Those whom it is forbidden to kill in dar al-harb

Nafi' (may Allah have mercy on him) reports that Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: In one of the campaigns of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) a woman was found slain, so the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade the killing of women and children.

Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) reports that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade the killing of women.

Ayyub (may Allah have mercy on him) reports that in the valley of Mina a man was relating from his father that his father said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) dispatched a detachment, and I was present in that detachment. He (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade us from killing servants and slaves.

Abd al-Rahman bin Ka'b reports from his paternal uncle that when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent him to Ibn Abi al-Huqayq, he (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade him from killing women and children.

Sayyiduna Buraydah (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that whenever the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) dispatched a detachment or an army, he would declare: "Do not kill children."

Sayyiduna Hanzalah al-Katib (may Allah be pleased with him) reports: We were on a campaign with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). We passed by a slain woman with people gathered around her. The people made room for him (peace and blessings be upon him). He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "This woman was not fighting among those who fight!" Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said to a man: "Go to Khalid bin al-Walid and say to him: 'The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) commands you never to kill children or servants.'"

Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) reports: I used to carry my companions' provision bag, and when we were sent out in the path of Allah, we would camp near Madinah until the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to us. He would say: "Go in the name of Allah, in the path of Allah. Fight the enemies of Allah in the path of Allah. Do not kill a very old man, nor small children, nor a woman, and do not embezzle from the spoils."

Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) reports that Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote to the commanders of the armies that they should not kill a woman or a child, and that they should kill the one on whom the razor passes, that is, the adult.

Zayd bin Wahb (may Allah have mercy on him) reports: A letter from Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) came to us: "Do not embezzle from the spoils, do not act treacherously, do not kill children, and fear Allah concerning the farmers."

Yahya bin Sa'id (may Allah have mercy on him) reports: I was told that Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) sent armies to Syria. He went out, walking behind Sayyiduna Yazid bin Abi Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with him), and said: "I advise you of ten things: Never kill children, nor women, nor the very old. Do not cut down fruit-bearing trees. Never lay waste to inhabited land. Never hamstring a goat or a cow except for food. Never drown palm trees, nor burn them. Do not embezzle from the spoils, and do not show cowardice."

Layth (may Allah have mercy on him) reports that Mujahid (may Allah have mercy on him) said: In war, children, women and the very old are not to be killed. Food is not to be burned, nor palm trees; houses are not to be laid waste; and fruit-bearing trees are not to be cut down.

Ash'ath (may Allah have mercy on him) reports that al-Hasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him) considered it disliked that a very old man, children or a woman be killed in the abode of war (Dar al-Harb). He also considered it disliked that a man should carry any of them along with him and then, when carrying them became burdensome for him, throw them down on the road.

Abd al-Malik bin Umayr (may Allah have mercy on him) reports that Sayyiduna Atiyyah al-Qurazi (may Allah be pleased with him) said: On the day of the campaign against Banu Qurayzah we were presented before the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Whoever had grown pubic hair was killed, and whoever had not grown pubic hair had his way left clear.

Abd al-Rahman bin Abi Amrah al-Ansari (may Allah have mercy on him) reports that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) passed by a slain woman, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) declared: "Who killed this woman?" A man said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)! I did. I seated her behind me on my mount, and she tried to kill me, so I killed her." So he (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered that the woman be buried.

Yahya bin Yahya al-Ghassani (may Allah have mercy on him) reports: I wrote to Umar bin Abd al-Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him) asking him about this verse: "And fight in the way of Allah those who fight you, and do not transgress. Indeed Allah does not love the transgressors." [Al-Baqarah: 190] He wrote back to me in reply and said: "This verse concerns women, children and those of them who do not initiate war."

Thabit bin al-Hajjaj al-Kilabi (may Allah have mercy on him) reports that Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) stood up among the people, praised and extolled Allah, and then declared: "Beware! The monk who is in his place of worship is not to be killed."

Yazid bin Hurmuz (may Allah have mercy on him) reports: Najdah wrote to Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) asking about the killing of children, and he wrote in his letter that a learned man who was the companion of Musa (peace be upon him) had killed a child. Yazid said: With my own hand I wrote the letter of Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) to Najdah: "You wrote asking about the killing of children, and you said in your letter that a learned man who was the companion of Musa (peace be upon him) had indeed killed a child. If you too knew that thing about the children, then you too would kill him. But you do not know. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) has indeed forbidden the killing of children, so keep away from them."

Aslam (may Allah have mercy on him), the freed slave of Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), reports that Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote to his governors forbidding them from killing women and children, and ordered them to kill the adults.

Abu al-Zubayr (may Allah have mercy on him) reports that Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) did not kill the merchants of the polytheists.

Sayyiduna al-Aswad bin Sari' (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) declared: "What is wrong with people that they went to such excess in killing that they even killed children?!" At this a man from the people spoke up: "They were only the children of the polytheists." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Are not the best among you the offspring of polytheists?! Indeed, no child is born except upon the natural disposition of Islam (fitrah), until, when he reaches puberty, he expresses what is in his own heart, or his parents make him a Jew or a Christian."

Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) reports that whenever the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) dispatched armies, he would say: "Do not kill those who are in places of worship."

Juwaybir (may Allah have mercy on him) said that al-Dahhak (may Allah have mercy on him) stated: Killing a woman and a very old man used to be forbidden.

Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) sent out an army and said to it: Fight in the name of Allah. O Allah, make their death a martyrdom in Your path. Then he said: You will come upon people in their hermitages; leave them and what they have devoted themselves to. And you will come upon people who have shaved the middle of their heads, leaving what looks like bands; strike what they have shaved from the middle of their heads.

Rashid bin Sa'd said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade killing women, children and the very old man who has no strength left in him.

Sayyiduna Safwan bin Assal (may Allah be pleased with him) said that when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent out a force, he would say: "Do not kill any child."