Explanation of hadith number 14

[Salsabeelah]

As salamu alaikum

I can't seem to find any explanation of the hadiths does anyone know any sites that have an explanation of an-nawawis hadith especially number 14 :

Abdullah bin Masud narrated that the messenger of Allah said :

"The blood of a Muslim may not be legally spilt other than in one of three [instances] : the married person who commits adultery; a life for a life; and one who forsakes his religion and abandons the community."

it was related by Bukhari and Muslim

Jazakallahu khair

[Abd- Allah]

Assalam Alaikum

This is not an official explanation of the hadith, but this is what I understand from it. You can not kill a muslim, meaning killing a muslim is haram and not allowed, but there are 3 exceptions when a muslim can be killed. The first exception where killing a muslim is allowed is if a married person committs adultry, then his/her punishement is stoning to death. The second exception is if someone kills someone else, then his/her punishement is death and so killing him/her is allowed. The third exception is the one who leaves islam and abandons the muslim community. So these 3 exceptions is where it is allowed to kill a muslim. Other than those 3 exceptions, killing a muslim is not allowed and is haram, and as Allah says in the Quran that whoever intentionally kills a muslim then his punishement is hell. This hadith tells us the exceptions when killing a muslim is allowed. Of course, it is important to note that it is not up to us individuals to decide who deserves to be killed according to these exceptions and we are not allowed as individuals to go around killing people according to our own will. It is the responsibility of the muslim ruler and the scholars to make these decisions and to apply these laws and exceptions.

Allah knows best

[safa_709]

fortyhadith.iiu.edu states that:

"This hadith should be seen and understood from a positive viewpoint – it is not legal to kill a Muslim except in one of three cases. Because these three cases are exceptional, it shows that the Muslim blood is valued and treasured and is blessed by Allah subhana wa ta’ala.
In the last sermon of the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, during his farewell Hajj (which was a few months before he died), he, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, re-emphasised the principle of this hadith which is the sanctity of a Muslim’s blood. Islam encourages Muslims to avoid any kind of act, e.g. violence, injustice, etc. that will lead to violating this principle. All this shows just how important it is not to shed the blood of a Muslim."


By the way Sh. Jamal al-deen Zarabozo has authored a 3-volume English commentary on the 40 hadith nawawi, and I have heard that it is an awesome reference if you are able to get it somehow, inshallah.

[Ibn Abi Ukhti]

BismiLlah,

Wa 'Alaykum Assalam,

Bro google this book by Al Haafidh Ibn Rajab Al Hanbali رحمه الله Jami 'ulum wal hikam it is the best classical explanation on these 42 ahadith

[Salsabeelah]

Jazakallah khair for the responses, but from a dawah perspective how do you explain the concept of killing those that apostatise, many people struggle with accepting that, though I am aware of the verse that states 'There is no compulsion in religion' though correct me if i'm wrong that applies to non-muslims, on the net there is a lot of information stating the quran doesn't prescribe this I'm not sure if they are just trying to please non-muslims, Will the fear of punishment cause more hypocrisy? If we were living in an islamic state

[Ibn Abi Ukhti]

BismiLlah,

Assalamu 'Alaykum,

Once an atheist came to me and asked the same question so I told him that Islam is not something you can go in and out at anytime you want. It is not a game you are playing rather it's something once you get into you, you can not get it out like the example of shajara al tayyib the Good Tree given by Allah سبحانه و تعالى whose roots settle in your heart and the branches reach far out. Then I asked him whether or not he knows the punishment of treason to the queen and he replied by saying no. So, I told him its still death. And if you leave Islam, its treason to Allah سبحانه و تعالى and indeed He knows best.

[Salsabeelah]

BismiLlah,

Assalamu 'Alaykum,

Once an atheist came to me and asked the same question so I told him that Islam is not something you can go in and out at anytime you want. It is not a game you are playing rather it's something once you get into you, you can not get it out like the example of shajara al tayyib the Good Tree given by Allah سبحانه و تعالى whose roots settle in your heart and the branches reach far out. Then I asked him whether or not he knows the punishment of treason to the queen and he replied by saying no. So, I told him its still death. And if you leave Islam, its treason to Allah سبحانه و تعالى and indeed He knows best.
Jazakallah khair great answer, (and i'll shall kindly steal it)

[Abd- Allah]

Assalam Alaikum

as for the punishment of killing those who apostatise, then yes there is no compulsion in religion meaning no one can force anyone to become muslim, but if you choose to become muslim then you can't go back. This is so because it is not a game going back and forth between being muslim and not. Some of the disbelievers used to say lets believe in what is revealed (i.e. become muslims) during the day, and at the end of the day lets turn back and disbelieve in it, and so after death became the punishment for the one who apostates, no one accepted islam and turned back like they were saying they wanted to do. The following verse from the Quran:

{A section of the People of the Book say: "Believe in the morning what is revealed to the believers, but reject it at the end of the day; perchance they may (themselves) Turn back} (3:72)

So this punishment was in place for those who were playing around and were not serious about islam.

This does not cause more hypocrisy, on the contrary, it will make the hypocrites think twice before accepting islam, and only the sincere people who believe will accept islam, because they would not be thinking of turning back, were as the hypocrites will be afraid to accept islam because they will be thinking that they will kill me when i decide to turn back, because a hypocrite never intends to stay muslim for the rest of his life, he just pretends to be muslim for a short period of time so that he may accomplish a personal worldly goal for himself and then turn back later on. So this punishment for the one who apostates makes people think twice before accepting islam, and so the sincere ones go through and become muslims because they are not afraid of the punishment because they don't plan on turning back, but the hypocrites will be scared and not claim to be muslims because they know the punishment if they do become muslims but then turn back later on. So this actually helps protect this beautiful religion from hypocrites.

You see, it is like a one way street. When the government has one way streets, no one complains, and the one who goes in the wrong direction on this street is wrong, and no one would say that the government is at fault for making it a one way street. In a way, it is similar here, Allah chooses to make laws as He pleases, and if someone doesn't like these laws, then simply don't go down that one way street, because if you do then you can't turn and come back. Simple, think before you make a turn and enter into a one way street. No one if forcing them to accept islam, but once they do accept islam, then they can't go back. These are the rules, and if someone doesn't like them then we simply tell them, don't play the game.

[Salsabeelah]

Assalam Alaikum

as for the punishment of killing those who apostatise, then yes there is no compulsion in religion meaning no one can force anyone to become muslim, but if you choose to become muslim then you can't go back. This is so because it is not a game going back and forth between being muslim and not. Some of the disbelievers used to say lets believe in what is revealed (i.e. become muslims) during the day, and at the end of the day lets turn back and disbelieve in it, and so after death became the punishment for the one who apostates, no one accepted islam and turned back like they were saying they wanted to do. The following verse from the Quran:

{A section of the People of the Book say: "Believe in the morning what is revealed to the believers, but reject it at the end of the day; perchance they may (themselves) Turn back} (3:72)

So this punishment was in place for those who were playing around and were not serious about islam.

This does not cause more hypocrisy, on the contrary, it will make the hypocrites think twice before accepting islam, and only the sincere people who believe will accept islam, because they would not be thinking of turning back, were as the hypocrites will be afraid to accept islam because they will be thinking that they will kill me when i decide to turn back, because a hypocrite never intends to stay muslim for the rest of his life, he just pretends to be muslim for a short period of time so that he may accomplish a personal worldly goal for himself and then turn back later on. So this punishment for the one who apostates makes people think twice before accepting islam, and so the sincere ones go through and become muslims because they are not afraid of the punishment because they don't plan on turning back, but the hypocrites will be scared and not claim to be muslims because they know the punishment if they do become muslims but then turn back later on. So this actually helps protect this beautiful religion from hypocrites.

You see, it is like a one way street. When the government has one way streets, no one complains, and the one who goes in the wrong direction on this street is wrong, and no one would say that the government is at fault for making it a one way street. In a way, it is similar here, Allah chooses to make laws as He pleases, and if someone doesn't like these laws, then simply don't go down that one way street, because if you do then you can't turn and come back. Simple, think before you make a turn and enter into a one way street. No one if forcing them to accept islam, but once they do accept islam, then they can't go back. These are the rules, and if someone doesn't like them then we simply tell them, don't play the game.Jazakallahu khair for the new information, but what about the muslims that were born into islam? Does it apply to them since they were raised as muslims and didn't choose to go into islam, so if they abandoned islam will the punishment of apostasy be applied to them?

[Abd- Allah]

wa iyyakum.

That is a good question, but I don't know the answer, maybe you can ask one of the sheikhs to answer it.

[safa_709]

Apostasy is a grave sin with a weighty punishment because it leads to fitnah which is even worse than murder, as stated in the quran (2:191).

Fitnah affects the cohesiveness & unity of the ummah; it threatens to lead Muslims astray & cause disarray/mischief.

[safa_709]

I found this article online and I thought it gave an overall excellent explanation of this sought after 'controversial' (as seen in the eyes of Orientalists) issue:

Al-Fitnah and "Spreading Mischief"


By Ibn Iblis
Ultimately, there are three questions of prime importance in determining the threat Islam poses to our civilization. First, there is the question of the meaning of jihad, which I've already covered extensively. Inevitably the next questions that arise, sprouting from the root of jihad, are, what is the meaning of fitnah, and what does it mean to spread mischief in the land?

There is always more than meets the eye when it comes to Islamic terminology. Often there are two meanings to each word - the Arabic or English definition, and the Islamic definition. For instance, as most of us know, jihad in Arabic derives from the verb jahada which means "he strove". The Islamic definition, however, has much wider connotations.

The complexity deepens when we consider the Arabic word fitnah. In Arabic, fitnah means "trial" or "testing". Fitnah appears several times in the Qur'an, most notably Q2.193 and Q8.39, which both command Muslims to fight and eradicate fitnah until only Allah is worshipped throughout the world. But what exactly is the "trial" or "test" Muslims must fight against? What is the Islamic definition of fitnah?

Strangely, many English translations of these verses define fitnah as "tumult", "oppression" and/or "persecution". These are odd choices of words considering the Islamic definition is provided by Allah in Qur'an 2.217 - to prevent mankind from following the Way of Allâh, to disbelieve in Him, which is, according to Allah, worse than killing. Ibn Kathir expands on this:




(...and Al-Fitnah is worse than killing.)
means, trying to force the Muslims to revert from their religion and re-embrace Kufr after they had believed, is worse with Allah than killing.

This is because those who are open in their disbelief have hindered others from the path of Allah, which leads to paradise, and have instead led them on the road to Kafr - disbelief - which leads to hell; this is surely an act worse than killing, as the agony of death does not compare to an eternity of horrific torment. For this reason, translations such as Marmaduk Pickthall and Yusuf Ali describe fitnah as "oppression" and "persecution". In an Islamic context, this is indeed persecution. In a secular, rational context, this is simple freedom of speech and religion, which Islam, fundamentally, does not recognize; this fact is expanded when we link these Qur'anic verses to the prophetic tradition - the Sunnah.

Naturally, anyone familiar with the hadith, particularly the two Sahihs, will ultimately link Qur'an 2.193 and 8.39 with the following prophetic tradition, which appears no less than eight times in Bukhari and Muslim, all with different chains of narration:



Allah's Apostle said: "I have been ordered (by Allah) to fight against the people until they testify that Lâ ilaha illallâh wa Anna Muhammad-ur-Rasûl Allâh (none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that Muhammad is Allah's Apostle), and offer the prayers perfectly and give the obligatory charity, so if they perform all that, then they save their lives an property from me except for Islamic laws and then their reckoning (accounts) will be done by Allah."
The above tradition, which cannot be called into dispute except by those heretics who reject the sunnah outright, represents a universal declaration of war against all disbelievers for all time. There is no rational way to nuance what it says, or call its context into question. No pious Muslim would believe that what Allah ordered of Muhammad does not have meaning to Muslims living in different times, particularly since Muhammad is Allah's final messenger; the Qur'an his final message. Muhammad was ordered to fight the people until they submit to Islam, and so this is an order for all Muslims. That not all Muslims recognize this or are aware of these commandments does not change the fact that for 1400 years these commandments have led Muslims to commit unspeakable attrocities, which jihadists still seek to carry out today.

This tradition is cited in Ibn Kathir's tafsir of Qur'an 8.39, and is given as a footnote to 2.193 and 8.39 in the Hilali/Khan Qur'an.

So in conclusion, it is not enough to say that in Islam no deity has the right to be worshipped but Allah (Lâ ilaha illallâh); Islam is specific that belief in other gods must be eradicated from outside Islam's sphere of influence as well. This is why Islamic theologians have separated the world into two houses - the house of war (dar al-harb) and the house of Islam. The goal of jihad is to bring the dar al-harb into dar al-Islam, using every strategem of war (Q9.5). Fitnah exists so long as kafr is proliferated anywhere on Earth.

The Meaning of Mischief

Most of us are aware of the Islamophiles' pet Qur'anic verse, Q5.32, which supposedly lectures Muslims that if they murder one person it would be as if they murdered the whole world. Sounds like sunshine happiness, doesn't it? Slow down.

As we all know, the verse specifies that life may be taken if in retaliation for murder or to punish anyone who spread[s] mischief in the land. Even in the first case, this sounds like virtue: if you murder someone your life is forfeit. Liberals may call this crude and uncivilized; others call it justice. But what does it mean to spread mischief? This question is rarely pondered by Islamophiles, if ever.

Spreading mischief, as harmless as it sounds, must be a heinous crime, as the punishment for it is spelled out in the following verse. Not only is death justified for spreading mischief, but perpetrators may also be crucified or their hands and their feet be cut off on the opposite sides, or be exiled from the land...and a great torment is theirs in the Hereafter. And of course, those who spread mischief but then revert from their disbelief and submit to Islam before they can be punished recieve Allah's forgiveness and mercy (Q5.34).

This verse taken in its proper context destroys any notion of justice and civilized behavior normally attached to it by Islamophiles.

"Mischief" or "corruption" has an Arabic term as well: al-fasad.


The meaning of mischief is first covered by Ibn Kathir in his tafsir of Qur'an 2.11-12:

In his Tafsir, As-Suddi said that Ibn `Abbas and Ibn Mas`ud commented,

(And when it is said to them: "Do not make mischief on the earth,'' they say: "We are only peacemakers.'')
They are the hypocrites. As for,



("Do not make mischief on the earth"),
that is disbelief and acts of disobedience." Abu Ja`far said that Ar-Rabi` bin Anas said that Abu Al-`Aliyah said that Allah's statement,



(And when it is said to them: "Do not make mischief on the earth"),
means, "Do not commit acts of disobedience on the earth. Their mischief is disobeying Allah, because whoever disobeys Allah on the earth, or commands that Allah be disobeyed, he has committed mischief on the earth. Peace on both the earth and in the heavens is ensured (and earned) through obedience (to Allah)."

[Ibn Abi Ukhti]

BismiLlah,

by Ibn Iblis? لا حول و لا قوة الا بالله

[safa_709]

BismiLlah,

by Ibn Iblis? لا حول و لا قوة الا باللهInitially I thought the same thing, SubhanAllah.

I dont know why his name is that, but I'm thinking in particular this "Iblis" is not of Arabic origin to give the brother the benefit of the doubt.

Actually Iblis is also a female name of 'arthurian' origin; she was also the wife of Lancelot (right wingman of King Arthur).

Wa Allahu A'laam