The Messenger of Allah ﷺ stood up when the delegation of Hawazin came to him as Muslims and asked him to return to them their property and their captives. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to them, "With me are those whom you see, and the speech I love most is the most truthful. So choose one of the two groups, either the captives or the property. I have indeed been waiting for you."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ had waited for them for some ten nights or more after his return from Taif. When it became clear to them that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would not return anything to them except one of the two groups, they said, "Then we choose our captives."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then stood among the Muslims, praised Allah as He deserves, and said, "To proceed. Your brothers have come to us as penitents, and I have decided to return their captives to them. Whoever among you wishes to give this freely, let him do so. And whoever among you 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 it freely, Messenger of Allah."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "We do not know which of you has consented to this and which has not. Return until your chiefs bring your decision to us."The people went back, and their chiefs spoke with them. Then they returned to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and informed him that they had given their consent freely and granted permission. This is what reached me concerning the captives of Hawazin.
أن رسول الله ﷺ قام حين جاءه وفد هوازن مسلمين، فسألوه أن يرد إليهم أموالهم وسبيهم، فقال لهم رسول الله ﷺ: معي من ترون، وأحب الحديث إلي أصدقه، فاختاروا إحدى الطائفتين: إما السبي، وإما المال، وقد كنت استأتيت بكم وكان أنظرهم رسول الله ﷺ بضع عشرة ليلة، حين قفل من الطائف، فلما تبين لهم أن رسول الله ﷺ غير راد إليهم إلا إحدى الطائفتين، قالوا: فإنا نختار سبينا، فقام رسول الله ﷺ في المسلمين، فأثنى على الله بما هو أهله، ثم قال: أما بعد، فإن إخوانكم قد جاؤونا تائبين، وإني قد رأيت أن أرد إليهم سبيهم، فمن أحب منكم أن يطيب ذلك 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. فقال 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. هذا الذي بلغني عن سني هوازن.
Bukhari narrated it in the Book of Military Expeditions (4318, 4319) from Saeed bin Afir, who said, Layth narrated to me, Aqeel narrated to me. And from Ishaq, who said, Yaqub bin Ibrahim narrated to us, the nephew of Ibn Shihab narrated to us, both of them from Muhammad bin Shihab, who said, Urwa bin Zubayr claimed that Marwan and Miswar bin Makhrama informed him, and he mentioned it.