was kept back till God gave him victory. He collected the spoils and it (meaning fire) came to devour them, but did not do so.

Saying that there was dishonesty about spoil among them he told them that a man from every tribe must swear allegiance to him, and when a man’s hand stuck in his he said there was dishonesty about spoil among them. They brought him a head of gold like a cow’s head an when he had laid it down the fire came and devoured the spoil.* A version has, ‘Spoils were not allowable to anyone before us.

Then God allowed spoils to us. He saw our weakness and incapacity and allowed them to us.’ *This tradition combines elements of the story of Joshua commanding the sun to stand still (Joshua, 10:12) and the story of Achan’s sin (Joshua, 7:10 ff).”