Title:
A Narrative Regarding the Killing of a Slave Girl who was Abusive Towards the Prophet (pbuh)
Article:
A Narrative Regarding the Killing of a Slave Girl who was
Abusive Towards the Prophet (pbuh)
روي أن أعمى كان على عهد رسول الله
وكانت له أم ولد وكان له منها ابنان وكانت تكثر
الوقيعة برسول الله
وتسبه. فيزجرها فلا تنزجر وينهاها فلا تنتهي. فلما كان ذات
ليلة ذكرت النبي فوقعت فيه فلم أصبر أن قمت إلى المغول فوضعته في بطنها فاتكأت
عليه فقتلتها. فوقع بين رجليها طفل فلطخت ما هناك بالدم. فأصبحت قتيلا. فذكر
ذلك للنبي.
فجمع الناس وقال: أنشد الله رجلا لي عليه حق فعل ما
فعل إلا قام.
فأقبل الأعمى يتدلدل، حتى قعد بين يدي النبي. فقال: يا رسول الله أنا صاحبها.
كانت أم ولدى. وكانت بي لطيفة رفيقة. ولى منها ابنان مثل اللؤلؤتين ولكنها كانت
تكثر الوقيعة فيك وتشتمك. فأنهاها فلا تنتهي وأزجرها فلا تنزجر. فلما كانت
البارحة ذكرتك فوقعت فيك فقمت إلى المغول فوضعته في
بطنها فاتكأت عليها حتى قتلتها. فقال رسول الله
:ألا اشهدوا إن دمها هدر.
It is narrated that during the days of the Prophet (pbuh) a blind man owned
a slave girl who had borne him two children.1 The slave girl used
to talk about the Prophet in an extremely disrespectful manner and would
also insult him. The man warned her to refrain from such behavior, but she
did not listen to him. He scolded her, but she still did not stop. Then one
night, she mentioned the Prophet and started calling him names. [The man
said:] “I could not hold myself back and got hold of a dagger and pressed it
against her belly and killed her.” [While she lay there bleeding,] one of
her children stood between her legs; she had completely soaked the place
with her blood. In the morning she lay dead. Later, the Prophet was told
about the incident. At this, the Prophet gathered the people and addressed
them saying, “In the name of God I call upon the man, upon whom I have a
right [that he should admit his action]; after what he has done, he should
stand up.” The blind man approached the Prophet with shaky steps, until he
sat in front of him. He said “O Prophet of God, I am her companion. She was
my slave girl who bore me children. She was my companion and would take care
of me. I had two beautiful sons - like two jewels - from her. However, she
would always talk bad about you and would insult you. I stopped her, but she
would not listen; I scolded her, but she wouldn't stop. Last night, she
mentioned you and started talking bad about you. I got hold of a dagger and
pressed it against her belly till she died.2” Hearing the
incident, the Prophet (pbuh) said, “All of you be witnesses that her blood
shall not be revenged.3“
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General Notes:
-
As a part of elevating the social status
of slaves - for the purpose, ultimately, of eliminating this abominable
institution from the society - a more respectable status was given to those
slave girls who had borne children for their masters.
-
It should be remembered that there is no
way to determine what may have been the complete proceeding of cases such as
the one reported in this narrative. The narrators would only report what
they considered to be of relevance and importance in such incidents. Thus,
even though the narrative does not mention it, it is quite possible that the
Prophet (pbuh) may have called upon witnesses to assess the situation more
thoroughly, before giving any judgment.
-
Though the narrative does not expressly
mention why the Prophet (pbuh) did not press for revenge for the victim's
blood, yet it seems that the Prophet (pbuh) gave an allowance for the
inciting circumstances of the individual, which caused an outrage on his
part and subsequently led him to take a rash action. In modern terminology,
it seems that the Prophet (pbuh) acquitted the person of the charge of
murder and placed his action as one of 'manslaughter' rather than 'first
degree murder' and, therefore, did not sentence him to death or any such
severe punishment.
Notes on the Text of the Narrative:
This narrative has been reported in Nasaiy, narrative
no. 4070. It has also been reported , with some variations, in Bayhaqiy
(narrative no. 13153, 16640 and 20221), Nassaiy's Sunan Al-Kubraa
(narrative no. 3533), Abu Dawood (narrative no. 4361).
In Abu Dawood's narrative no. 4361, the words
“تكثر الوقيعة برسول الله وتسبه”
(i.e., 'talk about the Prophet in an extremely disrespectful manner and would
insult him') have alternatively been reported as
“تشتم النبي وتقع فيه” (i.e., 'abuse
the Prophet and talk bad about him').
In Sunan Al-Kubraa's narrative no. 3533 the word
“تترجر” (i.e., 'stop') has been
replaced with the word
“تزدجر” (i.e., 'take heed').
In Abu Dawood's narrative no. 4361, the words
“ذكرت النبي فوقعت فيه” (i.e., 'she
mentioned the Prophet and started calling him names') have alternatively been
reported as:
“جعلت تقع النبي وتشتمه” (i.e., 'she
started talking bad about the Prophet and insulting him').
In Abu Dawood's narrative no. 4361, the words
“قمت إلى المغول فوضعته في بطنها فاتكأت عليه
فقتلتها” (i.e., 'I got hold of a dagger and pressed it against her
belly and killed her') are narrated in third person as:
“أخذ المغول فوضعه في بطنها واتكأ عليها فقتلها”
(i.e., 'he got hold of a dagger, put it on her belly, pressed against it and
thus killed her').
The words
“فوقع بين رجليها طفل فلطخت ما هناك بالدم”
(i.e., 'one of her children stood between her legs; she had completed soaked
that place with her blood') have been reported in Abu Dawood's narrative
no. 4361.
In Abu Dawood's narrative no. 4361, the words
“فأقبل الأعمى يتدلدل” (i.e., 'the
blind man approached the Prophet with a trembling gait') have been reported as
“فقام الأعمى يتخطى الناس وهو يتزلزل”
(i.e., the blind man jumped over the people [sitting in the mosque], with a
trembling gait').
The words
“حتى قعد بين يدي النبي” have been
reported in Abu Dawood's narrative no. 4361.
In Abu Dawood's narrative no. 4361, the words
“كانت تكثر الوقيعة فيك وتشتمك” (i.e.,
'she would always talk bad about you and would insult you') have been reported
as
“كانت تشتمك وتقع فيك” (i.e., 'she
would insult you and talk bad about you').
In Abu Dawood's narrative no. 4361, the words
“فقمت إلى المغول” (i.e., I got hold
of a dagger') have been reported as
“فأخذت المغول” (i.e., 'I took a
dagger').
The same incident has been reported without the given details
in some narratives, as Bayhaqiy's narrative no. 16640 and 20221. For
instance, in Bayhaqiy's narrative no. 16640, the incident has been
reported as:
روي أن أم ولد لرجل سبت رسول الله فقتلها فنادى منادي رسول الله
أن دمها هدر.
It is narrated that a slave girl of a man who
had borne children for him insulted the Prophet, in retaliation of which the
man killed her. At this, a representative of the Prophet made the
announcement that her blood shall not be avenged.
(This write-up is prepared by the Hadith Cell of
Javed Ahmad Ghamidi)
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