The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) – Volume III — Page 76
Seal of the Prophets - Volume III 76 his companions was not to kill women and children. 1 In the existence of these fundamental instructions, to think that the companions and among them, Zaid bin Ḥārithah ra , who was like the family of the Holy Prophet sa , killed or had a lady killed in the manner described by Ibni Sa‘d, cannot be accepted at all. Undoubtedly, in this narration, although the deed of killing has not been attributed to Zaid ra , rather, it has been attributed to another Muslim, but since this instance occurred under the command of Zaid ra , either way, the ultimate responsibility would fall on him. Moreover, regarding Zaid ra , to think that he allowed for something of this nature to occur under his watch, knowing full well the teaching of the Holy Prophet sa cannot be accepted in the slightest. Invariably, if a woman commits a crime, she will receive the punishment of that crime and the Sharī‘ah of no religion, nor the law of any country, excludes a woman from the punishment of a crime. Moreover, occurrences of the punishment of women, rather, even execution for the punishment of murder are printed on a daily basis. However, killing a woman merely on account of religious enmity and more so, to kill her in the manner described in this narration, is such an action as is clearly rejected by the fundamental instruction of the Holy Prophet sa and the whole of Islāmic history. Furthermore, if it is stated that this lady was a criminal and as mentioned in various narrations, she conspired to assassinate the Holy Prophet sa 2 and for this reason the sentence of murder could be lawfully issued against her, then this is correct. But the question is: if the companions of the Holy Prophet sa did not kill severer and more vicious criminals than Ummi Qirfah – and male enemies at that – in this manner, then to think that an elderly lady was treated in this way under the watch of a well-informed companion the like of Zaid bin Ḥārithah ra , is completely unacceptable. Hence, from a rational perspective, the falsehood and fabrication of this story is evident and clear and no impartial individual could find room to doubt this. Now remains the aspect of narration. Hence, firstly, Ibni Sa‘d or Ibni Isḥāq 3 have not provided authentication for this narration and without a 1 Ṣaḥīḥu Muslim, Kitābul-Jihādi Was-Siyar, Bābu Taḥrīmi Qatlin-Nisā’i Waṣ-Ṣibyāni Fil-Ḥarb, Ḥadīth No. 4548 2 Sharḥul-‘Allāmatiz-Zarqānī ‘Alal-Mawāhibil-Ladunniyyah, By Allāmah Shihābuddīn Al-Qusṭalānī, Volume 3, p. 139, Sariyyatu Zaidin Ilā Ummi Qirfah , Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996) 3 It should be remembered that Ibni Isḥāq (as referenced to by Ibni Hishām) merely writes that Ummi Qirfah was severely killed, and has not provided any details. Details have been provided by Ibni Sa‘d.