The Book of Jihad, Expeditions, and Authority-02a
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The reciter: And Sahl ibn Uthman narrated to us, and 'Uqbah ibn Khalid al-Sakuni informed me, from 'Ubayd Allah, from Nafi', from 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar, who said: Sahih Muslim 1746c.
The Shaykh : In these hadiths, there is evidence for the permissibility of cutting down the enemy's palm trees, whether that is to anger them or to reach them, because sometimes the palm trees may serve as a shield for the enemy, and they take cover behind the palm trees so that the fighting does not reach them. If the need arises to cut them down, that is permissible, indeed obligatory.
Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) burnt the date-palms of Banu Nadir.
حرق رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم نخل بني النضيرThe Shaykh : In these hadiths, there is evidence for the permissibility of cutting down the enemy's palm trees, whether that is to anger them or to reach them, because sometimes the palm trees may serve as a shield for the enemy, and they take cover behind the palm trees so that the fighting does not reach them. If the need arises to cut them down, that is permissible, indeed obligatory.