Hind bint Utbah came to the Prophet ﷺ and said, "Messenger of Allah, by Allah, there was no household on the face of the earth I more wished to see humiliated by Allah than the people of your household, and now there is no household on the face of the earth I more wish to see honored by Allah than the people of your household."The Prophet ﷺ replied, "And even more so, by the One in whose hand is my soul."Then she said, "Messenger of Allah, Abu Sufyan is a stingy man. Is there any blame on me if I spend from his wealth on his family without his permission?"The Prophet ﷺ answered, "There is no blame on you if you spend on them in a reasonable manner."
جاءت هند بنت عتبة إلى النبي ﷺ، فقالت: يا رسول الله، والله ما كان على ظهر الأرض أهل خباء أحب إلي من أن يعذلهم الله من أهل خبائك، وما على ظهر الأرض أهل خباء أحب إلي من أن يعزهم الله من أهل خبائك، فقال النبي ﷺ: وأيضا والذي نفسي بيده ثم قالت: يا رسول الله، إن أبا سفيان رجل ممسك، فهل علي حرج أن أنفق على عياله من ماله بغير إذنه؟ فقال النبي ﷺ: لا حرج عليك أن تنفقي عليهم بالمعروف.
Narrated by Bukhari in the Virtues of the Ansar (3825), and Muslim in Judgments (1714:8), both from the hadith of Zuhri, from Urwa, from Ayesha, and she related it. The wording given here follows Muslim, and Bukhari's wording is close to it.Her saying "the people of a tent" means the people of a household, and a house is called a tent because it conceals what is inside it. Hind bint Utba bint Rabia was the wife of Abu Sufyan bin Harb. In this hadith she described her condition during her disbelief, and the hatred she harbored toward the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and toward the people of his household, because of the killing of her father Utba bin Rabia on the day of Badr. She was a proud, fierce woman, and so when she got the chance on the day of Uhud, and Hamza bin Abdul-Muttalib, the uncle of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, was killed, she mutilated his body, cut out his liver, roasted it, and ate from it, as is reported. She later embraced Islam along with her husband Abu Sufyan bin Harb on the day of the conquest of Makkah.After her conversion to Islam she said, "There is no household on the face of the earth that I would love more for Allah to honor than your household." The Prophet ﷺ said to her, "And I too, by the One in whose hand is my soul." This means, may your love increase, and may faith become firmly settled in your heart.Her saying, "Abu Sufyan is a stingy man," and in another narration, "a miserly man," this description that Hind gave indicates that her husband Abu Sufyan was miserly. However, Abu Sufyan, who was one of the chiefs of Quraysh and one of its great merchants, was not known to be miserly in Makkah. But after his migration to Madinah, he no longer had as much wealth as he had had in Makkah. Hind had grown accustomed to lavish spending while in Makkah, and she wanted the same in Madinah, but Abu Sufyan's financial situation in Madinah did not allow for that. So she complained to the Prophet ﷺ, and he permitted her to take from his wealth for herself and her children in a reasonable manner, meaning not extravagantly or wastefully.Among the points of jurisprudence found in this hadith are the following. The obligation of maintenance for the wife and children. It is permissible for a woman to take from her husband's wealth the amount that is necessary for her, based on his saying ﷺ, "There is no blame on you if you spend on them in a reasonable manner."