When Hadhrat Abbas (ra) was captured, as mentioned above, he had not openly embraced Islam. As a result, to secure his release, he had to pay ransom. After arriving in Medina with other prisoners, our Master (saw) summoned him and said:

“O Abbas, you, your nephew Akil bin Talib, and Nafel bin Haris must pay a ransom to secure your release, as you have the means to do so.”

Abbas (ra) claimed he was a Muslim and hesitated to pay the ransom, saying, “But O Rasul of Allah, I am a Muslim. The Quraysh polytheists forced me to join this expedition against my will.”

Our Master did not accept this excuse: “Only Allah knows if you are truly a Muslim. If you are indeed among the believers, then Allah will reward you for the difficulties you endured. However, since your situation appeared to be against the Muslims externally, you must pay the ransom to secure your release…”

Abbas (ra) requested that the gold seized from him during his capture be considered as part of the ransom. However, it had been confiscated as part of the war spoils. Our Master explained that the gold was considered war bounty, and Hadhrat Abbas was still required to pay the specified ransom.

Abbas (ra) then claimed that he did not have any other money to pay the ransom and asked if the Rasul expected him to beg the people of Makkah. At this point, our Master miraculously inquired, “What happened to that gold, Abbas?”

Abbas was astonished and asked, “What gold, O Rasul of Allah?”

Rasulullah responded, “The gold you entrusted to your wife, Ummu Fazl, on the day you left Makkah… At that time, there was no one with you. You said to Ummu Fazl, “I don’t know what will happen to me on this journey. If I encounter a disaster and don’t return, this portion is for you, this portion is for Fazl, this portion is for Abdullah… Aah and this portion is for Ubeydullah, and finally, this portion is for Kusem,” referring to the gold you left?”

Abbas (ra) was speechless... He asked in astonishment, “Who told you about this, O Rasul of Allah? I swear no one knew about this except for Ummu Fazl and me!” Rasullullah replied, “Allah informed me, O Abbas.” Abbas, still in the same state of amazement, declared the Shahada: “I bear witness that there is no god, only Allah, and you are indeed His Rasul... You speak the truth!”

Upon this incident the 70th verse of Surah Al-Anfal was revealed:

O Nabi! Tell the captives in your hands, “If Allah knows good (faith) is in your heart, then He will give you something better than what has been taken from you, and He will forgive you! Allah is the Ghafur, the Rahim.”[1]

Hadhrat Abbas later said about this incident, “Allah replaced the gold taken from me with twenty slaves who, due to their partnerships, earned me twenty uqiyahs of gold each. With them, I became even wealthier…” 

Under the orders of our Master (saw) Hadhrat Abbas did not openly declare his conversion to Islam for a long time after returning to Mecca… Thereby he covertly supported the Muslims there…