1020 – ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Baylamānī related that the Prophet ﷺ executed a Muslim for (the murder of) a treaty-bound non-Muslim, declaring: “I am the one most entitled to fulfill his covenant.” ʿAbd al-Razzāq transmitted it in this mursal form (1), while al-Dāraqutnī connected the chain by inserting Ibn ʿUmar, yet the isnād of the connected version is weak (2).

Degree of authenticity
The hadith is weak. It is mursal from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Baylamānī, and although it has been reported with a full chain, al-Bayhaqī said, “It is an error,” and al-Dāraqutnī remarked, “Ibn al-Baylamānī is weak; his report does not constitute proof when he supplies a chain—so what of it when he omits it?” Al-Shāfiʿī, al-Dāraqutnī, and al-Bayhaqī all judged it weak. A few scholars declared him reliable, but those who grade him weak are more numerous.

Vocabulary
• muʿāhad: a non-Muslim who has been granted a covenant of security; consequently it is forbidden to kill, capture, or enslave him.

Points derived from the hadith
1 – The report indicates that a Muslim may be executed in retaliation for killing a treaty-bound non-Muslim, and that such a person is under the protection of the Muslim ruler and, by extension, of all Muslims; hence the Prophet ﷺ said, “I am the one most entitled to fulfill his covenant.”