—then the necessities of battle permit it, for sparing them in such a situation would bring jihad to a halt.

In Sharḥ al-Iqnāʿ it is stated:

“The killing of a child, a woman, a monk, a decrepit elder, a disabled person, a blind man, a slave, or a peasant—people who have no strategic input—is forbidden. If, however, any of these does possess military counsel, it becomes permissible to kill him, for Duraid ibn al-Ṣimmah was slain on the day of Ḥunayn even though he was an old man incapable of fighting, and this was solely because the enemy benefited from his advice; the Prophet ﷺ voiced no objection to his death. Likewise, should they actually take up arms, it is unanimously lawful to kill them, as when the Prophet ﷺ ordered the execution on the day of Qurayẓah of a woman who had cast a millstone upon Maḥmūd ibn Salamah and killed him—or if they incite others to fight.”