1012 – Abu Juḥayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) related: “I said to ʿAlī, ‘Do you possess anything of revelation other than the Qur’an?’ He replied, ‘No, by Him who splits the grain and brings forth every living soul, nothing—apart from an understanding that Allah grants a man regarding the Qur’an—and what is contained in this scroll.’ I asked, ‘And what is in that scroll?’ He answered, ‘The regulations of blood-money (diyah), the ransom of a captive, and that a Muslim is not executed for a disbeliever.’ ” Recorded by al-Bukhārī (1).

It was also transmitted by Aḥmad, Abū Dāwūd, and al-Nasā’ī through another chain from ʿAlī, in which he said: “The believers’ blood is of equal worth; the lowest of them may grant protection on their behalf; they stand as one hand against all others; a believer is not executed for a disbeliever, nor is a treaty-holder while his treaty endures.” Al-Ḥākim declared it authentic (2).

Status of the ḥadith:
This ḥadith is ṣaḥīḥ. Its opening portion is in al-Bukhārī and therefore beyond dispute; scrutiny concerns only the latter part. It has several lines of transmission and was also reported by Aḥmad, Abū Dāwūd, and al-Nasā’ī through the route of Qatādah from al-Ḥasan from him; all the transmitters are reliable, being the narrators relied upon by the two Ṣaḥīḥs. Al-Ḥākim authenticated it, saying, “It meets the conditions of the two shaykhs,” and Ibn ʿAbd al-Hādī agreed in al-Muḥarrar, stating, “Its transmitters are the transmitters of the two Ṣaḥīḥs,” while the author of Fatḥ al-Bārī judged it sound.