رويأن أعمى كان على عهد رسول اللهوكانت له أم ولد وكان له منها ابنان وكانت تكثر الوقيعة برسول اللهوتسبه. فيزجرها فلا تنزجر وينهاها فلا تنتهي. فلما كان ذات ليلة ذكرت النبي فوقعت فيه فلم أصبر أن قمت إلى المغول فوضعته في بطنها فاتكأت عليه فقتلتها. فوقع بين رجليها طفل فلطخت ما هناك بالدم. فأصبحت قتيلا. فذكر ذلك للنبي.فجمع الناس وقال أنشد الله رجلا لي عليه حق فعل مافعل إلا قام. فأقبل الأعمى يتدلدل، حتى قعد بين يدي النبي. فقال: يا رسول الله أنا صاحبها. كانت أم ولدى. وكانت بي لطيفة رفيقة. ولى منها ابنان مثل اللؤلؤتين ولكنها كانت تكثر الوقيعة فيك وتشتمك. فأنهاها فلا تنتهي وأزجرها فلا تنزجر. فلما كانت البارحة ذكرتك فوقعت فيك فقمت إلى المغول فوضعته فيبطنها فاتكأت عليها حتى قتلتها. فقال رسول الله:ألا اشهدوا إن دمها هدر.
It is narrated that during the days of the Prophet (pbuh), a blind man owned a slave girl, who had borne him two children1. The slave girl used to talk about the Prophet in an extremely disrespectful manner and would also insult him. The man warned her to refrain from such behavior, but she did not listen to him. He scolded her, but she still did not stop. Then one night, she mentioned the Prophet and started calling him names. [The man said:] "I could not hold myself back and got hold of a dagger and pressed it against her belly and killed her." [While she lay there bleeding,] one of her children stood between her legs; she had completely soaked the place with her blood. In the morning she lay dead. Later, the Prophet was told about the incident. At this, the Prophet gathered the people and addressed them saying, "In the name of God I call upon the man, upon whom I have a right [that he should admit his action]; after what he has done, he should stand up." The blind man approached the Prophet with shaky steps, until he sat in front of him. He said: "O Prophet of God, I am her companion. She was my slave girl who bore me children. She was my companion and would take care of me. I had two beautiful sons – like two jewels – from her. However, she would always talk bad about you and would abuse you. I stopped her, but she would not listen; I scolded her, but she wouldn’t stop. Last night, she mentioned you and started talking bad about you. I got hold of a dagger and pressed it against her belly till she died2." Hearing the incident, the Prophet (pbuh) said: "All of you be witnesses that her blood shall not be revenged3."
General Notes:
1- As a part of elevating the social status of slaves – for the purpose, ultimately, of eliminating this abominable institution from the society – a more respectable status was given to those slave girls who had borne children for their masters.
2- It should be remembered that there is no way to determine how might have been the complete proceedings of cases such as the one reported in this narrative. The narrators would only report what they considered to be of relevance and importance in such incidents. Thus, even though the narrative does not mention it, it is quite possible that the Prophet (pbuh) may have called upon witnesses to assess the situation more thoroughly, before giving any judgment.
3- Though the narrative does not expressly mention why the Prophet (pbuh) did not press for revenge for the victim’s blood, yet it seems that the Prophet (pbuh) gave an allowance for the inciting circumstances of the individual, which caused an outrage on his part and subsequently led him to take a rash action. In modern terminology, it seems that the Prophet (pbuh) acquitted the person of the charge of murder and placed his action as one of ‘manslaughter’ rather than ‘first degree murder’ and, therefore, did not sentence him to death or any such severe punishment.
Notes on the Text of the Narrative:
This narrative has been reported in Nasaiy, narrative no. 4070. It has also been reported , with some variations, in Bayhaqiy (narrative no. 13153, 16640 and 20221), Nassaiy’s Sunan Al-Kubraa (narrative no. 3533), Abu Dawood (narrative no. 4361).
In Abu Dawood’s narrative no. 4361, the words "تكثر الوقيعة برسول الله وتسبه" (i.e., ‘talk about the Prophet in an extremely disrespectful manner and would abuse him’) have alternatively been reported as "تشتم النبي وتقع فيه" (i.e., ‘insult the Prophet and talk bad about him’).
In Sunan Al-Kubraa’s narrative no. 3533 the word "تترجر" (i.e., ‘stop’) has been replaced with the word "تزدجر" (i.e., ‘take heed’).
In Abu Dawood’s narrative no. 4361, the words "ذكرت النبي فوقعت فيه" (i.e., ‘she mentioned the Prophet and started calling him names’) have alternatively been reported as: "جعلت تقع النبي وتشتمه" (i.e., ‘she started talking bad about the Prophet and insulting him’).
In Abu Dawood’s narrative no. 4361, the words "قمت إلى المغول فوضعته في بطنها فاتكأت عليه فقتلتها" (i.e., ‘I got hold of a dagger and pressed it against her belly and killed her’) are narrated in third person as: "أخذ المغول فوضعه في بطنها واتكأ عليها فقتلها" (i.e., ‘he got hold of a dagger, put it on her belly, pressed against it and thus killed her’).
The words "فوقع بين رجليها طفل فلطخت ما هناك بالدم" (i.e., ‘one of her children stood between her legs; she had completed soaked that place with her blood’) have been reported in Abu Dawood’s narrative no. 4361.
In Abu Dawood’s narrative no. 4361, the words "فأقبل الأعمى يتدلدل" (i.e., ‘the blind man approached the Prophet with a trembling gait’) have been reported as "فقام الأعمى يتخطى الناس وهو يتزلزل" (i.e., the blind man jumped over the people [sitting in the mosque], with a trembling gait’).
The words "حتى قعد بين يدي النبي" have been reported in Abu Dawood’s narrative no. 4361.
In Abu Dawood’s narrative no. 4361, the words "كانت تكثر الوقيعة فيك وتشتمك" (i.e., ‘she would always talk bad about you and would insult you’) have been reported as "كانت تشتمك وتقع فيك" (i.e., ‘she would insult you and talk bad about you’).
In Abu Dawood’s narrative no. 4361, the words "فقمت إلى المغول" (i.e., I got hold of a dagger’) have been reported as "فأخذت المغول" (i.e., ‘I took a dagger’).
The same incident has been reported without the given details in some narratives, as Bayhaqiy’s narrative no. 16640 and 20221. For instance, in Bayhaqiy’s narrative no. 16640, the incident has been reported as:
روي أن أم ولد لرجل سبت رسول الله فقتلها فنادى منادي رسول اللهأن دمها هدر.
“It is narrated that a slave girl of a man who had borne children for him insulted the Prophet, in retaliation of which the man killed her. At this, a representative of the Prophet made the announcement that her blood shall not be avenged.”
(This write-up is prepared by the Hadith Cell of Javed Ahmad Ghamidi)
