Regarding prisoners of war, we want to know who the prisoners of war are in war; are they those who surrender themselves after laying down their arms without threat?

The questioner : Regarding prisoners of war, we want to know who the prisoners of war are in war; are they those who surrender themselves after laying down their arms without threat? And are they also those who are defeated and surrender against their will? And what is the ruling if this man among the prisoners is taken and a specific method of killing is set for him, such as placing a bomb in his mouth or in his body after they have captured and taken him?

Another questioner : He was a commander.

The questioner: Yes.

Another questioner : He was a battalion commander.

The Shaykh : A battalion commander?

Another questioner : ... .

The questioner : Yes, and we want a definition of prisoners of war?

The Shaykh : This requires a lecture, and now allow me to renew my ablution and we will pray our obligatory prayer, then we will answer this question - if Allah wills - .
Everyone who falls into the hands of the Muslims as a prisoner... and whether falling into captivity is against his will or he surrenders himself, he is a prisoner. It is the view of all scholars that if the Muslim army invades a town and enters it by force, then all of them are prisoners, women and men alike. However, it is not permissible to kill women unless they are fighting. Then, after the fighting disbeliever falls into the hands of the Muslims as a prisoner, the ruler or his deputy - meaning the army commander - must deal with the prisoners in one of four ways. Two of these are mentioned in the Noble Qur'an in His saying - Mighty and Majestic - : , the third is enslavement and making them slaves, and the fourth is killing. So the ruler or the commander who is his deputy sees what realizes the benefit of the Muslims in general or the benefit of the Muslim army... in particular, and he implements it; either by killing, enslavement, release, or ransom; meaning as came in the hadith: .

The questioner : ... meaning for the sake of Allah.

The Shaykh : Yes, that is right.

The questioner : If he is a disbeliever, how is it?

The Shaykh : But, no, I say in terms of benefit here, I said that the matter returns to the army commander. Do you perhaps remember a hadith where an Arab came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and asked him, so he gave him a hundred camels from him. This gift is insignificant compared to Hatim al-Tai. The man returned to his tribe and said: "Surrender to Islam, for the man..." and he described him with what he... was.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : And from here came, or for this wisdom came, the text regarding "those whose hearts are to be reconciled." So if the ruler sees that one or many of the prisoners, if he says to them "Go, you are free," it will bring the hearts of the other disbelievers.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : ... So these four actions, the choice of one of them returns to the army commander. If he sees that killing the prisoner or prisoners is appropriate, there is no blame on him. And if he sees exchange, and this system is known even today, the exchange of prisoners, or what? Release or ransom.
The point is: But when it is intended to kill the prisoner, mutilation is not permissible; because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade looting, as he forbade killing women. One day he saw a group of his companions gathered and surrounding a dead woman, so he asked, and they said: "This is a dead woman." - And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah and His blessings - so he said (peace be upon him): , and he forbade killing women.
So the scholars said that if women do not fight, it is not permissible to kill them, meaning the ruling is one of the four, which is killing, not for killing women; except if they engaged in combat... So the situation you asked about earlier, the original in the system of Islam is that he is killed with a single strike of the sword; because it is the comfortable and prescribed killing. And although the hadith was reported regarding animals: , and the human being, without doubt, even if he is a disbeliever, the human species is preferred over the animal. And therefore he (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade mutilation. An exception may be made in this if it is known about a specific prisoner that he mutilated a Muslim, then he is mutilated, by way of His saying - the Exalted - : . As for him who fought and fell into captivity, it is not permissible to torture him or... but rather he is killed with a single strike of the sword.
This ... .