1011 – ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, ‘A parent is not put to death in retaliation for (killing) his child.’” It was recorded by Aḥmad, al-Tirmidhī, and Ibn Mājah. Ibn al-Jārūd and al-Bayhaqī judged it authentic, whereas al-Tirmidhī commented, “Its chain is inconsistent.” ⦗1⦘

Hadith grading:
The report is sound through its several continuous routes from Ibn ʿAbbās and from Suraqah. As for the route from ʿUmar cited here, its chain contains al-Ḥajjāj ibn Arṭāʾah, a narrator known for tadlīs. Aḥmad transmits it by additional paths, and al-Dāraqutnī and al-Bayhaqī have further routes that are stronger; al-Bayhaqī declared that chain authentic because its transmitters are reliable. Al-Tirmidhī also relates it through Suraqah, but that chain is weak, marked by disorder and disagreement in the narration of ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb and includes Ibn Luhayʿah, whose memory was poor. He likewise narrates it from Ibn ʿAbbās, and that chain contains Ismāʿīl ibn Muslim, who is weak.

ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq said, “All of these reports are defective; none of them is sound.” Al-Bayhaqī remarked, “All the chains for this ḥadith are disconnected.” Al-Albānī, however, concluded, “Considered together, the collective routes show that the ḥadith is authentic and firmly established.”

Vocabulary:
“is not put to death in retaliation” (lā yuqādu) – The Arabs say, “The ruler qāda the killer for the slain,” meaning he executed him in qiṣāṣ (retaliatory retribution). Al-qawad in language denotes retribution: killing the murderer in place of the victim, and it is called qawad because the killer is led out when the sentence is carried out