O Allah, save ʿAyyāsh ibn Abu Rabīʿah. O Allah, save Salamah ibn Hishām. O Allah, save Al-Walīd ibn al-Walīd. O Allah, save the oppressed believers. O Allah, be hard on [the tribe of] Mudar. O Allah, afflict them with years of famine and drought like the years of Yūsuf (Joseph)

Explanation

This Hadīth mentions how the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to supplicate for some of his Companions that they would be saved from torture. They were prisoners with the disbelievers in Makkah. ʿAyyāsh ibn Rabīʿah was a maternal brother of Abu Jahl, who detained him in Makkah. Salamah ibn Hishām was also a brother of Abu Jahl. He reverted to Islam at an early stage. He was, therefore, persecuted and prevented from migrating. Al-Walīd ibn al-Walīd was the brother of Khālid ibn al-Walīd. He was imprisoned in Makkah, but managed to escape. Then the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) invoked Allah to send severe punishment on the Makkan disbelievers, who were from the tribe of Mudar. He supplicated Allah to afflict them with a great famine that would last seven years or more, like the famine that occurred at the time of Yūsuf (peace be upon him). “Being hard” could mean “treading on with the feet.” That could be an attribute of Allah, as this Hadīth suggests. However, we have not found any scholar or any of the righteous predecessors who considered this interpretation to be an attribute of Allah. So in this Hadīth, "being hard" effectively means severe punishment. It is ascribed to Allah, because it is His action and predetermination. The statement about Ghifār has two possible meanings. It could be a supplication of the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) for Ghifār so that Allah would forgive them, or he was just saying that Allah has already forgiven them. Similarly for Aslam, it is possible that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) was praying for their peacefulness, thereby not indicating a possible war with them. Otherwise, he was telling that Allah has had peace on them and thus has forbidden fighting them. These two tribes were specifically mentioned, because the tribe of Ghifār accepted Islam very early, and the tribe of Aslam had peace with the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him). Ibn Abu Az-Zinād, reporting from his father, said that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) made that supplication during the Fajr Prayer.