When the delegation of Hawazin came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ as Muslims, they asked him to return to them their property and their captives. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to them, "The most beloved speech to me is the most truthful. Choose one of the two, either the captives or the property. I have been waiting for you."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ had waited more than ten nights for the last of them when he returned from Taif. When it became clear to them that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would only return one of the two, they said, "Then we choose our captives."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then stood among the Muslims, praised Allah as He deserves to be praised, and said, "To proceed, these brothers of yours have come to us repentant, and I have decided to return their captives to them. Whoever among you wishes to give them up willingly, let him do so. And whoever wishes to keep his share until we give him compensation from the first spoils Allah grants us, let him do so."The people said, "We give them up willingly for them, Messenger of Allah."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to them, "We do not know which of you has consented and which has not. Go back, and let your leaders bring your decision to us."The people went back, their leaders spoke with them, and then they returned to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and informed him that they had willingly consented. This is what has reached us regarding the captives of Hawazin.
أن رسول الله ﷺ قال حين جاءه وفد هوازن مسلمين، فسألوه أن يرد إليهم أموالهم وسبيهم، فقال لهم رسول الله ﷺ: أحب الحديث إلي أصدقه، فاختاروا إحدى الطائفتين: إما السبي، وإما المال، وقد كنت استأنيت بهم، وقد كان رسول الله ﷺ انتظر آخرهم بضع عشرة ليلة حين قفل من الطائفا، فلما تبين لهم أن رسول الله ﷺ غيرراد إليهم إلا إحدى الطائفتينا، قالوا: فإنا نختار سبينا، فقام رسول الله ﷺ في المسلمين، فأثنى على الله بما هو أهله، ثم قال: أما بعدفإن إخوانكم هؤلاء قد جاءونا تائبينا، وإني قد رأيت أن أرد إليهم سبيهم، من أحب أن يطيب فليفعل، ومن أحب منكم أن يكون على حظه حتى نعطيه إياه من أول ما يفيء الله علينا فليفعل، فقال الناس: قد طيبنا ذلك يا رسول الله لهم، فقال لهم رسول الله ﷺ: إنا لا ندري من أذن منكم في ذلك ممن لم يأذن، فارجعوا حتى يرفع إلينا عرفاؤكم أمركم، فرجع الناس، فكلمهم عرفاؤهم، ثم رجعوا إلى رسول الله ﷺ فأخبروه أنهم قد طيبوا وأذنوا، فهذا الذي بلغنا عن سبي هوازن.
Bukhari narrated it in the Chapter on the Obligation of the Khumus (3131, 3132) from Saeed bin Afir, who said, Layth narrated to me, Aqeel narrated to me, from Ibn Shihab, who said, and he claimed that Marwan bin Hakam and Miswar bin Makhrama had informed him of it, and he related it.