744 – ʿAṭiyyah al-Quraẓī (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “We were presented before the Prophet ﷺ on the day of Qurayẓah. Anyone who had grown pubic hair was executed, whereas whoever had not yet grown it was released. I was among those who had not grown it, so I was set free.” It was narrated by the Five, and Ibn Ḥibbān and al-Ḥākim declared it authentic; al-Ḥākim added that it meets the criteria of the two Shaykhs.

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Grade of the ḥadīth
The ḥadīth is ṣaḥīḥ. Ibn ʿAbd al-Hādī states in al-Muḥarrar: Imam Aḥmad recorded it—using the wording above—as did Abū Dāwūd, an-Nasā’ī, Ibn Mājah, and al-Ḥākim. Al-Ḥākim said, “Its chain is sound,” and both Abū Dāwūd and al-Mundhirī remained silent about it, and their silence counts as acceptance. Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar writes in at-Talkhīṣ that at-Tirmidhī, Ibn Ḥibbān, and al-Ḥākim deemed it authentic, and that al-Ḥākim said it fulfils the conditions of al-Ṣaḥīḥ, which, Ibn Ḥajar affirms, is correct.

Vocabulary
• “Day of Qurayẓah”: Qurayẓah (with ḍamma on the qāf and fatḥa on the rāʾ) refers to Banū Qurayẓah, a Jewish tribe living near Madinah. They had a covenant with the Prophet ﷺ but broke it and showed open hostility when they saw the confederate tribes besieging the city in the Battle of the Trench. When Allah routed the Confederates, the divine ruling came that their adult males be executed and their women and children taken captive. Accordingly, whoever had reached puberty was put to death, and whoever had not was spared.