Some captives were brought to the Prophet ﷺ, and he ordered me to sell two brothers among them. I sold them and separated them from one another. Then I came to the Prophet ﷺ and informed him of what I had done.He said, "Go after them, take them back, and sell them together. Do not separate them."
قدم على النبي ﷺ سبي، فأمرني ببيع أخوين، فبعتهما، وفرقت بينهما، ثم أتيت النبي ﷺ، فأخبرته فقال: أدركهما، فارتجعهما، وبعهما جميعا، ولا تفرق بينهما.
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Daraqutni (3040), Hakim (2/54), and Bayhaqi (9/127) all narrated it through various routes from Abdul-Wahhab bin Ata Khafaf, from Shuba bin Hajjaj, from Hakam bin Utayba, from Abdul-Rahman bin Abu Layla, from Ali bin Abu Talib, who said, then he mentioned it. Its chain is hasan because of Abdul-Wahhab bin Ata Khafaf, for his hadith is hasan when he does not report something objectionable. Hakim said, "This is a gharib hadith, sahih according to the criteria of the two Shaykhs." Ibn Qattan said, "Shuba's narration is sahih, with no defect in it." The hadith has other chains, but the one I have mentioned is the soundest of them.In the same meaning is what was reported from Ali bin Abu Talib, that he separated a slave girl from her child, so the Prophet ﷺ forbade him from doing that and reversed the sale. Abu Dawud (2696), Tirmidhi (1284), Ibn Majah (2249), Daraqutni (3/66), Hakim (2/55), Bayhaqi (9/126), and Ahmad (800) all narrated it through the route of Hakam bin Utayba, from Maymun bin Abu Shabib, from Ali, who mentioned it. Tirmidhi said, "Hasan gharib." Hakim said, "Sahih." However, Maymun bin Abu Shabib did not meet Ali, he was killed at Jamajim in the year eighty-three, as Abu Dawud stated. There is also disagreement about his reliability, with some affirming and some criticizing him. Ibn Main declared him daif, while Abu Hatim said, "His hadith is acceptable."Also in the same meaning is what was reported from Abu Musa, who said, "The Messenger of Allah cursed whoever separates a mother from her child, or a brother from his brother." Ibn Majah (2250), Daraqutni (3/67), and Bayhaqi (9/128) all narrated it through the route of Ibrahim bin Ismail, from Taliq bin Imran, from Abu Burda, from Abu Musa, who mentioned it. Ibrahim bin Ismail and Taliq bin Imran are both daif, and Busiri criticized the hadith on account of them both.However, Daraqutni (3/66–67), Hakim (2/55), and Bayhaqi (9/128) after him narrated it from Abu Bakr bin Ayyash, from Sulayman Taymi, from Taliq bin Muhammad, from Imran bin Husayn, who mentioned the hadith in similar wording. Bayhaqi said, "This is how Abu Bakr bin Ayyash reported it." Hakim said, "This is a sahih chain." But Daraqutni said in al-Ilal (7/218), "Sulayman Taymi narrated it from Taliq, but there is disagreement about his report. Abu Bakr bin Ayyash narrated it from Taymi, from Taliq, from Imran bin Husayn. Others narrate it from Sulayman Taymi, from Taliq bin Muhammad bin Imran bin Husayn, as a mursal report from the Prophet ﷺ, and that is what is preserved from Taymi." End of quote.Also in the same meaning is what was reported from Abdullah bin Masud, who said, when captives were brought to the Prophet ﷺ, he would give the whole household together, out of aversion to separating them. Ibn Majah (2248), Ahmad (3690), Daraqutni (3/66), and Bayhaqi (9/128) all narrated it through the hadith of Jabir Jafi, from Qasim bin Abdul-Rahman, from his father, from Abdullah bin Masud, who mentioned it. Abdul-Rahman bin Masud heard only very little from his father. Also in it is Jabir, who is Ibn Yazid Jafi, and he is daif. Bayhaqi also narrated it with another chain from Jabir, from Abdul-Rahman bin Aswad, from his father, from Abdullah bin Masud, who mentioned it. Bayhaqi said, "This Jabir is Ibn Yazid Jafi, and he alone narrated it with these two chains."The prohibition against separating two enslaved brothers in a sale has also come from Umar bin Khattab. Saeed bin Mansur (2/247), Abdul-Razzaq (8/308), and Bayhaqi (9/128) all narrated it through the route of Abdul-Rahman bin Faruq, from his father, from Umar bin Khattab.The jurisprudence of the hadith, the scholars have agreed that separating a mother from her young child is not permissible. This is the position of Malik in Madinah, Uzai in Syria, and Layth in Egypt, and it is also the view of Abu Hanifa, Shafii, Ahmad, and other scholars, based on the hadith of Abu Ayub. (See al-Mughni 9/251.) However, they disagreed about the boundary between young and old. Malik and Shafii permitted separating two brothers, while Abu Hanifa did not permit it. There are further details on this issue, which I have set out in my book, Minna Kubra (8/101), so refer to it.