Section: Slaves shall not be killed. Al-Shafi'i held this view as well, due to the statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Reach Khalid and command him not to kill any offspring nor any hireling" (35). These are the slaves. Furthermore, they (36) become the property of the Muslims simply by being taken captive, so they resemble women and children.
Section: Whoever fights from among all those we have mentioned, it is permitted to kill him, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) killed a woman on the day of Qurayza who had thrown a hand-mill at Mahmud ibn Maslamah (37). Whoever among these mentioned men possesses an opinion through which he aids in war, it is permitted to kill him, because Durayd ibn al-Simmah was killed on the day of Hunayn. He was an old man who possessed no combat ability, but they had brought him out with them to seek blessings through him (38) and to seek aid through his counsel, and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) did not disapprove of his killing (39). Furthermore, opinion is among the greatest forms of aid in war. It has been narrated from Mu'awiyah that he said to Marwan and al-Aswad: "You two have reinforced Ali with Qays ibn Sa'd (40), and with his opinion and his stratagems. By Allah, if you had reinforced him with eight thousand fighters, it would not have been more infuriating to me than that" (41).
1680 - Issue: He said: (And whoever fights from among these [or women, or old men, or monks on the battlefield, they are killed] (1))
We are not aware of any disagreement regarding this. Al-Awza'i, al-Thawri, al-Layth, al-Shafi'i, Abu Thawr, and the People of Opinion (Ashab al-Ra'y) held this view.
(35) Reported by Abu Dawud, in: The chapter on killing women, from the Book of Jihad. Sunan Abi Dawud 2/50. And Ibn Majah, in: The chapter on raids, night attacks... from the Book of Jihad. Sunan Ibn Majah 2/948. And Imam Ahmad, in: Al-Musnad 3/488, 4/178. (36) The word "wa" (and) is missing from (M). (37) In (B) and (M): "Salamah". See what al-Waqidi reported in Al-Maghazi 2/645, 658, and Ibn Hajar in Al-Isabah 6/43; they mentioned that this was on the day of Khaybar, not the day of Banu Qurayza, and that the one who threw the stone at him was Marhab. The one the woman killed on the day of Banu Qurayza was Khallad ibn Suwayd. See Al-Sirah by Ibn Hisham 2/242, and Al-Sirah al-Halabiyyah 2/668. (38) Missing from (B). (39) See what al-Bukhari reported in: The chapter on the expedition of Awtas, from the Book of Military Expeditions. Sahih al-Bukhari 5/197; and al-Bayhaqi in: The chapter on the permissibility of killing those who do not fight from among the disbelievers... from the Book of Siyar. Al-Sunan al-Kubra 9/91, 92. (40) He is Qays ibn Sa'd ibn 'Ubadah al-Ansari. He held a position with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) similar to that of the Chief of Police to a ruler. He was one of the cleverest of the Arabs. He led the vanguard for Ali at the Battle of Siffin, then fled from Mu'awiyah in the year fifty-eight. He resided in Tiflis and died there during the reign of 'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. Tahdhib al-Tahdhib 8/395, 396. (41) The report is in: Siyar A'lam al-Nubala' 3/110. (1) In (M): "And women, old men, and monks on the battlefield are killed".
