No one should punish with fire except the Lord of fire
عنْ ابنِ مَسْعُودٍ رَضيَ اللهُ عنهُ قَالَ: كُنَّا مَعَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فِي سَفَرٍ، فَانْطَلَقَ لِحَاجَتِهِ، فَرَأَيْنَا حُمَّرَةً مَعَهَا فَرْخَانِ، فَأَخَذْنَا فَرْخَيْهَا، فَجَاءَتِ الْحُمَرَةُ فَجَعَلَتْ تَفْرِشُ، فَجَاءَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَقَالَ: «مَنْ فَجَعَ هَذِهِ بِوَلَدِهَا؟ رُدُّوا وَلَدَهَا إِلَيْهَا»، وَرَأَى قَرْيَةَ نَمْلٍ قَدْ حَرَّقْنَاهَا، فَقَالَ: «مَنْ حَرَّقَ هَذِهِ؟» قُلْنَا: نَحْنُ. قَالَ: «إِنَّهُ لَا يَنْبَغِي أَنْ يُعَذِّبَ بِالنَّارِ إِلَّا رَبُّ النَّارِ».
Explanation
‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ūd (may Allah be pleased with him) mentioned that they were with the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) on a journey. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) went away to relieve himself, and during that time, his Companions found a Hummarah bird with two chicks, so they took the chicks. The mother bird began flapping and spreading her wings in distress over the loss of her chicks.
When the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) returned, he said: Who has saddened her and frightened her by taking away her baby birds?! Then he commanded that they should be returned to her. After that, he saw an ant colony that was burnt with fire, and he (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: Who burned this? Some of his Companions said: We did. He said to them: It is not permissible for anyone to torture a living being with fire, except Allah, Who created it.
Source
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