140.

١٤٠. عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ:

«مَنْ تَرَدَّى مِنْ جَبَلٍ فَقَتَلَ نَفْسَهُ فَهُوَ فِي نَارِ جَهَنَّمَ يَتَرَدَّى فِيهِ خَالِدًا مُخَلَّدًا فِيهَا أَبَدًا وَمَنْ تَحَسَّى سُمًّا فَقَتَلَ نَفْسَهُ فَسُمُّهُ فِي يَدِهِ يَتَحَسَّاهُ فِي نَارِ جَهَنَّمَ خَالِدًا مُخَلَّدًا فِيهَا أَبَدًا وَمَنْ قَتَلَ نَفْسَهُ بِحَدِيدَةٍ فَحَدِيدَتُهُ فِي يَدِهِ يَجَأُ بِهَا فِي بَطْنِهِ فِي نَارِ جَهَنَّمَ خَالِدًا مُخَلَّدًا فِيهَا أَبَدًا».

140. Abu Huraira (r.a.) narrated that the Prophet (pbuh) said:

“He who killed himself by falling from (the top of) a mountain would constantly fall in the Fire of Hell and would live there forever and ever. He who drank poison and killed himself would sip that in the Fire of Hell where he is doomed forever and ever; and He who killed himself with steel (weapon) would be the eternal denizen of the Fire of Hell and he would have that weapon in his hand and would be thrusting that in his stomach forever and ever.” (Bukhari, Tibb, 56; Muslim, Iman, 175; Tirmidhi, Tibb, 7/2044-2045; Nasai, Janaiz, 68; Abu Dawud, Tibb, 11/3872)

 

Explanations:

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) listed killing someone among the greatest sins. In various reports, it is listed among the sins right after ascribing partners to Allah.^[1]

Ibn Umar (r.a.) described killing someone unjustly as a very dangerous and dead-end cliff. (Bukhari, Diyat, 1)

According to Imam Shafi, the second biggest sin after ascribing partners to Allah is to kill someone.

As stated in our second hadith, as long as a believer does not kill anyone, he can hope for the mercy and forgiveness of Allah. In other words, all sins can be forgiven but when it comes to killing someone, one has to stop there. One has to be careful about that.

On the other hand, Muslim scholars who agree that all the sins can be forgiven except ascribing partners to Allah state that this hadith aims to discourage us strongly from killing someone. Here, homicide is described as one of the greatest sins and is very difficult to be forgiven.

In Islam, reviving someone is considered as great and as important deed as bringing the whole humanity into life. Also, killing someone is as bad as killing the whole humanity.

On the other hand, in the sight of Allah, killing a believer is as bad as destruction of the Earth. In other words, destruction of the whole world is lighter according to Allah than slaying of a believer other than for a valid reason.

 Adam’s son, Cain, had killed his brother Abel by obeying his carnal self due to his jealousy towards Abel. He acted this way regardless of his brother’s warnings, and this shows that he has forgotten Allah and was not afraid of Him due to his heedlessness. In the end, by killing someone, he took upon hşs shoulders both his own sins and the sins of the person whom he killed and became one of the dwellers of the Hell. This grave sin that he had committed by obeying his carnal self dragged him into a complete misery. Finally, he had realized his weakness and mistake and started to burn in the fire of great regret. This is because the sin that he had burdened himself with was a very heavy one. As a matter of fact, the Messenger of Allah informed us that Cain will receive his share of the sin from all of the killings in the world after that.^[2] That is because he is the one who opened the path to this bad act.

Almighty Allah says the following after telling about the story of Cain and Abel in the Noble Qur’an:

“… if any one slew a person – unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land – it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people.” (Al-Maidah; 5:32)

Therefore, killing someone destroys one’s both material and spiritual world and brings sadness to both of the worlds. It distances the person from Allah’s mercy and makes him subject to the anger of Allah.

The punishment in the Hereafter for killing someone is very harsh too. In our fourth hadith, we are told that the first thing which will be decided among people on the Day of Judgment will pertain to bloodshed. In other words, the first sin that was committed on Earth will be the first one that will be accounted for in the Hereafter.

When it comes to issues between the servant and Allah, the first deed that will be asked is the ritual prayer. The first thing that will be asked on the issue of others’ rights will be about unjust bloodshed. This is enough to prove how great a sin killing someone is.

Therefore, the punishment of this sin in this world is to be executed according to the principle of “an eye for an eye.”  Even if many people participate in a killing of one person, all of them receive the same punishment.^[3] In our fifth hadith, this situation is expressed with a more striking style. It says that, if all humans participate in killing one believer, Allah the Almighty can punish all of them with the Fire in return for the death of that one soul. This way of thinking shows the best value that can be given to human life. Therefore, one must not participate or help the unjust killing of a believer. It is said in a noble hadith:

“If a person helps the killing of a believer even with a half of a word, he reaches Allah with a note written in between his eyes “This person lost his hope from the mercy of Allah”.” (Suyuti, al-Fath al-kabir, III, 164)

One of the most frightening verses of the Qur’an about the punishment for bloodshed is:

“If a man kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell, to abide therein (For ever): And the wrath and the curse of Allah are upon him, and a dreadful penalty is prepared for him.” (Al-Nisa; 4:93)

The scholars of the Qur’anic exegesis say that such a threatening language is used in this verse in order to strongly discourage people from intentionally killing someone. As a matter of fact, Allah informed us that He could forgive all kinds of sins except ascribing partners to Him. A believer who kills someone will sure face a great punishment even if he does not stay in Hell forever. Therefore this verse is interpreted as forbidding Muslims from killing someone on purpose or unjustly with a strong and frightening language.

However, there is no doubt that those who kill a believer just because he is a believer will stay in Hell forever.

No one has the right to take away a life that Allah has entrusted to us. Allah has given the life to humans and He is the One who will take it back. Interference in this matter angers Almighty Allah. Committing suicide, not to mention homicide, is strictly forbidden and considered among the major sins. As a matter of fact, in our sixth hadith it is seen that the punishment of committing suicide is sharply expressed. In this hadith, we are told, three times, that those who commit a suicide will be punished in the same manner they kill themselves, and this punishment will repeat forever and ever. It is attention drawing that in the hadith the words “khuld” and “abad” which express eternity are repeated three times after mentioning each punishment.  This style refers to a very rarely used threat.

Those who kill themselves in this world will torture themselves in the Hereafter as well. Their punishment in the Hereafter will be exactly the same as they killed themselves. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said in another hadith:

“Whoever commits suicide in a certain manner will be punished with the same method on the Day of Judgment.” (Bukhari, Al-Janaa’iz, 84; Adab, 44, 73; Iman, 7; Muslim, Iman, 176, 177)

Abu Huraira (r.a.) narrates:

We were in the company of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) in the Khaibar Military Expedition. The Prophet (pbuh) remarked about a man who claimed to be a Muslim as:

“This (man) is from the people of the (Hell) Fire!”

When the battle started, the man fought violently until he got wounded. Some among the Companions said:

“O Allah’s Apostle! The man whom you described as being from the people of the (Hell) Fire fought severely today and died!”

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said again:

“He will go to the (Hell) Fire.”

Some people were on the verge of doubting (the truth of what the Prophet had said) when suddenly someone said that he was still alive but severely wounded.

When night fell, the wounded man lost patience due to the pain of his wound and committed suicide by leaning on the sharp side of his sword. When the Prophet (pbuh) was informed of that, he said:

“Allah is Greater! I testify that I am Allah’s Slave and His Apostle!”

Then he ordered Bilal to announce amongst the people:

“None will enter Paradise but a Muslim, and Allah may support this religion (i.e. Islam) even with a disobedient man.” (Bukhari, Jihad, 182; Maghazi, 38; Qadar, 5; Muslim, Iman, 178)