Sayyiduna al-Sa'b bin Jaththamah (may Allah be pleased with him) heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) being asked about the polytheists of a territory who are attacked by night, so that some of their women and children are struck. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "They are from among them."
(b) Amr bin Dinar narrates from al-Zuhri: "They are from their fathers."
(c) Sufyan says in the hadith: "They are from their fathers."
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب السير / 18091
Ibn Ka'b bin Malik narrates from his uncle (may Allah be pleased with him) that when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) dispatched them to Ibn Abi al-Huqayq, he forbade the killing of women and children.
(b) Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Sufyan held that the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), "They are from among them," means that killing them is permissible, and that the hadith of Ibn Abi al-Huqayq abrogates it. He said: When al-Zuhri narrated the hadith of al-Sa'b bin Jaththamah (may Allah be pleased with him), he would follow it with the hadith of Ibn Ka'b bin Malik.
Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The hadith of al-Sa'b bin Jaththamah (may Allah be pleased with him) concerns the Umrah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). If it was his (peace and blessings be upon him) first Umrah, then Ibn Abi al-Huqayq had already been killed before it, and it is also said that it was in the same year; and if it was his (peace and blessings be upon him) last Umrah, then it was after the affair of Ibn Abi al-Huqayq. There is no doubt about this. He said: We do not know that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade the killing after having given a concession for it. Deliberately killing women and children is forbidden. "They are from among them" means: 1. They are not believers, which would make shedding their blood forbidden. 2. They are not under the ruling of safety, which would make raiding forbidden.
Al-Shaykh said: The hadith of al-Sa'b bin Jaththamah (may Allah be pleased with him) concerns his (peace and blessings be upon him) Umrah.
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب السير / 18092
Sayyiduna al-Sa'b bin Jaththamah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I was at a place called al-Abwa' or Waddan when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) passed by me, and I presented him (peace and blessings be upon him) with the meat of a wild donkey as a gift, but he (peace and blessings be upon him) returned it. When he (peace and blessings be upon him) saw signs of displeasure on my face, he said: "We have not returned it for any reason other than that we are in the state of ihram."
He said that he was asked about the children of the polytheists, when their women and children are killed during a night raid, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "They too are from among them."
He said: I heard him (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "There is no protected pasture except for Allah and His Messenger." Ali (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Sufyan (may Allah have mercy on him) said this twice during the gathering.
When Sufyan (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated this hadith, he would say: Ibn Ka'b bin Malik narrates from his uncle that when he (peace and blessings be upon him) sent them to Ibn Abi al-Huqayq, he forbade the killing of women and children.
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب السير / 18093