We want to know who the prisoners of war are. Are they those who surrender themselves after laying down their arms without threat?
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The questioner : Regarding prisoners, we want to know who the prisoners of war are. Are they those who surrender themselves after laying down their arms without threat, and are they also those who are attacked and taken despite their resistance? And what about if one of these prisoners is killed in a specific manner, such as placing a bomb in his mouth or body after he has been captured and taken, and he was a company commander and did not surrender himself? We need a definition of prisoners.
The Shaykh : This requires a lecture. For now, please allow me to renew my ablution and perform our obligatory prayer, and then we will answer this question, if Allah wills.
Anyone who falls into the hands of the Muslims as a prisoner and was fighting against them, whether he was taken against his will or surrendered himself, is a prisoner according to all scholars. If the Muslim army invades a town and enters it by force, then all of them are prisoners, men and women. However, it is not permissible to kill women unless they are fighting. After the fighting disbeliever falls into the hands of the Muslims as a prisoner, the ruler or his deputy, the army commander, has the authority to deal with the prisoners in one of four ways. Two of these are mentioned in the Noble Qur'an in the saying of the Exalted:[Muhammad 47:4]. The third is enslavement, and the fourth is killing.
So the ruler or the commander, who is his deputy, sees what serves the interest of the Muslims in general or the interest of the invading Muslim army in particular, and he implements it by killing, enslaving, releasing, or ransoming.
The questioner : What does "releasing" mean?
The Shaykh : It means as it came in the hadith:.
The questioner : Meaning: for the sake of Allah. Well, if he is a disbeliever, how can they release him?
The Shaykh : No, I say: there is an interest here. I said that the matter returns to the army commander.
Do you remember perhaps a hadith where a Bedouin came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), asked him, and he gave him a hundred camels? This gift was such that Hatim al-Tai would not mention it in comparison. The man returned to his tribe and said: "Surrender to Islam, for the man..." He described him with what he had seen and described.
The questioner : And he was a disbeliever?
The Shaykh : Yes. And from this came, or for this wisdom, the category of "those whose hearts are to be reconciled" to attract their hearts. If the ruler sees that one or many of the prisoners, if he says to them: "Go, you are free," it will attract the hearts of these people.
The questioner : It reverses their hostility.
The Shaykh : There is profound wisdom in it. So, the choice of one of these four actions returns to the army commander. If he sees that the prisoner or prisoners should be killed, there is no blame on him. And if he sees exchange, which is known even today, the exchange of prisoners, or releasing, or ransoming.
The point is: but when the killing of a prisoner is intended, mutilation is not permissible. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade mutilation, just as he forbade the killing of women. One day he saw a group of his companions gathered around a dead woman. He asked, and they said: "This is a dead woman." He (peace be upon him) said: "This woman was not one to fight," and he forbade the killing of women.
So the scholars said: if women do not fight, it is not permissible to kill them. That is, the ruling of the four options, which is killing, does not apply to women unless they directly engage in fighting the Muslims.
So the situation you asked about earlier, the original ruling is that he is killed with a single strike of the sword, because that is the comfortable and prescribed killing. The hadith, although it was reported regarding the killing of an animal:.
And the human being, without doubt, even if he is a disbeliever, the human species is preferred over the animal. Therefore, the Prophet (peace be upon him) forbade mutilation. An exception may be made if it is known about a specific prisoner that he mutilated a Muslim, then the Muslim mutilates him, based on the saying of the Exalted:[Al-Baqarah 2:194]. But if he fought and fell into captivity, it is not permissible to torture him or mutilate him; rather, he is killed with a single strike of the sword.
The Shaykh : This requires a lecture. For now, please allow me to renew my ablution and perform our obligatory prayer, and then we will answer this question, if Allah wills.
Anyone who falls into the hands of the Muslims as a prisoner and was fighting against them, whether he was taken against his will or surrendered himself, is a prisoner according to all scholars. If the Muslim army invades a town and enters it by force, then all of them are prisoners, men and women. However, it is not permissible to kill women unless they are fighting. After the fighting disbeliever falls into the hands of the Muslims as a prisoner, the ruler or his deputy, the army commander, has the authority to deal with the prisoners in one of four ways. Two of these are mentioned in the Noble Qur'an in the saying of the Exalted:
either [confer] favor afterwards or ransom [them]
فإما منًّا بعد وإما فداءًSo the ruler or the commander, who is his deputy, sees what serves the interest of the Muslims in general or the interest of the invading Muslim army in particular, and he implements it by killing, enslaving, releasing, or ransoming.
The questioner : What does "releasing" mean?
The Shaykh : It means as it came in the hadith:
Go, you are the free ones
اذهبوا فأنتم الطّلقاءThe questioner : Meaning: for the sake of Allah. Well, if he is a disbeliever, how can they release him?
The Shaykh : No, I say: there is an interest here. I said that the matter returns to the army commander.
Do you remember perhaps a hadith where a Bedouin came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), asked him, and he gave him a hundred camels? This gift was such that Hatim al-Tai would not mention it in comparison. The man returned to his tribe and said: "Surrender to Islam, for the man..." He described him with what he had seen and described.
The questioner : And he was a disbeliever?
The Shaykh : Yes. And from this came, or for this wisdom, the category of "those whose hearts are to be reconciled" to attract their hearts. If the ruler sees that one or many of the prisoners, if he says to them: "Go, you are free," it will attract the hearts of these people.
The questioner : It reverses their hostility.
The Shaykh : There is profound wisdom in it. So, the choice of one of these four actions returns to the army commander. If he sees that the prisoner or prisoners should be killed, there is no blame on him. And if he sees exchange, which is known even today, the exchange of prisoners, or releasing, or ransoming.
The point is: but when the killing of a prisoner is intended, mutilation is not permissible. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade mutilation, just as he forbade the killing of women. One day he saw a group of his companions gathered around a dead woman. He asked, and they said: "This is a dead woman." He (peace be upon him) said: "This woman was not one to fight," and he forbade the killing of women.
So the scholars said: if women do not fight, it is not permissible to kill them. That is, the ruling of the four options, which is killing, does not apply to women unless they directly engage in fighting the Muslims.
So the situation you asked about earlier, the original ruling is that he is killed with a single strike of the sword, because that is the comfortable and prescribed killing. The hadith, although it was reported regarding the killing of an animal:
Indeed, Allah has prescribed excellence in everything. So if one of you slaughters, let him do the slaughter well, and if one of you kills, let him do the killing well, and let one of you sharpen his blade and let him be merciful to his victim.
إن الله كتب الإحسان على كل شيء فإذا ذبح أحدكم فليحسن الذِّبحة، وإذا قتل أحدكم فليحسن القِتلة وليُحدّ أحدكم شفرته وليُرح ذبيحتهAnd the human being, without doubt, even if he is a disbeliever, the human species is preferred over the animal. Therefore, the Prophet (peace be upon him) forbade mutilation. An exception may be made if it is known about a specific prisoner that he mutilated a Muslim, then the Muslim mutilates him, based on the saying of the Exalted: