The sanctity of a Muslim's blood

حرمة دم المسلم

The inviolability of the blood of one who testifies that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is His messenger, lifted in only three cases as in Ibn Masud's hadith in the two Sahihs — 'the previously-married adulterer, a life for a life, and the one who abandons his religion, leaving the community' — Uthman's version in al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah running 'disbelieves after his Islam, commits adultery after being chaste, or kills a soul without due cause', with one of al-Nasa'i's routes spelling out the ruling in each; Ibn Rajab calls these three the claim of Islam by which blood may lawfully be shed, transmits that killing for each is agreed among Muslims, that Muslims agree the previously-married adulterer's hadd is stoning until death — the Prophet ﷺ having stoned Ma'iz and the Ghamidiyya woman — that stoning stood among what was abrogated from the Quran's wording, and that Ibn Abbas derived it from al-Ma'ida's 'you used to hide of the scripture'; Umar's version adds his fear that a time would come when people, not finding stoning in God's book, would stray by abandoning an obligation God sent down.

Overview

The sanctity of a Muslim's blood is the prohibition of the blood of one who bears witness that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is the Messenger of God, except by one of three things. This is Ibn Rajab's commentary on the fourteenth hadith of the Forty. ¹ The sanctity rests on the testimony of faith.

The three things

In the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud in the two Sahihs: "The married adulterer, a life for a life, and the one who abandons his religion and separates from the community." ¹

In the version of Uthman in al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa'i, and Ibn Majah: "Apostasy after his Islam, or adultery after his marriage, or killing a soul without a soul." One of al-Nasa'i's versions states the ruling for each of them. ¹

What Ibn Rajab relates

Ibn Rajab calls these things the right of Islam by which blood may be made lawful to shed. He reports that the killing for each of them is agreed upon among Muslims. ¹

He reports the consensus that the punishment of the married adulterer is stoning to death, and that the Prophet stoned Ma'iz and al-Ghamidiyya. ¹

He notes that stoning is among the rulings whose wording was abrogated from the Qur'an, and that Ibn Abbas derived it from a verse in al-Ma'ida. In a report of Umar, he feared that a time would come when some people would say they do not find stoning in the Book of God. ¹

What is not recorded here: the positions of the schools on the details of each of these cases. The verse is not reproduced here; it needs a further source.

Muslim brotherhood

The brotherhood between Muslims in the thirty-fifth hadith of the Forty: 'be servants of God, brothers — a Muslim is a Muslim's brother, he does not wrong him, fail him, lie to him or despise him', followed by the prohibition of each one's blood, property and honour for another — a brotherhood that preserves rights, not a mere sentiment, forbidding envy, artificial bidding, mutual hatred, turning away and selling upon a brother's sale; and in Ibn Umar's hadith — the thirty-seventh — 'whoever attends to his brother's need, God attends to his need', while despising a Muslim brother is declared 'enough evil' — in his commentary Ibn Rajab develops brotherhood as requiring preferring one's brother, loving him and looking to his state (Jami' al-Ulum wal-Hikam pp. 710–711).

The sanctity of a Muslim's blood

At a glance

Overview

The three things

What Ibn Rajab relates

Connections

People and things also explored

Sources

Ideas

Muslim brotherhood