Those who permitted burning in enemy land and elsewhere

Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) cut down the date palms of Banu al-Nadir and burned them.

Sayyiduna Usamah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent me to a land called Ubna. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Reach it in the morning, then burn it."

Sufyan said: It has reached me that Umar bin Abd al-Aziz ordered burning, or he put it this way: that he burned them.

Suwayd bin Ghafalah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) burned heretics (zanadiqah) in the market. When fire was thrown upon them, he (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) have spoken the truth. Then he (may Allah be pleased with him) went back, and I followed behind him. He (may Allah be pleased with him) turned towards me and asked: Is that Suwayd? I said: Yes. I said: O Commander of the Faithful, I heard you saying something? He (may Allah be pleased with him) said: O Suwayd, I am among ignorant people. So when you hear me say that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said something, then it is absolutely true.

Abd al-Rahman bin Ubayd (may Allah have mercy on him) said that his father Ubayd (may Allah have mercy on him) said: There were some people who used to take stipends and salaries and pray with the people, and in secret they would worship idols. These people were brought to Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him), and he (may Allah be pleased with him) confined them in the mosque or in the prison. Then he said: O people, what is your view concerning those who take stipends and salaries along with you and worship these idols? The people said: Kill them. He (may Allah be pleased with him) said: No. Rather, I will deal with them as they dealt with our forefather Ibrahim (peace be upon him). So he (may Allah be pleased with him) burned them in fire.

Sayyiduna Jarir (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Will you not give me relief from Dhu al-Khalasah?" This was a house of Khath'am that was worshipped in the time of ignorance, and it was called al-Ka'bah al-Yamaniyah. He (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I set out with one hundred and fifty riders, and we burned it until we made it like a mangy camel. Then Sayyiduna Jarir (may Allah be pleased with him) sent a man to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to give him the good news. When he came to him (peace and blessings be upon him), he said: By the One who sent you (peace and blessings be upon him) with the truth, I did not come to you (peace and blessings be upon him) until we had left that place like a mangy camel. So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) supplicated for blessing five times for Ahmas, its horses and its men.

Ibn Abdullah bin al-Hasan (may Allah have mercy on him) said that his father Abdullah bin al-Hasan (may Allah have mercy on him) saw no harm in burning and in cutting down trees in the land of the enemy.

Dawud (may Allah have mercy on him) said that Ikrimah (may Allah have mercy on him) said, concerning this noble verse, "Whatever trees (linah) you cut down" [Al-Hashr: 5]: What is meant is the date palm other than the ajwah.

Habib bin Abi Amrah (may Allah have mercy on him) said that Sa'id bin Jubayr (may Allah have mercy on him) said: In this verse, "Whatever trees (linah) you cut down", what is meant by linah is the date palm.

Ikrimah (may Allah have mercy on him) said that Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: In the verse, "Whatever trees (linah) you cut down", what is meant by linah is the date palm.