A Christian student is objecting to the ruling of execution in Islam – her comments and our response to them

Praise
be to Allah

1.

It is good that questions from non-Muslims are put to those
who specialise in Islamic knowledge, to ask them about the rulings of Islam
and the wisdom behind these rulings. This is better for them than asking
these questions of ordinary Muslims who may be overcome by emotion and speak
without knowledge. Nevertheless, we hope that every questioner will be
sincerely prepared to accept the truth when he finds it, and that it will
not be a question solely for the purpose of criticism and objection. 

2.

Let us begin our answer with what the questioner mentioned,
which is “Doesn’t this soul belong to Allah alone?” We say: Yes, it does
belong to Allah alone, and hence it is not to be killed except by the leave
of its owner, namely Allah. If you see in the laws of Allah, may He be
exalted, any killing of a soul that is not done by Allah’s leave, then this
would be something embarrassing for us, because then you would have
established proof against us! 

Hence every time we say that So-and-so deserves to be killed
or to have the hadd punishment of execution carried out against him, if that
is not in accordance with the laws of Allah and by His leave as mentioned in
His Holy Book or on the lips of His Messenger who was sent by Him to His
slaves with His laws, then it is injustice and transgression. In that case
you have the right to object to the one who says that, no matter who he is,
and you and others have the right to criticise the one who does that or
thinks of it. 

But if permission to execute the one who deserves to be
executed, or the command to do so, is something that Allah has prescribed
for His slaves in His holy Book, or on the lips of His Messenger, the most
truthful one, then there is no room for you to ask such questions, because
the easy and straightforward answer is that this soul of whom you are
speaking belongs to the Lord of the Worlds; it is He Who gave it life and it
is He Who has prescribed that it is to be executed in this situation. 

In the answer to question no. 20824
we have explained the reasons for the punishment of execution in sharee‘ah;
please read this information there. 

3.

So as to be fair-minded to other people, and be fair and just
in our judgement of beliefs and ideas that we do not share, we must do two
things 

Firstly: we should see the image of the other person as it
really is, complete and not lacking, realistic and not distorted. 

Secondly: we should not reject from the other person that
which we accept from ourselves or from those with whom we are pleased. 

If we want to be fair-minded regarding the rulings of Islam,
then we must examine the cases in which Islam permits killing or execution,
or enjoins it, then we must complete the picture by finding out the measures
and rulings that have been set out to prevent unlawful killing and protect
society from that. 

Among the great rulings of Islam that are aimed at protecting
human life are the following: 

(a) 

The prohibition on suicide and killing oneself 

(b)

The prohibition on everything that is harmful to the body
and may lead to self-destruction, such as alcohol and drugs 

(c) 

The prohibition on abortion 

(d)

The prohibition on unlawful killing. There is a stern warning against
killing souls that are protected according to Islamic law, such as the words
of Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, (interpretation of the meaning):
“And
whoever kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell to abide
therein, and the Wrath and the Curse of Allah are upon him, and a great
punishment is prepared for him”
[an-Nisa’ 4:93]. That
even includes killing non-Muslims with whom the Muslims have treaties or who
are living under Muslim rule. Concerning that, our Prophet Muhammad
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever kills a non-Muslim
with whose people the Muslims have a (peace) treaty will not smell the
fragrance of Paradise, even though its fragrance may be detected from a
distance of forty years.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (2995).

Al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have
mercy on him) said:

What is meant is: a non-Muslim who has a
treaty with the Muslims, whether it is an agreement to pay jizyah, a truce
with a ruler, or a guarantee of protection from a Muslim.

End quote from Fath al-Baari
(1/259) 

(e) 

Hadd punishments are to be warded off where there is any
doubt (that an offence occurred). If there is any doubt about a hadd
punishment of execution, in such cases the person who is subject to that
punishment is not to be executed, because of that doubt which wards off the
hadd punishment of execution from him. 

(f)  

The hadd punishment of execution is reserved only for the
most serious crimes, such as apostasy, zina (unlawful sex) on the part of a
married person, and unlawful killing (murder), out of recognition of the
great importance of religion, honour and human life. There are many major
sins for which the hadd punishment is not execution, such as riba (usury),
theft, slander of chaste women, gossip and many others. If Islam were as the
unjust Western media portrays it, then the hadd punishment of execution
would be for every sin and crime. Allah forbid that Islam should be such,
when it has brought the most just and equitable rulings. 

(g) 

There is a stern warning against killing, and it is
taught that it may result in the killer becoming a disbeliever who is beyond
the pale of Islam, and that is when he regards killing and murder as
permissible, and does not forbid that to himself, because of his great
audacity in killing a soul who was protected by sharee‘ah. Concerning that
our Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “The
believer’s religious commitment will remain sound (and he is subject to the
mercy of Allah) so long as he does not shed blood that it is forbidden to
shed.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (6469). 

(h)

The decision to carry out the hadd punishment in Islam is
not to be made by ordinary individuals; rather that is something only for
shar‘i judges (qaadis) and people in authority. 

Al-Qurtubi (may Allah have mercy on him)
said:

There is no difference of opinion among
the scholars that retaliatory punishment of killing (qisaas) can only be
carried out by people in authority who have been given the power to carry
out qisaas and hadd punishments, and so on.

End quote from Tafseer al-Qurtubi
(2/245) 

If the matter of execution were left to people, so that each
person would settle his own scores, then the killing would go beyond simple
retaliation and the state of affairs would be as it was during the
Jaahiliyyah; ten people would be killed in return for one, and one or more
men would be killed in return for a woman, and all of these victims would
have been killed wrongfully. But in Islam it is essential to prove that the
accused did indeed kill the victim, and it is essential to establish that
there is no doubt about that, and only then does he deserve to be executed.
And the matter does not stop there; rather the family of the slain are
encouraged to freely pardon the killer, or to accept the diyah (blood money,
instead of calling for the killer to be executed). Islamic teaching
encourages the next of kin of the victim to pardon the killer, and promises
them an immense reward if they do that, but it allows them to accept a deal
giving them more than the prescribed blood money in order to win their
agreement not to carry out the sentence of execution on the killer. Of
course this encouragement to pardon and to seek intercession with the next
of kin of the victim is not applicable in cases where the killer is a
violent criminal who shows no signs of repentance or remorse for his deed.
In fact in such cases it is prohibited to intercede for him, and he is to be
executed in order to protect people’s lives. Concerning that Allah, may He
be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): “And
there is (a saving of) life for you in Al-Qisas (the Law of Equality in
punishment), O men of understanding, that you may become Al-Muttaqoon (the
pious” [al-Baqarah 2:179].
This eloquent sentence sums up the wisdom behind qisaas or retaliatory
execution of the killer, in a more eloquent and deep manner than the saying
that was current during the Jaahiliyyah. 

Shaykh ash-Shinqeeti (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

One of the teachings of the Qur’an which guides to that which
is best is qisaas, because if a person gets angry and wants to kill someone
else, but then he remembers that if he kills him, he will be killed
(executed) in return, he will fear the consequences and thus will refrain
from killing him. So the one whom he wanted to kill will live, and he
himself will also live, because he did not kill him and was not killed in
retaliation. And executing the killer will result in saving the lives of
many people, whose number no one knows except Allah, as we have stated
above. Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And
there is (a saving of) life for you in Al-Qisas (the Law of Equality in
punishment), O men of understanding, that you may become Al-Muttaqoon (the
pious” [al-Baqarah 2:179].
Undoubtedly this is one of the most equitable and fair of ways, and thus it
has been noted throughout the world, in the past and at present, how little
murder occurs in countries that are ruled in accordance with the Book of
Allah, because qisaas is a deterrent to the crime of murder, as Allah says
in the verse quoted above. 

What the enemies of Islam claim, that qisaas is not in
accordance with wisdom, because it reduces the numbers of people in society
by killing a second person after the first one died, and that he should be
punished in a way other than execution, such as being imprisoned, and he may
father a child whilst he is detained, thus increasing the numbers of people
in society, all of that is an invalid argument and is devoid of wisdom,
because detention does not deter people from killing, and if the punishment
did not serve as a deterrent, then the foolish people would commit a lot of
murders, thus exacerbating the reduction in numbers as a result of
widespread killing. 

End quote from Adwa’ al-Bayaan (3/31, 32) 

4.

Moreover, we say to you: do you know that the number of
people killed at the time of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him), of both Muslims and disbelievers – including the disbelievers who
were slain in battle – was no more than one thousand people on both sides?
Whereas you will find that thousands of people are killed in a single year
under Western laws that prohibit qisaas (retaliatory
execution).                                                              

5.

This objection is very strange on the part of a woman who
follows the Christian religion and obviously must believe what it says in
the Bible, which clearly prescribes execution. In fact it contains a command
to kill entire nations, men women and children.

In the twentieth chapter of the book of Deuteronomy (v. 10
ff) it says:

“¹⁰ When
you march up to attack a city, make its people an offer of peace.
¹¹ If they accept and open their gates, all
the people in it shall be subject to forced labor and shall work for you.
¹² If they refuse to make peace and they
engage you in battle, lay siege to that city.
¹³ When the
Lord
your God delivers it into your hand, put to the sword all the men in it.
¹⁴ As for the women, the children, the
livestock and everything else in the city, you may take these as plunder for
yourselves. And you may use the plunder the
Lord
your God gives you from your enemies.
¹⁵ This is how you are to treat all the cities
that are at a distance from you and do not belong to the nations nearby.

¹⁶ However,
in the cities of the nations the

Lord
your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that
breathes.
¹⁷ Completely destroy^[a]
them—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—as
the
Lord
your God has commanded you.
¹⁸ Otherwise, they will teach you to follow
all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin
against the
Lord
your God”

Deuteronomy 20:10-18 (New International
Version) 

From this text it is clear that God instructed (the
Israelites) to put to the sword every living soul – man, woman and child –
among those six peoples:
the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites,
Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 

With regard to other peoples, He commanded that they be
called:

First of all, to a peace deal; if they agreed to it, and
accepted to obey them, be subject to them and to pay the poll-tax, all well
and good.

Secondly, if they did not agree, then they were to be fought.

Thirdly, when they were defeated, all their males were to be
put to the sword, and their women and children were to be taken captive, and
their livestock and wealth were to be plundered and divided among the
fighters. 

This is what was done to all the peoples who were at a
distance from those six people. 

In the twenty third chapter of the Book of Exodus (v. 23 f)
it says:

“²³ My
angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites,
Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, and I will wipe
them out.
²⁴ Do not bow down before their
gods or worship them or follow their practices. You must demolish them and
break their sacred stones to pieces.”

Exodus 23:23-24 

See also Exodus 34:11f and Deuteronomy 7:1f 

In order to know the number of those whose execution the
Bible commanded, we have to know that these six peoples were more numerous
than the Israelites, and according to the numbers mentioned, they may have
reached several millions! 

See: Numbers 1:20 ff 

The bishop Dr Keith wrote a book in English about the stories
of the Israelite Prophets in which he says: 

It is known from ancient books that in the land of Judaea 550
years before the Exodus there were eighty million people. Therefore this is
the number which the Bible commanded be killed and eradicated: eighty
million. 

Then if we look at the Bible texts that contain emphatic
commands to kill and eradicate, we will find the following: 

In the twenty-second chapter of the Book of Exodus (v. 20),
it says: 

“Whoever
sacrifices to any god other than the

Lord
must be destroyed”

Exodus 22:20. 

In the thirty-second chapter of the Book of Exodus (v. 25 ff)
it says concerning the worshippers of the calf 

“²⁵ Moses
saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of
control and so become a laughingstock to their enemies. ²⁶ So he
stood at the entrance to the camp and said, ‘Whoever is for the
Lord, come to me.’ And all the Levites rallied to him.

²⁷ Then
he said to them, ‘This is what the
Lord, the God of Israel, says: “Each man strap a sword to his side.
Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing
his brother and friend and neighbor.”’ ²⁸ The Levites did as
Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died”

Exodus 32:25 ff 

In the twenty-fifth chapter of the Book of Numbers (v. 1 ff)
it says:

“While Israel
was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with
Moabite women, ² who invited them to the sacrifices to their
gods. The people ate the sacrificial meal and bowed down before these gods.
³ So Israel yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor. And the
Lord’s anger burned against
them.

⁴ The
Lord said to Moses, ‘Take all
the leaders of these people, kill them and expose them in broad daylight
before the Lord, so that the
Lord’s fierce anger may turn
away from Israel.’

⁵ So
Moses said to Israel’s judges, ‘Each of you must put to death those of your
people who have yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor.’

⁶ Then
an Israelite man brought into the camp a Midianite woman right before the
eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping at
the entrance to the tent of meeting. ⁷ When Phinehas son of
Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took
a spear in his hand ⁸ and followed the Israelite into the tent.
He drove the spear into both of them, right through the Israelite man and
into the woman’s stomach. Then the plague against the Israelites was
stopped; ⁹ but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000”

Numbers 1:1ff 

In the thirty-first chapter of the Book of Numbers it says
(v. 5 ff):

“⁵ So
twelve thousand men armed for battle, a thousand from each tribe, were
supplied from the clans of Israel.
⁶ Moses sent them into
battle, a thousand from each tribe, along with Phinehas son of Eleazar…

⁷ They
fought against Midian, as the
Lord
commanded Moses, and killed every man.
⁸ Among their victims were Evi, Rekem, Zur,
Hur and Reba—the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor
with the sword. ⁹ The Israelites
captured the Midianite women and children and took all the Midianite herds,
flocks and goods as plunder.
¹⁰ They burned all the towns where the Midianites
had settled, as well as all their camps….

¹⁴ Moses
was angry with the officers of the army—the commanders of thousands and
commanders of hundreds—who returned from the battle.

¹⁵ ‘Have
you allowed all the women to live?…

‘Now kill all the boys. And kill every
woman who has slept with a man,
¹⁸ but save for yourselves every girl who has
never slept with a man.’ …

So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the
Lord commanded Moses.

³² The
plunder remaining from the spoils that the soldiers took was 675,000 sheep,
³³ 72,000 cattle, ³⁴ 61,000 donkeys ³⁵ and
32,000 women who had never slept with a man”

Numbers 31:5 ff 

Here we may ask: if the number of virgins (women who had
never slept with a man) was 32,000, how many must the total number of males
who were killed – old men, young men and boys – have been? How many must the
number of married women (women who had slept with a man) have been? 

If we move on to the story of Joshua, we will find that he
killed millions, after the death of Moses! (as is mentioned in the Book of
Joshua). 

In the fifteenth chapter of the Book of Judges (v. 15 ff) it
says:

“¹⁵ Finding
a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men.

¹⁶ Then
Samson said,

‘With a donkey’s jawbone

    I
have made donkeys of them.

With a donkey’s jawbone

    I
have killed a thousand men.’”

Judges 15:15f 

In the seventeenth chapter of the First Book of Samuel (v.
8f) it says:

“⁸ Now
David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites and the
Amalekites. (From ancient times these peoples had lived in the land
extending to Shur and Egypt.) ⁹ Whenever David attacked an area,
he did not leave a man or woman alive, but took sheep and cattle, donkeys
and camels, and clothes. Then he returned to Achish.”

I Samuel 27:8f 

“and brought out the people who were there, consigning them
to labor [or cut them] with saws and with iron picks and axes. David did
this to all the Ammonite towns”

1 Chronicles 20:3 

And on and on it goes in the books of the Old Testament. 

What do the books of the New Testament say? 

What do the clergy who follow the New Testament believe? 

Paul commented on all of this – and much, much more – when he
said in his Epistle to the Hebrews (11:32-34): 

“³² And
what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak,
Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets,
³³ who through faith conquered kingdoms,
administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of
lions, ³⁴ quenched
the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness
was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign
armies”

Hebrews 11:32-34 

Paul thinks that the deeds of those whose names he listed
were acts of righteousness, faith, piety, and goodness! 

Thus the clergy in ancient and modern times transmitted
stories of destruction, slaughter and banishment with glee, glorifying and
praising God, and speaking of false signs and miracles. 

And the hymns in the churches repeat the words of Christ: “Do
not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to
bring peace, but a sword”
Matthew 10:34 

After reviewing the texts that we have quoted to you from
your own scriptures, we hope that, if time allows and you are sincere in
seeking the truth, that you will read the book Debate Between Islam and
Christianity (p. 342 ff) and Izhar ul-Haqq [the book is known in
English by its Arabic title] by Shaykh Rahmatullah Kairanawi (4/1256 ff). 

Here it may be said to the one who believes in the Bible: 

“⁴¹ Why
do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no
attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴² How can you say to
your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you
yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take
the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck
from your brother’s eye.”

Luke 6:41-42 

Finally: 

If you are someone who believes in religion and divinely
revealed laws, then we have quoted to you what it says in your holy Book,
from which it is clear that execution is prescribed far more frequently in
the Bible than in the teachings of Islam. 

If you rely on purely rational thinking, outside of religion,
then we have explained the wisdom and mercy towards society in the
prescription of qisaas (retaliatory execution) and punishment of the
apostate by execution. We ask Allah, may He be exalted, to show you the
truth as truth and enable you to follow it. We would be happy to answer any
further questions you may have. 

May Allah grant you insight, open your heart, guide you and
help you.

And Allah knows best.