Orders from the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم with References to Labourers and Servants
The following report by an unnamed narrator23 – about the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم – is transmitted by Sa'id ibnu Mansur:
عَنْ أَيُّوبَ، عَنْ رَجُلٍ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، قَالَ: «نَهَى رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ عَنْ قَتْلِ الْعُسَفَاءِ وَالْوُصَفَاءِ»
The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم prohibited killing labourers and servants.
The same narration reappears in the Musannaf and the Musnad of Ibnu Abi Shaybah. Here, the narrator is reported to have said:
بَعَثَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، سَرِيَّةً كُنْتُ فِيهَا، قَالَ: فَنَهَانَا أَنْ نَقْتُلَ الْعُسَفَاءَ وَالْوُصَفَاءَ
A troop, which I was in, was being sent out by the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. He forbade us killing labourers and servants.
Notes
- One of the narrators of this hadith is “a man, who narrated from his father”. Apart from all other narrators in this transmission-chain, these two individuals are not mentioned by name. This tradition is clearly weak and as such, was not considered authentic (sahih) by the scholars of hadith. Weak traditions were transmitted, however, if they were supported by e.g. other narrations. A “weak” (da'if) narration was not definitely classified as disinformation or falsehood. To do so would have to be substantiated by attesting “significant weakness” (shadidu d-da'f). Assessing that a narration is “weak” only indicates that it cannot be safely attributed to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم or any other person, respectively. However, it cannot be falsified with certainty either. Therefore, it was thought possible that such a narration could be truthful. Based on this possibility and also, as prefaced, on the abundance of narrations that convey the same message, it can be appropriate to cite a few weak narrations. ↩