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Hadith About a Woman Who was Killed

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Al-Bukhari and Muslim12 رحمهما الله, in their respective Sahih-collections separately, but almost identical in wording, narrate13 the following incident:

... عَبْدَ اللَّهِ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ، أَخْبَرَهُ: أَنَّ امْرَأَةً وُجِدَتْ فِي بَعْضِ مَغَازِي النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ مَقْتُولَةً، «فَأَنْكَرَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَتْلَ النِّسَاءِ وَالصِّبْيَانِ»

'Abdullah [ibnu 'Umar] رضي الله عنهما reported,

that a killed woman was found during an expedition of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم14 whereupon the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم rejected the killing of women and children.

عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا، قَالَ: وُجِدَتِ امْرَأَةٌ مَقْتُولَةً فِي بَعْضِ مَغَازِي رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، «فَنَهَى رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ عَنْ قَتْلِ النِّسَاءِ وَالصِّبْيَانِ»

On the authority of Ibnu 'Umar, that he said: “A killed woman was found during an expedition of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم whereupon the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم forbade the killing of women and children.”

Hadiths collected by Al-Bukhari and Muslim are considered authentic. The authenticity is all more confirmed, when a hadith, as is the case in these two traditions, appears in both works. It is not uncommon that accounts which are narrated in both works have often been widely reported and likely reappear in other hadith collections. This, in turn, affirms their authenticity.

The hadiths, as suggested earlier, can hence be found in the following hadith collections:

Al-Muwatta' by Malik ibnu Anas15, al-Musnad by Ahmad ibnu Hanbal16, as-Sunan by Abu Dawud, as-Sunan by At-Tirmidhi, as-Sunan by Ibnu Majah, as-Sunanu l-kubra by An-Nasa'i, al-Mustakhraj by Abu 'Awanah, al-Mu'jamu l-kabir and al-Mu'jamu l-ausat by At-Tabarani, al-Musannaf by Ibnu Abi Shaybah, as-Sunan by ad-Darimi رحمهم الله.

Notes

  1. The Sahih of Al-Bukhari (died 256 AH/870 CE) is probably the most famous work of hadith. (Sunni) Muslims consider traditions collected in the Sahih of Al-Bukhari to be the most authentic. The Sahih by the hadith scholar Muslim (died 262 AH/875 CE) is of similar standing. ↩
  2. Similar to other hadith scholars, Al-Bukhari recorded this hadith in a chapter about the topic of jihad (“kitabu l-jihadi wa-s-siyar”). Narrations from the works of said scholars will also be cited successively. ↩
  3. This symbol approximately means: “Peace and blessings from Allah be upon him.” Muslims honour all Prophets, like Abraham, Moses, Jesus and many others, with this invocation and other phrases. ↩
  4. Malik ibnu Anas (died 179 AH/796 CE) was the famous scholar, whose teachings successively developed the Maliki school of thought. ↩
  5. Ahmad ibnu Hanbal (died 241 AH/856 CE) was the famous scholar, whose teachings successively developed the Hanbali school of thought. ↩