4: 92 If such people neither leave you alone nor offer you peace nor restrain their hands from hurting you, seize them and slay them wherever you come upon them. It is against these that We have granted you a clear sanction.
(92) It is not for a believer to slay another believer unless by mistake. And he who has slain a believer by mistake, his atonement is to set free from bondage a believing person64 and to pay blood-money to his (that is, the slain person’s) heirs,65 unless they forgo it by way of charity. And if the slain belonged to a hostile people, but was a believer, then the atonement is to set free from bondage a believing person. ▶
64 Since the person killed was a believer, expiation of the sin required the emancipation of a Muslim slave.
65 The Prophet (peace be on him) has fixed the blood-money at either 100 camels, 200 oxen or 2,000 heads of cattle. If someone wished to pay this in another form the amount would be determined with reference to the market value of the animals mentioned above. For instance, for those who wished to pay blood-money in cash, the fixed amount in the time of the Prophet (peace be on him) was 800 dinars (8,000 dirhams). In the time of Caliph [Umar the amount of blood-money was fixed at 1000 golden dinars (12,000 silver dirhams). It should be noted, however, that this amount relates to an unintentional rather than a deliberate homicide.
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And if the slain belonged to a (non-Muslim) people with whom you have a covenant, then the atonement is to pay the blood-money to his heirs, and to set free from bondage a believing person.66 But he who cannot (free a slave) should fast for two consecutive months.67 This is the penance ordained by Allah.68 Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise. ▶
66 The legal injunctions embodied in this verse are as follows:
(1) If the victim was a resident of the Domain of Islam (Dar al-Islam), the assassin is not only required to pay blood-money but also to emancipate a slave by way of expiation.
(2) If the victim was a resident of the Domain of War (Dar al-Harb), the assassin is only required to emancipate a slave.
(3) If the victim was a resident of a non-Muslim country which had treaty relations with an Islamic state, the assassin is required to emancipate a slave and also to pay blood-money. The amount of blood-money, however, depends on the terms stipulated in the treaty between the Muslims and the territory to which the victim belonged.
67 This means that he should observe uninterrupted fasting for the entire period. If a man breaks his fast for just one day without a legally valid reason, he will be required to resume fasting afresh.
68 This shows that what has been prescribed is an act of repentance and expiation rather than a penalty inflicted on a criminal. Penalization is essentially devoid of the spirit of repentance and of the urge to self-reform. A penalty is suffered under duress, usually with resentment, and leaves behind repugnance and bitterness. On the contrary, what God wants is that the believer who has committed a sin should wash away its stain from his soul by supererogatory worship, by acts of charity, and by a meticulous fulfilment of the duties incumbent upon him. Such a person is required to turn to God in remorse and repentance so that his sin may be forgiven and his soul secured against the recurrence of similar errors.
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Al-Nisa’ 4: 93–4
(93) And he who wilfully slays a believer his reward is Hell, where he will abide. Allah’s wrath is against him and He has cast His curse upon him, and has prepared for him a great chastisement.
(94) Believers! When you go forth in the Way of Allah, ascertain and distinguish (between friend and foe), and do not say to him who offers you the greeting of peace: “You are not a believer.” If you seek the good of this worldly life, there lies with Allah abundant gain. After all, you too were such before, but then Allah was gracious to you. Discern, then,69 for Allah is well aware of what you do.
69 In the early days of Islam the greeting of al-salam [alaykum (“peace be on you”) was a distinguishing symbol of the Muslims. When a Muslim greeted another Muslim with this expression it signified that he was a member of the same community, that he was a friend and well-wisher, one who wished peace and security, from whom one need entertain no fear of hostility and towards whom, in return, one should not behave with hostility. This was particularly important in those days because there were no distinctions in dress, language and so on by which the Muslims could be conclusively marked off from others.
The Muslims also encountered a strange problem on the battlefield. Whenever a Muslim was in danger of being harmed inadvertently by other Muslims during fighting, he resorted to either the Islamic greeting (al-salam [alaykum) or to pronouncing the Islamic creed. “There is no god save Allah” (la ilaha illa Allah) in order to indicate that he was their brother-in-faith. The Muslims, however, often suspected this to be merely a ruse of the enemy and therefore, sometimes, disregarded the utterance of the Islamic greeting or of the Islamic creed, and
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Al-Nisa’ 4: 95–7
(95) Those believers who sit at home, unless they do so out of a disabling injury, are not the equals of those who strive in the Way of Allah with their possessions and their lives. Allah has exalted in rank those who strive with their possessions and their lives over those who sit at home; this even though to each Allah has promised some good reward, He has preferred for a mighty reward those who strive (in the Way of Allah) over those who sit at home. (96) For them are ranks, forgiveness, and favours from Him. Allah is All-Forgiving, All-Compassionate.
(97) While taking the souls of those who were engaged in wronging themselves,70 the angels asked: ▶
killed such people. The purport of the verse is that no one has the right to summarily judge those who profess to be Muslims, and to assume them to be lying for fear of their lives. At least two possibilities exist: the claim may either be true or it may be false. The truth can only be ascertained by proper investigation. While it is impossible to investigate a person’s case properly during fighting, and this might enable him to save his life by lying, it is equally possible that an innocent, true believer might be put to death by mistake.
70 The reference here is to those who, instead of going to the battlefield, stayed behind along with the unbelievers, despite no genuine disability. They were satisfied with a life made up of a blend of Islamic and un-Islamic elements, even though they had the chance to emigrate to Dar al-Islam and thus enjoy a full Islamic life and had also been invited by Dar al-Islam to emigrate, thereby ensuring the safety of their faith.
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