Crime Against Life

**Definition:** Crime against life is every act that leads to the departure of the soul - that is, killing. **Prohibition of Unlawful Killing:** Muslims have unanimously agreed on the prohibition of killing without right. **Evidence from the Quran:** Allah says: "And do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden except by right" [Al-Isra: 33] **Evidence from the Sunnah:** Abdullah ibn Mas'ud رضي الله عنه reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "The blood of a Muslim who testifies that there is no god but Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah is not lawful except in three cases: the married person who commits adultery, a life for a life, and the one who forsakes his religion and separates from the community" [Bukhari & Muslim]. So the prohibition of killing without right is established by the Quran, the Sunnah, and Consensus. --- **Ruling on One Who Kills Without Right:** Whoever kills a soul without right is under threat of punishment for committing one of the major sins. Allah has emphasized the gravity of killing, saying: "Whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption [done] in the land - it is as if he had slain mankind entirely" [Al-Ma'idah: 32]. The Prophet ﷺ said: "A believer continues to guard his religion so long as he does not shed blood unlawfully" [Bukhari]. Allah has warned him saying: "And whoever kills a believer intentionally - his recompense is Hell, wherein he will abide eternally, and Allah has become angry with him and has cursed him and has prepared for him a great punishment" [An-Nisa: 93]. His affair is with Allah - if He wills, He will punish him, and if He wills, He will forgive him, based on His saying: "Indeed, Allah does not forgive association with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills" [An-Nisa: 48]. He falls under divine will because his sin is less than shirk - this is if he does not repent. But if he repents, his repentance is accepted. However, the right of the killed person in the Hereafter is not waived merely by the killer's repentance.