Arba'un 14 — the sanctity of a Muslim's blood

الأربعون 14 — لا يحل دم امرئ مسلم إلا بإحدى ثلاث

Abdullah ibn Masud's hadith, the fourteenth of al-Nawawi's Forty and of Ibn Rajab's commentary; transmitted by al-Bukhari (6878) and Muslim (1676) through al-A'mash from Abdullah ibn Murra from Masruq from Ibn Masud, with a Muslim variant 'who abandons Islam' for 'who abandons his religion'; the same meaning comes from A'isha in Muslim and from Uthman in al-Tirmidhi (2158, graded hasan), al-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah in the wording 'disbelieves after his Islam, commits adultery after being chaste, or kills a soul without due cause', one of al-Nasa'i's versions spelling out the ruling in each case — stoning, retaliation and execution — and parallel reports exist from Ibn Abbas, Abu Hurayra (may God be pleased with him) and Anas; Ibn Rajab records that these three traits are the claim of Islam by which the blood of one who testifies that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is His messenger may lawfully be shed, 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 in 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', saying stoning was among what they hid (Jami' al-Ulum wal-Hikam pp. 291–313).

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«لا يحل دم امرئ مسلم إلا بإحدى ثلاث: الثيب الزاني، والنفس بالنفس، والتارك لدينه المفارق للجماعة»

A verbatim excerpt of the text, forty words at most; the full text is in the edition cited under sources

Summary

Hadith of Abdullah ibn Masud: the blood of a Muslim may be shed only in three cases: a married adulterer, a life for a life, and one who leaves his religion. Ibn Rajab explains that these are the rights of Islam by which the blood of one who testifies to God's oneness and to Muhammad's messengership may be spilled. 1

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The sanctity of a Muslim's blood
Mentions
Abdullah ibn Mas'ud

People and things also explored

The shahada· Muslim brotherhood· The three years of the secret call· Stipends of Heirs and the Dead· The Battle of Badr· The burial of Dhu al-Bijadayn at Tabuk· The death of Abu Dharr at al-Rabadha· The death of Abu Jahl at Badr

Sources

  1. Jami' al-Ulum wal-Hikam — Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali
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islam.museum contributors. “Arba'un 14 — the sanctity of a Muslim's blood”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/passage/arbaun-14/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-16.

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Related

The shahada

The testimony that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is God's messenger, named first in the hadith 'Islam is built on five' that lists what Islam is built on.