and he gave 'Ali a woman from among them, who bore him Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah (3). This occurred in the presence of the Companions, and it was not contested; thus, it constitutes a consensus. Abu Hanifah said: She is to be compelled to return to Islam through imprisonment and beating, but she is not to be killed, based on the saying of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace): "Do not kill a woman" (4). Also, because she is not killed for original disbelief (kufr asli), she is not killed for emergent disbelief, just like a child. Our evidence is his saying (peace be upon him): "Whoever changes his religion, kill him," narrated by al-Bukhari and Abu Dawud (5). The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) also said: "The blood of a Muslim person is not lawful except by one of three: the previously married adulterer, a life for a life, and the one who abandons his religion and separates from the community." This is agreed upon (6). Al-Daraqutni (7) narrated that a woman called Umm Marwan apostatized from Islam, and her matter reached the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), who ordered that she be asked to repent; if she repented, [she would be spared], otherwise she would be killed. Furthermore, she is a legally responsible (mukallaf) person who exchanged the true religion for falsehood, so she is killed just like a man. As for the prohibition by the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) against killing women, what is intended by it is the original disbeliever (asliyyah), for he said that when he saw a killed woman who was an original disbeliever. Likewise (8), he forbade those he sent to Ibn Abi al-Huqayq from killing women (9), and there was no apostate among them.
(3) See: al-Tabaqat al-Kubra by Ibn Sa'd (Beirut) 5/91. (4) The prohibition against killing women was recorded by al-Bukhari in: The Chapter on Killing Children in War, from the Book of Jihad (Sahih al-Bukhari 4/74); Muslim in: The Chapter on the Prohibition of Killing Women and Children in War, from the Book of Jihad (Sahih Muslim 3/1364); Abu Dawud in: The Chapter on Invoking [Evil upon] the Polytheists, and in: The Chapter on Killing Women, from the Book of Jihad (Sunan Abi Dawud 2/36, 50); al-Tirmidhi in: The Chapter on What Has Been Said Regarding the Prohibition of Killing Women and Children, from the Chapters on Expeditions ('Aridat al-Ahwadhi 7/64); Ibn Majah in: The Chapter on Raids, Night Attacks, and the Killing of Women and Children, from the Book of Jihad (Sunan Ibn Majah 2/947); Imam Ahmad in: al-Musnad 1/256, 2/115, 3/488, 4/178; al-Bayhaqi in: The Chapter on the Prohibition of Intentionally Targeting Women and Children for Killing, and The Chapter on Withholding from Fighting Those Who Do Not Fight, from the Book of Expeditions (al-Sunan al-Kubra 9/77, 90, 91); Ibn Abi Shaybah in: The Chapter on Those Who Are Forbidden to Be Killed in the Abode of War, from the Book of Jihad (al-Musannaf 12/381-385); 'Abd al-Razzaq in: The Chapter on Felling Trees in the Land of the Enemy, and The Chapter on Night Attacks, from the Book of Jihad (al-Musannaf 5/201, 202); and Sa'id ibn Mansur in: The Chapter on What Has Been Said Regarding Killing Women and Children, from the Book of Jihad (al-Sunan 2/238, 239). (5) Its takhrij has been previously provided in 9/550. (6) Its takhrij has been previously provided in 3/352. (7) In: The Book of Hudud, Blood Money, and Others (Sunan al-Daraqutni 3/118). It was also recorded by al-Bayhaqi in: The Chapter on Killing the One Who Apostatizes, from the Book of the Apostate (al-Sunan al-Kubra 8/203). (8) In [copies] b and m: "wa-li-dhalika" (and for that). (9) Recorded by al-Bayhaqi in: The Chapter on the Prohibition of Intentionally Targeting Women and Children for Killing, from the Book of Jihad (al-Sunan al-Kubra 9/77).
