Umar, that he commanded (26) Salamah (27) ibn Qays (28), saying: "Do not kill a woman, a child, or a senile old man (29)." Both were reported by Sa'id (30). Furthermore, because he is not among those who fight, he is not to be killed, like a woman. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) pointed to this reason regarding the woman when he said: "What is the matter with her (31) that she has been killed, when she does not fight?" (32). The verse is specified by what we have narrated, and because the woman has been excluded from its generality, and the senile old man is in the same category as her, we draw an analogy for him based on her. As for their hadith, he intended by it the old men who possess strength for combat, or who provide aid to it through opinion or planning, in order to reconcile the hadiths. Furthermore, our hadiths are specific to the senile old man, while their hadith is general regarding all old men, and the specific is prioritized over the general. Their analogy is invalidated by the case of an elderly woman who possesses no utility.

Section: A disabled person shall not be killed, nor shall a blind man or a monk. The disagreement regarding them is like the disagreement regarding the old man, and their evidence here is their evidence there. Our evidence, regarding the disabled and the blind, is that they are not among those who fight, so they resemble the woman. Regarding the monk, it is based on what was narrated in the hadith of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: "You will pass by people in monasteries, [who have secluded] (33) themselves within them, so leave them (34) until Allah causes them to die in their misguidance." Also, because they do not fight out of religious devotion, they resemble those who are incapable of fighting.