I was reading the book known as The Sealed Nectar by Safi Al-Rahman Al-Mubarakpuri. My question is in it there is an incident where Khalid Bin Al-Waleed and Sa'd bin Zayd Al-Ashalli destroyed not only the idols known as Lat and Uzza but also women who were acting as the idols. I went to clarify this issue and it turned out that a person said that Sa'ds (RAA) incident is weak but one can still be comfortable with it, someone else said that the both are weak and that the incident with the destruction of Uzza being Mursal. Can I get some clarification on this issue?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

Perhaps you are referring to the story of sending Khaalid ibn Al-Waleed to destroy 'Uzza, and the story of sending Sa'd ibn Zayd Al-Ash-hali to destroy Manaat.

The story of sending Khaalid ibn Al-Waleed is reported by Al-Waaqidee (in his book Al-Maghaazee – which means 'the battles'), and by Ibn Mardawayh in his interpretation of the Quran, and by Ibn Sa'd (in his book At-Tabaqaat – the categories of people according to their antiquity in Islam), and by An-Nasaa'i (in As-Sunan Al-Kubraa), At-Tabaraani, Al-Bayhaqi, and Abu Ya'la Al-Mawsili ; all this is mentioned by Al-Haafith Az-Zayla'i.

Shaykh Hussayn Asad classified the chain of narration reported by Abu Ya'la Al-Mawsili to be authentic. Therefore, the story is authentic even if it is reported in some cases without the mention of the narrator (Companion), or classified as weak, because it is confirmed authentic by another chain of narrators, as in the narration by Abu Ya'la Al-Mawsili .

As regards the story of sending Sa'd ibn Zayd Al-Ash-hali to destroy Manaat, it is reported by Ibn Sa'd and others but no scholar has spoken about its chain of narrators.

In both stories, it is reported that there was a black woman whose hair was unkempt, but this is not evidence that it is permissible to kill women. That woman was in fact a female devil, as it is confirmed in the story, and she was not a real human being, and Khaalid ibn Al-Waleed killed her.

Allaah Knows best.