(O ye who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the messenger and those of you who are in authority…) [4:59].
Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Abu Hamid al-‘Adl informed us> Abu Bakr ibn Abi Zakariyya al-Hafiz> Abu Hamid ibn al-Sharqi> Muhammad ibn Yahya> Hajjaj ibn Muhammad> Ibn Jurayj> Ya‘la ibn Muslim> Sa‘id ibn Jubayr> Ibn ‘Abbas that he said regarding the saying of Allah, exalted is He, (O ye who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the messenger and those of you who are in authority): “It was revealed about Hudhafah ibn Qays ibn ‘Adiyy who was sent by the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, in a military expedition”. This was narrated by Bukhari from Sadaqah ibn al-Fadl and also by Muslim from Zuhayr ibn Harb and both transmitter related it from Hajjaj.
Said Ibn ‘Abbas, according to the narration of Badhan: “The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, sent Khalid ibn al-Walid in a military expedition to one of the Arab clans. He was accompanied in this expedition by ‘Ammar ibn Yasir. When he drew closer to them at night, he stopped to camp in order to try to conquer them the following morning. Meanwhile this clan was warned about the approaching military expedition which made them flee the area, except for one man who was a Muslim. This man asked his family to get ready to move and then he went to the camp of Khalid and entered in on ‘Ammar. He said to him: ‘O Abu’l-Yaqzan! I am one of you. But my people ran away when they heard you were coming. I stayed because I am Muslim. Is this of any benefit to me, or shall I flee as my people did?’ ‘Ammar said: ‘Stay, for it is beneficial to you’. The man returned to his family and told them to stay. The following morning, Khalid invaded the clan but found no one except this man, and so he imprisoned him and seized his property. ‘Ammar went to him and said: ‘Let the man go, for he is a Muslim and I have already given him amnesty and told him to stay’. Khalid said: ‘You give protection from me to others while I am the leader!’ Ammar said: ‘Yes, I give protection from you to others while you are the leader’. And they exchanged angry words. Then they both went to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, and informed him about the man. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, gave the man amnesty, sanctioned the amnesty that ‘Ammar had given to the man and then forbade him from giving amnesty to anyone in the future without the express permission of his leader. ‘Ammar and Khalid insulted each other in the presence of Allah’s Messenger, Allah bless him and give him peace, and when ‘Ammar spoke very rudely to Khalid, the latter became very angry and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, will you allow this slave to insult me? By Allah, if it were not for you, he would not insult me’. ‘Ammar, by the way, was a client of Hashim ibn al-Mughirah. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: ‘O Khalid, leave ‘Ammar alone, for whoever insults ‘Ammar, Allah will insult him, and whoever hates ‘Ammar, Allah will hate him’. Upon which ‘Ammar left. Khalid followed him, and held him by his cloak and asked him to forgive him, which he did. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed this verse, enjoining obedience to those who are in authority”.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou