Tuesday, August 23, 2011

A weak hadeeth concerning the prohibition on helping to kill a Muslim

 

There is a saheeh hadeeth in which the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever helps to kill a Muslim, even with half a word, will meet Allaah with (the words) written between his eyes, ‘He has no hope of the mercy of Allaah.’”– i.e., the mercy of Allaah will not descend upon one who helps a kaafir to kill a Muslim. This is what I understand from the hadeeth. Please explain further.

Praise be to Allaah.
 

 

Firstly:  

This hadeeth was narrated by Ibn Maajah (2620) and al-‘Aqeeli
in al-Du’afa’ (457) and al-Bayhaqi in al-Sunan (8/22). It is a
da’eef (weak) hadeeth which is not soundly narrated from the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). Imam Ahmad said: This hadeeth
is not saheeh. 

Indeed, Abu Haatim ruled it to be mawdoo’ (fabricated), and
al-Dhahabi agreed with him. Ibn al-Jawzi narrated it in al-Mawdoo’aat
(2/104). Ibn Hibbaan said: This is a mawdoo’ (fabricated) hadeeth which has
no basis. 

Ibn Hajar and al-Mundhiri said: (This is) a very weak
hadeeth. Al-Zayla’i said: it is a weak (da’eef) hadeeth. 

Al-Albaani mentioned it in Da’eef Sunan Ibn Maajah and
said: (it is) very weak. 

Secondly: 

Even though this hadeeth
is weak, there is no doubt that helping to kill a Muslim unlawfully is a
major sin. 

Al-‘Izz ibn ‘Abd al-Salaam (may Allaah have mercy on him)
said in his book al-Qawaa’id: 

If you want to know the difference between a minor sin and a
major sin, then compare the consequences of the sin with the consequences of
a major sin as stated in the texts. If it is less than the least
consequences of a major sin, then it is a minor sin. If it is equal to or
greater than the least consequences of a major sin, then it is also a major
sin. Whoever insults the Lord, may He be glorified, or His Messenger
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), or mocks the Messengers, or
disbelieves in one of them, or throws filth at the Ka’bah, or throws the
Mus-haf into the garbage – these are major sins, even though sharee’ah does
not state clearly that they are major sins. Similarly, if a person holds
down a chaste woman for another to commit zina with her, or holds down a
Muslim for him to kill him, the evil consequences of that are undoubtedly
greater than the consequences of consuming the wealth of an orphan, even
though that is also a major sin. Similarly if a person guides the kuffaar to
the weak points of the Muslims, even though he knows that they will destroy
the Muslims as a result of his help and will take their women and children
captive, and plunder their wealth, then this is more serious than his
running away from the battle field with no excuse, even though that is a
major sin. Similarly if he tells a lie about a person for which he knows
that person will be killed, then it is a major sin, but telling a lie which
will result in a date being taken away from him, is not a major sin.”  

Helping a kaafir to kill a Muslim may constitute kufr in some
cases. The scholars mentioned things that nullify a person’s Islam, one of
which is supporting the mushrikeen and helping them against the Muslims. See
question no. 33691. 

Thirdly: 

It is not permissible for anyone to take the matter of
attributing hadeeth to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) lightly. He Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) said: “Whoever tells lies about me, it is not like telling lies about
anyone else. Whoever tells lies about me deliberately, let him take his
place in Hell. Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 1291; Muslim, 4. 

And he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
“Whoever narrates a hadeeth from me which is known to be false, he is one of
the liars.” Narrated by Muslim in the introduction to his Saheeh. 

And al-Nawawi said: 

[This hadeeth has been narrated in two versions, one of which
says al-kaadhibayn (the two liars – dual form) and the more
well-known version which says al-kaadhibeen (the liars – plural).]
Al-Qaadi ‘Iyaad said: The version which we have says al-kaadhibeen
(plural) and Abu Na’eem al-Asbahaani narrated it in his book
al-Mustakhraj ‘ala Saheeh Muslim from the hadeeth of Samurah, where it
says al-kaadhibayn, in the dual form. Some of the imams said that the
word yura [translated above as “known to be” as yara [meaning “knowing
(himself).” Or it could mean “thinking [that it is false].” In this case the
hadeeth means that the person becomes a sinner only when he himself knows or
thinks that what he is narrating from the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) is a lie. But if he did not know or think that it was
a lie, then there is no sin on him if he narrated it, even if others think
that it is false, or know that to be the case.  But what we may conclude
from this hadeeth is that lying is stronly condemned, and that whoever
thinks that what he is narrating is most likely false, but still narrates
it, is a liar. How can he not be a liar when he is narrating something that
did not happen? 

If a person does not have sufficient knowledge to be able to
distinguish between a saheeh hadeeth and a da’eef one, then he should ask
the scholars who are specialized in this field, and refer to the comments of
the imams and scholars that are compiled in books, in accordance with the
words of Allaah (interpretation of the meaning): 

“So ask of those who know the Scripture, if you know not”

[al-Nahl 16:43].

 

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