Hadithcore
Sahih al-Bukhari, 2954
sahih

Narrated Abu Hurairah (ra):

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) sent us on military expedition telling us, "If you find such and such persons (he named two men from Quraish), burn them fire." Then we came to bid him farewell, when we wanted to set out, he said: "Previously I ordered you to burn so-and-so and so-and-so with fire, but as punishment with fire is done by none except Allah, if you capture them, kill them, (instead)."

وَقَالَ ابْنُ وَهْبٍ أَخْبَرَنِي عَمْرٌو، عَنْ بُكَيْرٍ، عَنْ سُلَيْمَانَ بْنِ يَسَارٍ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ أَنَّهُ قَالَ بَعَثَنَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فِي بَعْثٍ، وَقَالَ لَنَا ‏"‏ إِنْ لَقِيتُمْ فُلاَنًا وَفُلاَنًا ‏"‏‏.‏ ـ لِرَجُلَيْنِ مِنْ قُرَيْشٍ سَمَّاهُمَا ـ فَحَرِّقُوهُمَا بِالنَّارِ‏.‏ قَالَ ثُمَّ أَتَيْنَاهُ نُوَدِّعُهُ حِينَ أَرَدْنَا الْخُرُوجَ فَقَالَ ‏"‏ إِنِّي كُنْتُ أَمَرْتُكُمْ أَنْ تُحَرِّقُوا فُلاَنًا وَفُلاَنًا بِالنَّارِ، وَإِنَّ النَّارَ لاَ يُعَذِّبُ بِهَا إِلاَّ اللَّهُ، فَإِنْ أَخَذْتُمُوهُمَا فَاقْتُلُوهُمَا ‏"‏‏.‏

References2 variants
In-Book Reference
Book 56, Hadith 166
USC-MSA web (English) reference
Vol. 4, Book 52, Hadith 202 (deprecated numbering scheme)
Sharh · explanationclick to expand
Many of the disbelievers committed heinous crimes against Muslim men and women before and after the emigration, and accordingly deserved punishments for that. An example of such crimes was that when Zaynab (may Allah be pleased with her), the daughter of the Prophet ﷺ, decided to migrate and headed towards Al-Madeenah, two men from the disbelievers, Habbaar ibn Al-Aswad and another man who was said to be Naafi‘ ibn Qays, encountered her. They hit the camel that she was riding, she fell to the ground while being pregnant, and had a miscarriage as a result. In this hadeeth, AbooHurayrah(may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that Allah's Messenger ﷺ sent him on a military expedition, led by Hamzah ibn ‘Amr Al-Aslamee(may Allah be pleased with him) to kill these two men (in retribution). He ﷺ commanded them to kill these two men by burning them with fire. When the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) went to bid the Prophet ﷺ farewell, before setting out on the journey, he ﷺ said: "Previously, I ordered you to burn so-and-so and so-and-so with fire, but as punishment with fire is exclusive to Allah, Exalted is He, if you capture them, kill them (instead)." This means that only Allah, Exalted is He, punishes His creation with fire, and such punishment is exclusive to Him; none may use burning with fire as a punishment. Therefore, the Prophet ﷺ commanded them to kill these two men instead. His second statement forbade the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) from punishing them with fire and it abrogated the first command, whether it was abrogated based on new divine revelation or based on the Prophet’s personal Ijtihaad (i.e., scholarly reasoning). The prohibition in this regard means that none should deliberately burn a particular person with fire. Anyway, the Muslim army could not find the two men in question, and afterward Habbaar embraced Islam and lived until the reign of Mu‘aawiyah(may Allah be pleased with him), but no further information was reported about the other man. His name was not recorded among the Companions’ names (in the Sunnah books); he may have died as a disbeliever. It is deduced from the hadeeth that it is permissible to judge a situation based on one’s personal reasoning and then change one’s judgment afterward. It is also inferred therefrom that it is prohibited to burn someone with fire. It is deduced therefrom that Sunnah texts may abrogate one another. It is also inferred that it is permissible for someone to bid farewell to the elite people in one’s town before traveling, and his companions may bid farewell to him as well..
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