Whenever the Messenger of Allah ﷺ appointed a commander over an army or expedition, he would personally counsel him to fear Allah and to treat the Muslims with him well. Then he would say, "Set out in the name of Allah, in the cause of Allah. Fight those who disbelieve in Allah. Go forth, but do not steal from the spoils, do not break covenants, do not mutilate the dead, and do not kill a child.When you meet your enemy from among the polytheists, call them to three options. Whichever of them they accept, accept it from them and refrain from fighting them.First, call them to Islam. If they accept, accept it from them and refrain from fighting them. Then call them to relocate from their land to the land of the Muhajirin, and inform them that if they do so, they will have the same rights as the Muhajirin and the same obligations as the Muhajirin. If they refuse to relocate, inform them that they will be like the bedouin Muslims, subject to the ruling of Allah that applies to the believers, but they will have no share in the spoils of war or the fay unless they wage jihad alongside the Muslims.If they refuse, then ask them for the jizyah. If they accept, accept it from them and refrain from fighting them. If they refuse, then seek Allah's help and fight them.When you besiege the people of a fortress and they want you to grant them the covenant of Allah and the covenant of His Prophet, do not grant them the covenant of Allah nor the covenant of His Prophet, but grant them your own covenant and the covenant of your companions. For it is a lesser matter for you to break your covenants and the covenants of your companions than to break the covenant of Allah and the covenant of His Messenger.When you besiege the people of a fortress and they want you to let them surrender on the judgment of Allah, do not let them surrender on the judgment of Allah, but let them surrender on your judgment, for you do not know whether you will arrive at Allah's judgment regarding them or not."
كان رسول الله ﷺ إذا أمر أميرا على جيش أو سرية، أوصاه في خاصته بتقوى الله ومن معه من المسلمين خيرا، ثم قال: اغزوا باسم الله في سبيل الله، قاتلوا من كفر بالله، اغزوا ولا تغلوا، ولا تغدروا، ولا تمثلوا، ولا تقتلوا وليدا، وإذا لقيت عدوك من المشركين فادعهم إلى ثلاث خصال أو خلال، فأيتهن ما أجأبوك فاقبل منهم، وكف عنهم، ثم ادعهم إلى الإسلام، فإن أجأبوك فاقبل منهم، وكف عنهم، ثم ادعهم إلى التحول من دارهم إلى دار المهاجرين، وأخبرهم أنهم إن فعلوا ذلك فلهم ما للمهاجرين، وعليهم ما على المهاجرين، فإن أبوا أن يتحولوا منها فأخبرهم أنهم يكونون كأعراب المسلمين يجري عليهم حكم الله الذي يجري على المؤمنين، ولا يكون لهم في الغنيمة والفيء شيء إلا أن يجاهدوا مع المسلمين، فإن هم أبوا فسلهم الجزية، فإن هم أجأبوك فاقبل منهم وكف عنهم، فإن هم أبوا فاستعن بالله وقاتلهم، وإذا حاصرت أهل حصن فأرادوك أن تجعل لهم ذمة الله وذمة نبيه فلا تجعل لهم ذمة الله ولا ذمة نبيه، ولكن اجعل لهم ذمتك وذمة أصحابك، فإنكم أن تخفروا ذممكم وذمم أصحابكم أهون من أن تخفروا ذمة الله وذمة رسوله، وإذا حاصرت أهل حصن فأرادوك أن تنزلهم على حكم الله، فلا تنزلهم على حكم الله، ولكن أنزلهم على حكمك، فإنك لا تدري أتصيب حكم الله فيهم أم لا.
Muslim narrated it in the Book of Jihad and Expeditions (1731:2, 3) via the route of Sufyan (that is, Thawri), from Alqama bin Marthad, from Sulayman bin Burayda, from his father, and he related it. Muslim then indicated afterward that this hadith was narrated by Numan bin Muqarrin, from the Prophet ﷺ, in similar wording.It has also been reported from Abu Bakhtari that Salman besieged one of the palaces of Persia and said to his companions, "Let me do as I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ do." So he praised Allah and extolled Him, then said, "I am a man from among you, and Allah has granted me Islam. You see the obedience of the Arabs. If you accept Islam and migrate to us, then you are in the same position as us, what applies to us applies to you. And if you accept Islam and remain in your homelands, then you are in the position of the Bedouin Arabs, what applies to them applies to you, and what is obligated upon them is obligated upon you. But if you refuse and agree instead to pay the jizya, then you have what the people of jizya have, and you owe what the people of jizya owe." He presented this to them for three days, then said to his companions, "Advance upon them." So he conquered it.Tirmidhi narrated it (1548) via the route of Abu Awana, and Ahmad (23726) via the route of Israel, and (23734) via the route of Hammad bin Salama, all of them from Ata bin Saaib, from Abu Bakhtari (that is, Saeed bin Firuz Tai), and he related it. The wording given here is that of Hammad bin Salama.Tirmidhi said, "It is a hasan hadith, we do not know it except through the report of Ata bin Saaib, and I heard Muhammad ﷺ say that Abu Bakhtari did not meet Salman, because he did not meet Ali, and Salman died before Ali."I say, on this basis its chain is disconnected. Ata bin Saaib's memory became confused later in life, but Hammad bin Salama heard from him before that confusion set in.His statement "fanahada ilayhim" means he rose up against them. This took place in the sixteenth year. Umar bin Khattab had sent Saad bin Abu Waqqas to fight the Persian emperor, and no farmer remained west of the Tigris up to the land of the Arabs except under jizya and land tax. The people of Nahr Shahr resisted most fiercely, so Saad sent Salman Farsi to them. He called them to Allah, or to the jizya, or to fighting, but they refused everything except fighting. See Bidaya wa Nihaya (7/63).On this subject there is also a report from Ibn Abbas, who said, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ never fought a people without first calling them." Ahmad narrated it (2105), as did Abd bin Humayd (697), Darimi (2488), Hakim (1/15), and Bayhaqi (9/107), through various routes from Sufyan Thawri, from Abdullah bin Abu Najeeh, from his father, from Ibn Abbas, and he related it.Hakim said, "This is a sahih hadith by the report of Thawri, though the two of them (Bukhari and Muslim) did not include it. Muslim did rely on Abu Najeeh, the father of Abdullah, whose name was Yasar, and who was among the freed slaves of the people of Makkah."I say, the apparent chain is as described, but Darimi noted right after the hadith that Sufyan did not hear this hadith directly from Ibn Abu Najeeh. Ahmad bin Hanbal said, Abdul-Rahman (that is, Ibn Mahdi) told us, he said, I asked Sufyan about the hadith of Ibn Abu Najeeh, from his father, "The Prophet ﷺ never fought a people," and he said, "I have doubts about it." Abdullah bin Ahmad related this from his father in Ilal (3/74). This means he had doubts about having heard this particular hadith from Abdullah bin Najeeh, not that he doubted all the hadiths he narrated from Ibn Abu Najeeh in general.Hajjaj bin Artah also corroborated it, from Ibn Abu Najeeh, with the same wording. Ahmad extracted it (2053). Hajjaj bin Artah is known to conceal weaknesses in transmission (mudallis) and he did narrate it using the ambiguous form "an" (from).This hadith has other routes as well, none of which are free from some criticism.