Did Our Prophet (pbuh) Kill a Woman Who Was Breastfeeding Her Baby?
Question:
I watched this video briefly on YouTube and the lady speaking in the video claimed that Muhammad (PBUH) ordered his men to cut a woman into pieces after they separated her from her child whom she was breastfeeding (I think it was because she committed adultery). Sadly I cannot find the video but I would like to know if this is true or not, and if it is, I would like to know the details and why it happened please. If it is not true, I would like to know where this story came from... I appreciate your time to answer my question
Thank you.
Answer:
Let us first see what the story you are referring to is. I quote from the book Tabaqat by Ibn Sa'd:
"Then (occurred) the Sariyyah of Umayr ibn adi Ibn Kharashah al-Khatmi against Asma Bint Marwan, of Banu Umayyah Ibn Zayd, when five nights had remained from the month of Ramadan, in the beginning of the nineteenth month from the Hijrah of the apostle of Allah. Asma was the wife of Yazid Ibn Zayd Ibn Hisn al-Khatmi. She used to revile Islam, offend the Prophet and instigate the (people) against him. She composed verses. Umayr Ibn Adi came to her in the night and entered her house. Her children were sleeping around her. There was one whom she was suckling. He searched her with his hand because he was blind, and separated the child from her. He thrust his sword in her chest till it pierced up to her back. Then he offered the morning prayers with the Prophet at al-Medina. The apostle of Allah said to him: "Have you slain the daughter of Marwan?" He said: "Yes. Is there something more for me to do?" He (Muhammad) said: "No. Two goats will butt together about her."
(Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabaqat al-Kabir, translated by S. Moinul Haq, 2:31 )
As you can see it is very different from what you narrated in your question.
Now to answer your question allow me to first write a brief introduction to share a general point about these kinds of criticisms before commenting on this particular story:
Introduction:
Unfortunately the scholarship of Islam suffers from the lack of reliable historical sources. The books of history have not been filtered to recognise the weak from the strong report. Not only that, due to lack of enough information, it is not even possible to assess the reliability of some of the reports. To make it worse, the reliability of the authors of some of the most famous books of history in Islam, like Ibn Ishaq and al-Waqidi, is also under question.
Exaggerated reports in favour and against the Prophet (pbuh) and the companions, plus politically derived fabricated stories along with many other false or inaccurate wrongly motivated reports have been included in these books. There are historical reports that we can rely on as they are reported through numerous sources. These however are limited to very basic and general historical information.
We know that the Qur’an and the Established Sunnah have reached us through the consensus of generations of Muslims and are therefore reliable. Hadith has not reached us with such reliable vehicle but the scholars of Islam have done a tremendous job in providing tools to verify the degree of reliability of a Hadith and some of them have made their own collection of what they considered as reliable Hadiths. When it comes to history the sad fact is that neither it has reached us through a reliable vehicle nor there has been any significant systematic and scholarly study to verify the less reliable from the more reliable. Also unlike most of the books of Hadith, many of the historical reports do not have any chains of narrators.
It is not unfair statement to say that when it comes to detailed historical events we Muslims are deprived from a reliable source of information. Those who are interested in history of Islam are like thirsty individuals who only have access to a well that is polluted from the source and in structure.
As Muslims, believing in the Qur’an, we are bind to understand the actions of the Prophet (pbuh) and the development of Islam at his time through the principles set by the Qur’an. When it comes to reports of killing individuals the following Qur’anic principle is very helpful:
Killing a person (unless it is a man to man situation in a battlefield as a part of a religiously allowed war) is absolutely forbidden according to the Qur’an. There are only three exceptions:
1. Executing a murderer when the family of the victim demands retribution
2. Executing one who is guilty of arrogantly creating anarchy and mischief in the society
3. Executing those who are among the direct addressees of a messenger of God and reject his message out of arrogance
The first two are part of the Shari’ah and apply at any time and are to be implemented by the state. The third is part of the Sunnah of the Almighty and only applies at the time of a messenger of God and is implemented by the messenger and his followers or by the angels of God if the messenger does not have enough followers.
If we believe in the Qur’an then we should also accept that any reports of assassinations in the history of Islam can be explained by one of the following:
A. It belongs to one of the above three categories
B. It is a false or defective report
Apart from the above technical considerations, it is also helpful to note that according to the Qur’an the Prophet (pbuh) was not only passionate towards his followers but was also very passionate towards those who rejected him. In fact some of the verses of the Qur’an that criticises the Prophet (pbuh) blame him for being too passionate towards his opponents. It is interesting that the prophet that we come to know through the Qur’an seems to be a much more passionate and caring prophet than the one that we see through some of the not very reliable historical reports!
The overall conclusion of this writing is as follows:
The historical sources of Islam are not very reliable. Every report needs to be verified by checking its degree of reliability from the narrators point of view. As believers in the Qur’an, we Muslims have other criteria for verification of the truth and false in these reports and that is the Qur’an. The Qur’an has set very definite criteria for when killing a person is allowed. Any reports that suggest the prophet (pbuh) ordered killing a person while violating these criteria cannot be accepted. The prophet (pbuh) was the most loyal human being to the Qur’an and even if for the sake of argument he had ordered an unjustified killing, the Qur’an would have criticised him, just as the Book has criticised him for his very minor errors. It is also important to have a correct understanding of the personality of the Prophet (pbuh) on the basis of the Qur’an. If some of the reports are giving an impression of a different or opposite personality then we should be very cautious about those reports.
**********
After the above introduction I now comment on the specific incident that you mentioned. This is called the story of Asma bint Marwan. It is already a known fact among many scholars of Hadith that the story is not reliable at all. The story is reported by Ibn Ishaq and by Ibn Sa’d through al-Waqidi. It is not reported in any Hadith collection that is considered more reliable.
The chain of narrators that is reported by Ibn Ishaq includes Muhhamad ibn al-Hujjaj that is known as Hadith fabricator. Abu Ahmad al-Jurjani in his al-Kamil fi al-Zu’afa al-Rijal (Complete Record of Weak Narrators) quotes the report of this incident and then makes the following comment:
ولم يروه عن مجالد غير مُحَمد بن الحجاج وجميعا مما يتهم مُحَمد بن الحجاج بوضعها
and no one but Muhammad ibn al-Hujjaj has narrated this from Mujalid and all (the other narrators in the chain of the narrators of this report) have accused Muhammad ibn-alHujjaj of fabricating it.
(al-Kamil fi al-Zu’afa al-Rijal – 7:328).
Ibn Aljuzi quotes this report in the book that he wrote to list fabricated reports and adds: “ibn Udayy says this is from among those reports that Muhammad ibn al-Hujjaj is accused of fabricating them” (al-Ilal al-Mutanahiyah fi al-Ahadith al-Wahiyah, 1:175).
The chain of narrators that is reported by al-Waqidi is not continuous as it ends with al-Harith ibn al-Fuzayl who never met any of the companions. Moreover there are serious concerns about the reliability of al-Waqidi. Ibn Hajar says despite his vast knowledge he is abandoned as a narrator (Matruk), al-Bukhari too considered him abandoned. Al-Mazi reports serious concerns about him in al-Tahzib al-Kamal: Nasayi considers him as one of the four people who used to lie about the prophet (pbuh). Shafe’i says his books are lie. Ahmad says he used to put together chains of narrators (Tahzib al-Kamal, no. 4227).
Accordingly I do not see this report to be worthy of any attention.
---------
August 2013
I watched this video briefly on YouTube and the lady speaking in the video claimed that Muhammad (PBUH) ordered his men to cut a woman into pieces after they separated her from her child whom she was breastfeeding (I think it was because she committed adultery). Sadly I cannot find the video but I would like to know if this is true or not, and if it is, I would like to know the details and why it happened please. If it is not true, I would like to know where this story came from... I appreciate your time to answer my question
Thank you.
Answer:
Let us first see what the story you are referring to is. I quote from the book Tabaqat by Ibn Sa'd:
"Then (occurred) the Sariyyah of Umayr ibn adi Ibn Kharashah al-Khatmi against Asma Bint Marwan, of Banu Umayyah Ibn Zayd, when five nights had remained from the month of Ramadan, in the beginning of the nineteenth month from the Hijrah of the apostle of Allah. Asma was the wife of Yazid Ibn Zayd Ibn Hisn al-Khatmi. She used to revile Islam, offend the Prophet and instigate the (people) against him. She composed verses. Umayr Ibn Adi came to her in the night and entered her house. Her children were sleeping around her. There was one whom she was suckling. He searched her with his hand because he was blind, and separated the child from her. He thrust his sword in her chest till it pierced up to her back. Then he offered the morning prayers with the Prophet at al-Medina. The apostle of Allah said to him: "Have you slain the daughter of Marwan?" He said: "Yes. Is there something more for me to do?" He (Muhammad) said: "No. Two goats will butt together about her."
(Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabaqat al-Kabir, translated by S. Moinul Haq, 2:31 )
As you can see it is very different from what you narrated in your question.
Now to answer your question allow me to first write a brief introduction to share a general point about these kinds of criticisms before commenting on this particular story:
Introduction:
Unfortunately the scholarship of Islam suffers from the lack of reliable historical sources. The books of history have not been filtered to recognise the weak from the strong report. Not only that, due to lack of enough information, it is not even possible to assess the reliability of some of the reports. To make it worse, the reliability of the authors of some of the most famous books of history in Islam, like Ibn Ishaq and al-Waqidi, is also under question.
Exaggerated reports in favour and against the Prophet (pbuh) and the companions, plus politically derived fabricated stories along with many other false or inaccurate wrongly motivated reports have been included in these books. There are historical reports that we can rely on as they are reported through numerous sources. These however are limited to very basic and general historical information.
We know that the Qur’an and the Established Sunnah have reached us through the consensus of generations of Muslims and are therefore reliable. Hadith has not reached us with such reliable vehicle but the scholars of Islam have done a tremendous job in providing tools to verify the degree of reliability of a Hadith and some of them have made their own collection of what they considered as reliable Hadiths. When it comes to history the sad fact is that neither it has reached us through a reliable vehicle nor there has been any significant systematic and scholarly study to verify the less reliable from the more reliable. Also unlike most of the books of Hadith, many of the historical reports do not have any chains of narrators.
It is not unfair statement to say that when it comes to detailed historical events we Muslims are deprived from a reliable source of information. Those who are interested in history of Islam are like thirsty individuals who only have access to a well that is polluted from the source and in structure.
As Muslims, believing in the Qur’an, we are bind to understand the actions of the Prophet (pbuh) and the development of Islam at his time through the principles set by the Qur’an. When it comes to reports of killing individuals the following Qur’anic principle is very helpful:
Killing a person (unless it is a man to man situation in a battlefield as a part of a religiously allowed war) is absolutely forbidden according to the Qur’an. There are only three exceptions:
1. Executing a murderer when the family of the victim demands retribution
2. Executing one who is guilty of arrogantly creating anarchy and mischief in the society
3. Executing those who are among the direct addressees of a messenger of God and reject his message out of arrogance
The first two are part of the Shari’ah and apply at any time and are to be implemented by the state. The third is part of the Sunnah of the Almighty and only applies at the time of a messenger of God and is implemented by the messenger and his followers or by the angels of God if the messenger does not have enough followers.
If we believe in the Qur’an then we should also accept that any reports of assassinations in the history of Islam can be explained by one of the following:
A. It belongs to one of the above three categories
B. It is a false or defective report
Apart from the above technical considerations, it is also helpful to note that according to the Qur’an the Prophet (pbuh) was not only passionate towards his followers but was also very passionate towards those who rejected him. In fact some of the verses of the Qur’an that criticises the Prophet (pbuh) blame him for being too passionate towards his opponents. It is interesting that the prophet that we come to know through the Qur’an seems to be a much more passionate and caring prophet than the one that we see through some of the not very reliable historical reports!
The overall conclusion of this writing is as follows:
The historical sources of Islam are not very reliable. Every report needs to be verified by checking its degree of reliability from the narrators point of view. As believers in the Qur’an, we Muslims have other criteria for verification of the truth and false in these reports and that is the Qur’an. The Qur’an has set very definite criteria for when killing a person is allowed. Any reports that suggest the prophet (pbuh) ordered killing a person while violating these criteria cannot be accepted. The prophet (pbuh) was the most loyal human being to the Qur’an and even if for the sake of argument he had ordered an unjustified killing, the Qur’an would have criticised him, just as the Book has criticised him for his very minor errors. It is also important to have a correct understanding of the personality of the Prophet (pbuh) on the basis of the Qur’an. If some of the reports are giving an impression of a different or opposite personality then we should be very cautious about those reports.
**********
After the above introduction I now comment on the specific incident that you mentioned. This is called the story of Asma bint Marwan. It is already a known fact among many scholars of Hadith that the story is not reliable at all. The story is reported by Ibn Ishaq and by Ibn Sa’d through al-Waqidi. It is not reported in any Hadith collection that is considered more reliable.
The chain of narrators that is reported by Ibn Ishaq includes Muhhamad ibn al-Hujjaj that is known as Hadith fabricator. Abu Ahmad al-Jurjani in his al-Kamil fi al-Zu’afa al-Rijal (Complete Record of Weak Narrators) quotes the report of this incident and then makes the following comment:
ولم يروه عن مجالد غير مُحَمد بن الحجاج وجميعا مما يتهم مُحَمد بن الحجاج بوضعها
and no one but Muhammad ibn al-Hujjaj has narrated this from Mujalid and all (the other narrators in the chain of the narrators of this report) have accused Muhammad ibn-alHujjaj of fabricating it.
(al-Kamil fi al-Zu’afa al-Rijal – 7:328).
Ibn Aljuzi quotes this report in the book that he wrote to list fabricated reports and adds: “ibn Udayy says this is from among those reports that Muhammad ibn al-Hujjaj is accused of fabricating them” (al-Ilal al-Mutanahiyah fi al-Ahadith al-Wahiyah, 1:175).
The chain of narrators that is reported by al-Waqidi is not continuous as it ends with al-Harith ibn al-Fuzayl who never met any of the companions. Moreover there are serious concerns about the reliability of al-Waqidi. Ibn Hajar says despite his vast knowledge he is abandoned as a narrator (Matruk), al-Bukhari too considered him abandoned. Al-Mazi reports serious concerns about him in al-Tahzib al-Kamal: Nasayi considers him as one of the four people who used to lie about the prophet (pbuh). Shafe’i says his books are lie. Ahmad says he used to put together chains of narrators (Tahzib al-Kamal, no. 4227).
Accordingly I do not see this report to be worthy of any attention.
---------
August 2013
