Does Islam permit the killing of innocent women and children in war?

Allegation:

Islam has permitted the indiscriminate killing of innocent non-Muslim women and children during war or jihad.

Response:

The critics present the following hadith in support of their claim—

، عَنِ الصَّعْبِ بْنِ جَثَّامَةَ ـ رضى الله عنهم ـ قَالَ مَرَّ بِيَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم بِالأَبْوَاءِ ـ أَوْ بِوَدَّانَ ـ وَسُئِلَ عَنْ أَهْلِ الدَّارِ يُبَيَّتُونَ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ، فَيُصَابُ مِنْ نِسَائِهِمْ وَذَرَارِيِّهِمْ قَالَ ‏"‏ هُمْ مِنْهُمْ ‏"‏‏.‏ وَسَمِعْتُهُ يَقُولُ ‏"‏ لاَ حِمَى إِلاَّ لِلَّهِ وَلِرَسُولِهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏"‏‏.‏

Meaning: “Narrated from Sa‘b ibn Jaththamah (RA), he said: The Prophet ﷺ passed by me at a place called Abwa’ or Waddan. He was asked about the disbelievers who were attacked at night, and if their women and children were killed in the process, what would be the ruling? The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: They are part of them. And I heard him also say: No sanctuary (protected pasture) may be declared except by Allah and His Messenger ﷺ.”  ^[1]

This hadith has also been narrated in other collections of hadith.

In response, let us say at the very beginning: In a large number of hadiths, the Prophet ﷺ clearly prohibited killing women, children, and other non-combatant civilians in the battlefield. For example—

عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ ـ رضى الله عنهما ـ قَالَ وُجِدَتِ امْرَأَةٌ مَقْتُولَةً فِي بَعْضِ مَغَازِي رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم، فَنَهَى رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم عَنْ قَتْلِ النِّسَاءِ وَالصِّبْيَانِ‏.‏

Meaning: “Narrated from Ibn ‘Umar (RA), he said: During one of the battles of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, a woman was found killed. Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade killing women and children.” ^[2]

عَنْ ابْنِ عُمَرَ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ رَأَى فِي بَعْضِ مَغَازِيهِ امْرَأَةً مَقْتُولَةً فَأَنْكَرَ ذَلِكَ وَنَهَى عَنْ قَتْلِ النِّسَاءِ وَالصِّبْيَانِ

Meaning: “Narrated from Ibn ‘Umar (RA), the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saw a woman killed in one of his battles. He condemned that killing and prohibited killing women and children in war.” ^[3]

رَبَاحِ بْنِ رَبِيعٍ قَالَ كُنَّا مَعَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فِي غَزْوَةٍ فَرَأَى النَّاسَ مُجْتَمِعِينَ عَلَى شَىْءٍ فَبَعَثَ رَجُلاً فَقَالَ ‏"‏ انْظُرْ عَلاَمَ اجْتَمَعَ هَؤُلاَءِ ‏"‏ فَجَاءَ فَقَالَ عَلَى امْرَأَةٍ قَتِيلٍ ‏.‏ فَقَالَ ‏"‏ مَا كَانَتْ هَذِهِ لِتُقَاتِلَ ‏"‏ ‏.‏ قَالَ وَعَلَى الْمُقَدِّمَةِ خَالِدُ بْنُ الْوَلِيدِ فَبَعَثَ رَجُلاً فَقَالَ ‏"‏ قُلْ لِخَالِدٍ لاَ يَقْتُلَنَّ امْرَأَةً وَلاَ عَسِيفًا ‏"‏ ‏.‏

Meaning: “Narrated from Ribah ibn Rabi‘ (RA): We were with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in a battle. He saw some people gathered together, so he sent a man and said: ‘Go see why they are gathered.’ He returned and said: ‘They are gathered around a woman who has been killed.’ The Prophet ﷺ said: ‘This woman was not fighting (so why was she killed?).’ Then someone said: ‘The commander of the vanguard is Khalid ibn al-Walid.’ So the Prophet ﷺ sent a man saying: ‘Tell Khalid not to kill women or servants (workers).’” ^[4]

Thus, it is crystal clear that in Islamic warfare, the killing of women, children, or any non-combatants is not permissible.

As for the hadith presented by the critics: A straightforward reading shows that it does not permit deliberate killing. Rather, it refers to a situation of unintentional killing of women and children during night raids (i.e., collateral damage). The hadith discusses the permissibility of such cases.

Moreover, one narration indicates that this ruling was later abrogated, as after this event the Prophet ﷺ prohibited killing women and children altogether.

عَنِ الصَّعْبِ بْنِ جَثَّامَةَ، أَنَّهُ سَأَلَ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم عَنِ الدَّارِ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ يُبَيَّتُونَ فَيُصَابُ مِنْ ذَرَارِيِّهِمْ وَنِسَائِهِمْ ‏.‏ فَقَالَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ "‏ هُمْ مِنْهُمْ ‏"‏ ‏.‏ وَكَانَ عَمْرٌو - يَعْنِي ابْنَ دِينَارٍ - يَقُولُ هُمْ مِنْ آبَائِهِمْ ‏.‏ قَالَ الزُّهْرِيُّ ثُمَّ نَهَى رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ عَنْ قَتْلِ النِّسَاءِ وَالْوِلْدَانِ ‏.

Meaning: “Narrated from Sa‘b ibn Jaththamah (RA): He asked the Prophet ﷺ about the disbelievers who stayed with their women and children in their homes, and if they were attacked at night and women and children were struck (what is the ruling)? The Prophet ﷺ said: They are part of them. ‘Amr (i.e., Ibn Dinar) said: They are related to their fathers. Al-Zuhri said: After that, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade killing women and children.” ^[5]

In explaining the hadith in this matter, Imam Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (Rh.) stated in his famous work ‘Fath al-Bari’ —

قَوْلُهُ: (هُمْ مِنْهُمْ) أَيْ: فِي الْحُكْمِ تِلْكَ الْحَالَةَ، وَلَيْسَ الْمُرَادُ إِبَاحَةَ قَتْلِهِمْ بِطَرِيقِ الْقَصْدِ إِلَيْهِمْ، بَلِ الْمُرَادُ: إِذَا لَمْ يُمْكِنِ الْوُصُولُ إِلَى الْآبَاءِ إِلَّا بِوَطْءِ الذُّرِّيَّةِ، فَإِذَا أُصِيبُوا لِاخْتِلَاطِهِمْ بِهِمْ، جَازَ قَتْلُهُمْ.

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 وَكَانَ الزُّهْرِيُّ إِذَا حَدَّثَ بِهَذَا الْحَدِيثِ قَالَ: وَأَخْبَرَنِي ابْنُ كَعْبِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ عَنْ عَمِّهِ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ لَمَّا بَعَثَ إِلَى ابْنِ أَبِي الْحَقِيقِ نَهَى عَنْ قَتْلِ النِّسَاءِ وَالصِّبْيَانِ انْتَهَى، وَهَذَا الْحَدِيثُ أَخْرَجَهُ أَبُو دَاوُدَ بِمَعْنَاهُ مِنْ وَجْهٍ آخَرَ عَنِ الزُّهْرِيِّ، وَكَأَنَّ الزُّهْرِيَّ أَشَارَ بِذَلِكَ إِلَى نَسْخِ حَدِيثِ الصَّعْبِ، وَقَالَ مَالِكٌ، وَالْأَوْزَاعِيُّ: لَا يَجُوزُ قَتْلُ النِّسَاءِ وَالصِّبْيَانِ بِحَالٍ حَتَّى لَوْ تَتَرَّسَ أَهْلُ الْحَرْبِ بِالنِّسَاءِ وَالصِّبْيَانِ، أَوْ تَحَصَّنُوا بِحِصْنٍ أَوْ سَفِينَةٍ وَجَعَلُوا مَعَهُمُ النِّسَاءَ وَالصِّبْيَانَ، لَمْ يَجُزْ رَمْيُهُمْ وَلَا تَحْرِيقُهُمْ.

وَقَدْ أَخْرَجَ ابْنُ حِبَّانَ فِي حَدِيثِ الصَّعْبِ زِيَادَةً فِي آخِرِهِ: ثُمَّ نَهَى عَنْهُمْ يَوْمَ حُنَيْنٍ، وَهِيَ مُدْرَجَةٌ فِي حَدِيثِ الصَّعْبِ، وَذَلِكَ بَيِّنٌ فِي سُنَنِ أَبِي دَاوُدَ فَإِنَّهُ قَالَ فِي آخِرِهِ: قَالَ سُفْيَانُ قَالَ الزُّهْرِيُّ: ثُمَّ نَهَى رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ عَنْ قَتْلِ النِّسَاءِ وَالصِّبْيَانِ، وَيُؤَيِّدُ كَوْنَ النَّهْيِ فِي غَزْوَةِ حُنَيْنٍ مَا سَيَأْتِي فِي حَدِيثِ رِيَاحِ بْنِ الرَّبِيعِ الْآتِي: فَقَالَ لِأَحَدِهِمْ: الْحَقْ خَالِدًا، فَقُلْ لَهُ: لَا تَقْتُلْ ذُرِّيَّةً وَلَا عَسِيفًا،

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 وَقَالَ ابْنُ حَبِيبٍ مِنَ الْمَالِكِيَّةِ: لَا يَجُوزُ الْقَصْدُ إِلَى قَتْلِهَا إِلَّا إِنْ بَاشَرَتِ الْقَتْلَ وَقَصَدَتْ إِلَيْهِ.

Meaning: “His statement: “(They are from them)” — that is: with respect to the ruling it applies to that situation, and it is not meant to permit killing them by deliberately aiming at them. Rather the meaning is: if it is not possible to reach the fathers except by treading on (or passing through) the offspring, and if the offspring are struck because they are mixed up with them, then their killing is permissible (in that unavoidable/accidental circumstance).

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And when Al-Zuhri used to relate this hadith he would say: “Ibn Ka‘b ibn Malik’s son informed me from his uncle that when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent to Ibn Abi al-Haqiq he forbade the killing of women and children — and that was the end of it.” Abu Dawud transmitted this hadith in its meaning from Al-Zuhri by another route, and it appears that Al-Zuhri thereby indicated the abrogation of Sa‘b’s hadith. Malik and al-Awza‘i said: “It is not permissible to kill women and children in any circumstance — even if the people of war use women and children as human shields, or fortify themselves in a fortress or take refuge in a ship and place women and children with them — it is not permissible to shoot them nor to burn them.”

Ibn Hibban has transmitted, in Sa‘b’s hadith, an addition at its end: “Then he forbade them on the day of Hunayn,” ^[6] and this is included in Sa‘b’s narration, as is clear in Sunan Abi Dawud, for at its end he says: Sufyan said Al-Zuhri said: “Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ afterwards forbade the killing of women and children.” What supports the prohibition occurring at the Battle of Hunayn is what will follow in the hadith of Rīāh ibn ar-Rabi‘: where he said to one of them, “Go to Khalid and tell him: do not kill offspring nor servants.”

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And Ibn Habib of the Maliki school said: “It is not permissible to intend to kill her except if she herself takes up killing and intends it.” ” ^[7]

In ‘Umdat al-Qari’, the commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari, Badr al-Din al-Aini (Rh.) also mentions similar information.  ^[8]

We have seen that the hadith under discussion does not concern intentional killing of women and children on the battlefield; rather it highlights the matter of unintentional killing. In ancient times, during night fighting it was not possible to separate women and children from the enemy ranks. In such cases, Muslim fighters would not be held blameworthy for accidentally killing them.

Some of the salaf al-salihīn (the Pious Predecessors), based on authentic hadith, even mentioned that this matter was abrogated; the final ruling is that under no circumstance is killing women and children permissible in war — if there is a fear of harming non-combatant women and children, an attack should not be launched. However, it is also noted that if someone among them takes on the role of a fighter, then in the battlefield they may be attacked and killed.

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