Hadith of the week

The narration above narrated by Abdullahi ibn Mas'ud states that it is unlawful to shed Muslim blood except under 3 circumstances. This shows how valuable the blood of a believer is in the religion of Islam but, also shows that there are some grave sins that a Muslim can commit which makes their blood lose it value.

There are 5 necessities within Islam, which should be preserved using its rulings.

They are:

• The preservation of the deen (religion)
• The preservation of life
• The preservation of intellect
• The preservation of honour
• The preservation of wealth

Now, you may be asking 'Why is it permissible to shed Muslim blood under those three circumstances?'

The three instances mentioned in the narration directly contradict with the 5 things that Islam is meant to preserve.

• The adulterer: He has gone against the preservation of honour.
• The man who kills a Muslim intentionally: He has gone against the preservation of life.
• The one who has left the Jama'ah (apostated from his religion): He has gone against the preservation of the deen.

Although this may seem over the top, in today’s day and age, all of these many sins have become normalised to the point where we believe that they are a lot less serious than they really are. Even as recent as 50 years ago, adultery was something that was incredibly uncommon but in the modern world it has moreso become something that is overlooked and sometimes even congratulated. To kill a Muslim back in the times of the prophet SAW, was equivalent to killing your brother. "Indeed the believers are brothers". Therefore, killing a Muslim intentionally was just as bad as killing the son of your mother. In todays time, it is exactly the same in terms of the weight of the sin however, it has become a blurred line where believers will kill each other and even kill non-believers in the same manner all for trivial reasons. Growing up in London, I personally have seen many people get murdered both on the news and locally, all for materialistic items such as designer clothes or drugs. This is something unacceptable both towards believers and non-believers as there is no genuine reason to carry out the harm and therefore, it is a grave sin that should not be ignored. As for the one who has apostated from his religion (Islam) after having 'believed' in it. It is treated very seriously due to the fact that when Allah SWT sends a sign to the people, we have seen that if they are given a clear sign and still disbelieve, they are punished for their ignorance. We have seen this in the stories of the prophets such as the prophet Salih when he brought his people a clear sign and they persisted in rejecting him as a prophet of Allah, so Allah punished them. When Allah has guided a person to his deen and then he apostates, he was at one point, given a choice as to whether he wanted to find his answers within his deen or live a 'free life' with no worries. This is the reason as to why it now becomes lawful to punish him as he has chosen a path of ignorance.

Please feel free to message us on our instagram @svjood with your opinions on this hadith and any questions regarding it. Also, feel free to give me your opinions on the structure and explanation of this hadith as I hope I explained it well! - Sajjad (Director of Sujood LTD)