He kept saying, “Kill whomever you can.” Khalid therefore slew seventy people, after which he came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and informed him of what he had done. The Prophet ﷺ thereupon sent to Khalid, saying:

“Did I not forbid you to kill?”

Khalid replied, “So-and-so came to me and told me to kill all whom I was able to kill.”

The Prophet again sent to him:

“Did I not give you my command?”

Khalid answered, “I wanted one thing, and Allah wanted another; Allah’s decree overruled your command, and I could do nothing but what took place.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ remained silent and offered no further response.

Ibn Isḥāq (1) said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ had directed his commanders to fight no one unless they were first attacked, yet he had declared the blood of certain individuals lawful even if they were found beneath the curtains of the Kaʿbah. They were:

• ʿAbd Allah ibn Saʿd ibn Abī Sarḥ. He had embraced Islam and written down revelation, then apostatized. When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ entered Mecca, having already declared his blood lawful, he fled to ʿUthmān—his foster-brother. When ʿUthmān brought him to seek the Prophet’s pardon, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ kept silent for a long time and then said, “Yes.” After they had gone, the Prophet ﷺ said to those around him:

“Was there not a judicious man among you who, on seeing my silence, would rise and kill him?”

They said, “Messenger of Allah, why did you not signal to us?”

He answered, “A prophet does not kill by giving a signal.”

In another wording: “It is not fitting for a prophet to have treacherous eyes.”

Ibn Hishām (2) comments: His Islam later became excellent; ʿUmar appointed him to certain posts, and ʿUthmān did likewise.

I add: He died while prostrating in the dawn prayer—or just after completing it—in his home, as will be explained.

Ibn Isḥāq (3) said: ʿAbd Allah ibn Khatal—a man of Banū Taym ibn Ghālib (some say his name had been ʿAbd al-ʿUzzā ibn Khatal, and when he became Muslim he was called ʿAbd Allah)—was also among them. After embracing Islam, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent him out as a tax collector, accompanied by an Anṣārī and his own servant. He became angry with the servant over a matter and killed him, then apostatized and turned idolater. He possessed two singing-girls, Fartana and another, who sang lampoons against the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and the Muslims. For that reason the Prophet declared his blood and theirs lawful. He was killed while clinging to the curtains of the Kaʿbah; Abū Barza al-Aslamī and Saʿīd ibn Ḥurayth al-Makhzūmī shared in his killing. One of the two singing-girls was killed, and the other was granted amnesty.

He added: al-Huwairith ibn Nuqaydh ibn Wahb ibn ʿAbd ibn Quṣayy—one who used to harm the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in Mecca. When al-ʿAbbās was conveying Fāṭimah and Umm Kulthūm to Madinah to join the Prophet ﷺ at the start of the Hijrah, al-Huwairith prodded the camel carrying them so that they fell. After his blood was declared lawful, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib killed him.

He said: Miqyās ibn Ṣubābah—he killed the man who had slain his brother unintentionally, even after accepting blood-money, and then apostatized. A clansman of his named Numayla ibn ʿAbd Allah killed him.

He said: and Sārah