It is narrated from Ali bin Isa al-Nawfali that when Sayyiduna Nawfal bin al-Harith (may Allah be pleased with him) was taken captive at Badr, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: "O Nawfal! Ransom yourself." He said: O Messenger of Allah! I have nothing with which to ransom myself. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Ransom yourself with your spears that are at Juddah." (On hearing this) he said: I bear witness that you are indeed the Messenger of Allah (for knowledge of the spears was not possible without revelation). So he ransomed himself with them, and they were a thousand spears. The narrator says: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) established brotherhood between Nawfal and Abbas bin Abd al-Muttalib, and even in the days of the Jahiliyyah the two had been trading partners, equal sharers in their wealth, and loving towards each other. Nawfal (may Allah be pleased with him) took part with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in the Conquest of Makkah, Hunayn and Ta'if, and at the Battle of Hunayn he stood firm with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). On that occasion the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "It is as though I see your spears breaking the backs of the polytheists."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Nawfal bin al-Harith bin Abd al-Muttalib (may Allah be pleased with him) that he sought the help of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in getting married, so he (peace and blessings be upon him) married him to a woman. When he looked for something (for the dowry or expenses), he found nothing. So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent his coat of mail with Sayyiduna Abu Rafi' and Sayyiduna Abu Ayyub (may Allah be pleased with them both), and they pawned it with a Jewish man for thirty sa' of barley. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave that barley to them. We ate from it for half a year; then, when we measured it, we found it was just as much as it had been at the start. Nawfal (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I mentioned this to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Had you not measured it, you would have kept eating from it for as long as you lived." As for Rabi'ah, Ubaydah, Tufayl and Husayn (the sons of al-Harith bin Abd al-Muttalib), they were martyred in front of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).