حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَکْرِ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ وَإِسْحَقُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ کِلَاهُمَا عَنْ حَاتِمِ بْنِ إِسْمَعِيلَ عَنْ جَعْفَرِ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنْ يَزِيدَ بْنِ هُرْمُزَ أَنَّ نَجْدَةَ کَتَبَ إِلَی ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ يَسْأَلُهُ عَنْ خِلَالٍ بِمِثْلِ حَدِيثِ سُلَيْمَانَ بْنِ بِلَالٍ غَيْرَ أَنَّ فِي حَدِيثِ حَاتِمٍ وَإِنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّی اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ لَمْ يَکُنْ يَقْتُلُ الصِّبْيَانَ فَلَا تَقْتُلْ الصِّبْيَانَ إِلَّا أَنْ تَکُونَ تَعْلَمُ مَا عَلِمَ الْخَضِرُ مِنْ الصَّبِيِّ الَّذِي قَتَلَ وَزَادَ إِسْحَقُ فِي حَدِيثِهِ عَنْ حَاتِمٍ وَتُمَيِّزَ الْمُؤْمِنَ فَتَقْتُلَ الْکَافِرَ وَتَدَعَ الْمُؤْمِنَ
صحیح مسلم · Hadith 4685
This tradition has been narrated by the game authority (Yazid b. Hurmus) through a different chain of transmitters with the following difference in the elucidation of one of the points raised by Najda in his letter to Ibn Abas: The Messenger of Allah ( صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم ) used not to kill the children, so thou shouldst not kill them unless you could know what Khadir had known about the child he killed, or you could distinguish between a child who would grow up to he a believer (and a child who would grow up to be a non-believer), so that you killed the (prospective) non-believer and left the (prospective) believer aside.
Translated by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan · Reviewed by Islamic University of Madinah · Published March 2020