Prophetic Attitude Toward Women and Old Men in War
If we discuss the authentic Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (saw) regarding women or other stuff. No baseless or forged reports are allowed here; we have to display authentic reports only, not as mtindio did in his/her previous articles about Asma etc.
In brief, the authentic Sunnah of the Prophet (saw) prohibits the killing of women as wel as old people. Especially in war
Narrated Anas bin Malik: A Jewish woman brought a poisoned (cooked) sheep for the Prophet who ate from it. She was brought to the Prophet and he was asked, "Shall we kill her?" He said, "No." I continued to see the effect of the poison on the palate of the mouth of Gods Apostle.
The Prophet (saw) refused to kill a woman who did intentionally try to poison him, but the Christian missionaries, by using a fabricated story, wants us to believe that he ordered the killing of a woman who only abused him verbally. (note: in Islam a women can only be put to death if she commited murder as crime, for murder is (both for men and women) death punishment in islam),
Narrated Ibn 'Umar: Messenger of God (peace be upon him) saw the corpse of a woman who had been slain in one of the raids, and he disapproved of it and forbade the killing of women and children.
Due to this prohibition, scholars of Abu Hanîfahs madhâb (school of thought) have stated that apostate women are not to be killed because the Prophet (saw) forbade the killing of women, and since the prohibition is general it includes apostate women.
Even after the Prophet's demise, his Sunnah remain preserved by the Muslims:
Abu Bakr advised Yazid: "I advise you ten things: Do not kill women or children or an aged, infirm person. Do not cut down fruit-bearing trees. Do not destroy an inhabited place. Do not slaughter sheep or camel except for food. Do not burn bees and do not scatter them. Do not steal from the booty, and do not be cowardly."
Conclusion
[B]From an early date Muslim scholars recognized the danger of false testimony and hence false doctrine, and developed an elaborate science for criticizing tradition.[/B]
We have utilized their scientific methodology to expose the false narratives attributed to the Prophet(saw) about the alleged killing of Abu 'Afak and Asma' bint Marwan. Examination of the isnâd (i.e., chain of reports) has revealed the unreliability of both stories. Also, an examination of the matn (i.e., text) has revealed their inevitable contradiction with vigorously authentic traditions and established Islamic principles. 'Abdûr Rahmân I. Doi had stated that
As far as the Matn is concerned, the following principles of criticism of the Hadith are laid down:
(1) The Hadith should not be contrary to the text or the teaching of the Qur'an or the accepted basic principles of Islam.
(2) The Hadith should not be against the dictates of reason or laws of nature and common experience.
(3) The Hadith should not be contrary to the Traditions which have already been accepted by authorities as reliable and authentic by applying all principles.
(4) The Hadith which sings the praises and excellence of any tribe, place or persons should be generally rejected
(5) The Hadith that contains the dates and minute details of the future events should be rejected.
(6) The Hadith that contains some remarks of the Prophet which are not in keeping with the Islamic belief of Prophethood and the position of the Holy Prophet or such expressions as may not be suitable to him, should be rejected.
But critics may have an objection: if these stories are false, then why they are mentioned in Islamic references in the first place? In response, we have earlier shown the position of learned Muslim scholars toward these references in the biographies, whose authors used to relate hundreds of reports without checking them or relying on serious criticism.
These particular stories even proved their unscientific methodology because they are reported without isnâd at all. This is extremely irregular of any respectable scholar. Ibn Jarîr At-Tabârî (224-310 A.H.) in his encyclopedic book of history Tarikh Al-Umam wa Al-Mulûk did not give mention of these stories at all despite the fact that he had mentioned far less significant reports in his work.
Hence, based on the empirical evidence, we can therefore conclude that the so-called "killing" of Abu 'Afak and Asma' bint Marwan respectively are inherently false and had never happened. This certainly throws the spanner into the works of the missionary's conclusions, which is based upon nothing but hatred, paranoia and xenophobia towards the elect Apostle of God, Muhammad (saw).
And Allâh knows best.