Mukhtasar Muslim

´It is narrated from Yazid bin Hurmaz that Najdah (the leader of the Haruri Khawarij) wrote to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) and asked him five things. Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said that if it were not for the concealment of knowledge, I would not have written a reply to him (because he was the rejected leader of the heretical Khawarij, and the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said about them that they will go out of the religion as an arrow passes through the prey). Najdah had written: After praise and blessings. 1. Tell me, did the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, take women along in jihad? 2. Did he give them a share (from the spoils of war)? 3. Did he, peace and blessings be upon him, kill children as well? 4. When does the orphanhood of an orphan end? 5. Whose right is the khums (one-fifth of the spoils)? Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) wrote in reply: You ask me whether the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, took women along in jihad? Indeed, he did take them along, and they used to treat the wounded, and they would receive some reward, but no share was fixed for them. (This is the view of Abu Hanifa, Thawri, Layth, Shafi’i, and the majority of scholars, but according to Awza’i, if a woman fights or treats the wounded, she should be given a share. And according to Malik, she should not even receive a reward, and both these views are rejected by this authentic hadith.) And the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, did not kill (the disbelievers’) children. So you too should not kill children (similarly, women; but if children and women fight, then it is permissible to kill them). And you asked me, when does the orphanhood of an orphan end? By the One Who gave me life, sometimes a man grows a beard, but he does not have the sense to take or give (he is still considered an orphan, i.e., his ruling is like that of orphans). Then, when he begins to speak sensibly for his own benefit, as people do, his orphanhood ends. And you asked me about khums, whose right is it? We used to say that khums is for us, but our people did not accept it.