Reconciliation between conflicting narrations regarding the killing of elderly polytheists.

Primary text

The hadith permitting the killing of old men applies only to those elderly individuals who possess strength for combat or provide aid through opinion or strategy. This reconciliation is achieved by prioritizing the specific narrations concerning the elderly (*shaykh fānin*) over the general command concerning all old men. Specific texts take precedence over general ones. Furthermore, the opposing analogy that the elderly man is like a young male combatant is invalidated by analogy with the elderly woman who provides no benefit.