The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was on one of his military expeditions when a man asked him, "Messenger of Allah, what do you say about the children?" He remained silent and gave him no reply.When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had finished his expedition, or his campaign against the enemy, and had prevailed over them, he went about and came upon a small child who had fallen, scratching at the earth. So he ordered a caller to announce, "Where is the one who asked about the children?"The man came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade the killing of children, saying, "Allah knows best what they would have done."
كان رسول الله ﷺ في بعض مغازيه فسأله رجل، فقال يا رسول الله، ما تقول في اللاهين؟ فسكت فلم يرد عليه، فلما فرغ رسول الله ﷺ من غزوه- أو عدوه- وظهر عليهم طاف، فإذا هو بصبي قد سقط محقة، فإذا هو يبحث في الأرض، فأمر مناديا: أين السائل عن اللاهين؟ فجاء الرجل إلى رسول الله ﷺ، فنهى رسول الله ﷺ عن قتل الأولاد، فقال: الله أعلم بما كانوا عاملين.
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Firyabi narrated it in Qadr (177), and Bazzar in Kashf Astar (2173), both from Abu Kamil Jahdari, who said, Abu Awana narrated to us, from Hilal bin Khabab, from Ikrima, from Ibn Abbas, and he mentioned it. Tabarani also narrated it in Kabir (11/330) through the route of Abu Awana, with the same wording, similarly. Bazzar said, "We do not know of it from Ibn Abbas except through this route, and no one narrated it from Hilal except Abu Awana."I say, its chain of transmission is hasan because of Hilal bin Khabab, for he is hasan al-hadith. Imam Ahmad affirmed his reliability, and Ibn Adi said, "I hope there is no harm in him," while Ibn Hibban criticized him without justification. That is why Haythami said in Majma (7/218), "Bazzar narrated it, and Tabarani in Kabir and Awsat, and it contains Hilal bin Khabab, who is reliable, though there is some disagreement about him, and the rest of its narrators are reliable."As for his saying "the heedless," it has been said that they are the simple-minded, the unaware. It has also been said that they are those who did not deliberately commit sins, but rather fell short out of forgetfulness and inattention. And it has also been said that they are the children who committed no sin. See Nihaya (4/1283).