Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah 35629 — Safe conduct given by a woman

Fudayl bin Zayd al-Raqashi, who took part in seven campaigns during the caliphate of Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), said: Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) sent an army, and I was part of that army. We besieged the people of Sartah. When we saw that we would conquer it that very day, we said: Let us go back, rest a while, come back refreshed and conquer it. When we went back from there, a slave from among the Muslims stayed behind and spoke with them in a foreign tongue, and he wrote safe conduct (protection) for them on a sheet, tied it to an arrow and shot it to them. When we came back, we saw that they had come out of the fortress. We asked them: What has happened to you? They said: You have given us safe conduct. We said: We have certainly done no such thing; it is only a slave who has given you safe conduct, and he himself has no power over anything. Go back until we write to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) and learn his opinion. They said: We cannot tell your slaves from your free men, and we are not going back. Now, if you wish, kill us, and if you wish, honour the pledge to us. He said: We wrote the situation to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), and Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote back: The slave of the Muslims is one of the Muslims; his pledge is their pledge. He said: Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) upheld his safe conduct.