Jurisprudence and Juristic Principles

Sa‘īd ibn Zayd reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever is killed in defense of his wealth is a martyr. Whoever is killed in defense of his family, himself, or his religion is a martyr."

Abu Mūsa (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I came to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) along with two men (from the tribe) of Ash‘ariyyīn, one on my right and the other on my left, while the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) was brushing his teeth (with a tooth-stick), and both men asked him for employment (as governors). The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Abu Mūsa (or O ‘Abdullāh ibn Qays)!" I said: "By Him Who sent you with the truth, they did not tell me what was on their minds and I did not feel that they were seeking employment." As if I were looking now at his tooth-stick being drawn to a corner under his lips, and he said: "We will not (or, we do not) appoint for our affairs anyone who seeks that position. But O Abu Mūsa! (or O ‘Abdullāh ibn Qays!) You go to Yemen." The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) then sent Mu‘ādh ibn Jabal after him, and when Mu‘ādh reached him, he spread out a cushion for him and asked him to sit. There was a fettered man beside Abu Mūsa. Mu‘ādh asked: "Who is this (man)?" Abu Mūsa said: "He was a Jew and became a Muslim and then reverted back to Judaism." Then Abu Mūsa asked Mu‘ādh to sit down but Mu‘ādh said: "I will not sit down till he is killed. This is the judgment of Allah and His Messenger (for such cases)," and he repeated it thrice. Abu Mūsa ordered that the man be killed, and he was killed. Then they discussed the voluntary night prayers and one of them said: "I pray and sleep, and I hope that Allah will reward me for my sleep as He rewards me for my prayers."

‘Ikrimah reported: ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) burned some people, and this news reached Ibn ‘Abbās, who said: Had I been in his place, I would not have burned them, as the Prophet (ﷺ) said: "Do not punish (anybody) with Allah's punishment." No doubt, I would have killed them, for the Prophet (ﷺ) said: "Whoever changes his religion, kill him."

‘Ubādah ibn As-Sāmit (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Learn from me, learn from me. Allah has ordained another way for them (women who commit illegal sexual intercourse). (If) a virgin (commits adultery) with a virgin, (the punishment will be) one hundred lashes and exile for a year. (If) a non-virgin (commits adultery) with a non-virgin, (the punishment will be) one hundred lashes and stoning (to death).”

Asmā' bint Abu Bakr As-Siddīq (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said to me: "Do not withhold, lest Allah withhold from you." And in another narration: "Spend (in charity), and do not keep account, lest Allah keep account of you, and do not hoard, lest Allah hoard from you."

Ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: When Mā‘iz ibn Mālik came to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) (in order to confess adultery), the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: "Probably you have only kissed, winked, or looked (at the lady)?" He said: "No, O Messenger of Allah." The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: using no euphemism: "Did you copulate with her?" The narrator added: "At that, (i.e. after his confession) the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) ordered that he be stoned (to death)."

‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Abbās reported that ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb, while he was sitting on the Prophet's pulpit, said: "Verily Allah sent Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) with the truth and sent the Book down to him. Part of what was revealed to him was the verse on stoning. We recited, understood, and comprehended it. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) did administer stoning and we administered it after his death. Yet, I am concerned that, after a long time has passed, someone may say: 'We cannot find stoning in Allah's Book,' and they will be led astray for abandoning an obligation that Allah has sent down. Indeed, stoning is established in the Book of Allah against those married men and women who commit adultery, when there is evidence, pregnancy, or a confession."

Ibn ‘Umar reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) beat and exiled, Abu Bakr beat and exiled, and ‘Umar beat and exiled.

‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: When my vindication was revealed, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) got up onto the pulpit, mentioned what happened, and recited (the verses of the Qur'an that had been revealed). When he came down from the pulpit, he ordered that the two men and the woman (who made the false accusation) be given their prescribed punishment (eighty lashes).

Ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that Hilāl ibn Umayyah went to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and accused his wife of committing illegal sexual intercourse with Sharīk ibn Sahmā'. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Either you provide proof, or you will receive the legal punishment on your back." Hilāl said: "O Messenger of Allah, if one of us saw a man on top of his wife, should he go and look for witnesses?" The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) kept saying: "Either you provide proof, or you will receive the legal punishment on your back." Hilāl then said: "By the One Who sent you with the Truth, I am truthful, and Allah will reveal to you what will save my back from the legal punishment." Then (the following) was revealed: {And for those who accuse their wives...} [Sūrat An-Nūr: 24:6] He kept reciting until he reached: {...if he was of the truthful.} [ Sūrat An-Nūr: 24:9]. Then the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) left and had her summoned. So Hilāl came and took an oath. So the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) was saying: "Allah knows that one of you is a liar, so, will either of you repent?" Then the woman got up and took the oaths, and when she was about to take the fifth one, the people stopped her and said to her: "It will definitely bring about Allah's curse upon you (if you are guilty)." So she hesitated and recoiled so much that we thought that she would withdraw her denial. But she said: "I will not dishonor my family for the rest of their days." The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) then said: "Watch her, if she delivers a child with eyes that appear to have kohl on them, big bottoms, and fat shins, then it is Sharīk ibn Sahmā's child." (Later) she gave birth to a child fitting that description. So the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If it had not been settled in the Book of Allah, there would have been a matter between me and her."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I heard the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) say: "If somebody slanders his slave and the slave is innocent of what he says, he (the master) will be flogged on the Day of Judgment unless the slave really is as he described him."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "May Allah curse the thief who steals an egg and his hand is cut off for that, and he steals a rope and his hand is cut off for that."

Jābir (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Cutting (off hands) does not apply to a traitor, an usurper, or an embezzler.”

Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Hibbān reported: A slave stole a plant of a palm-tree from the orchard of a man and planted it in the orchard of his master. The owner of the plant went out in search of the plant and found it. He sought help against the slave from Marwān ibn al-Hakam, who was the Governor of Madīnah at that time. Marwān confined the slave and intended to cut off his hand. The slave's master went to Rāfi‘ ibn Khadīj and asked him about that case. Rāfi‘ told him that he had heard the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) say: "The hand is not to be cut off for taking fruit or Kathar (the pith of the palm-tree)." The man then said: "Marwān has seized my slave and wants to cut off his hand. I wish you would go with me to him and tell him what you have heard from the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him)." Rāfi‘ ibn Khadīj went with him to Marwān ibn al-Hakam. Rāfi‘ said to him: "I heard the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) say: ‘The hand is not to be cut off for taking fruit or Kathar.'" So Marwān gave orders to release the slave, and he was released.

‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘Ās (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) was asked about fruit on the tree. He said: "Whatever a needy person eats without putting any in his pocket (and taking it away), there is no penalty on him. But whoever takes something away, he must pay a fine of twice its value and receive punishment. Whoever steals something after it has been stored properly, and its value amounts to the price of a shield, his hand must be cut off."

Safwān ibn Umayyah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I was sleeping in the mosque while covered by a Khamīsah cloak of mine whose price was thirty dirhams. A man came and snatched it away from me. The man was seized and brought to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) who ordered that his hand should be cut off. I came to him and said: "Will you cut off his hand for the sake of only thirty dirhams? I will sell it to him on credit." He said: "Why did you not say this before bringing him to me?"

Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: A man who had drunk alcohol was brought to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and he gave the man about forty lashes with two palm branches. Anas added: “Abu Bakr did the same, but when ‘Umar became the caliph, he consulted the people, and ‘Abdur-Rahmān ibn ‘Awf said: ‘The lightest prescribed punishment is eighty (lashes).' So ‘Umar gave his commands accordingly."

Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: Allah sent down the verse wherein He prohibited alcohol at a time when there was no other (intoxicant) drink in Madīnah except that prepared from dates.

Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Every intoxicant is Khamr (alcoholic drink), and every intoxicant is prohibited. Whoever drinks Khamr in this world and dies while being addicted to it without repenting will not drink it in the Hereafter."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If I were to order anyone to prostrate himself before another, I would have ordered the wife to prostrate herself before her husband."