Allah Almighty says: {But if they repent, establish prayers and give Zakah, then set them free} [Surat al-Tawbah: 5]
The criterion for judging people in the worldly life is their apparent aspects, namely the words of the tongue and the actions of the body, whereas they are judged in the Hereafter according to what is hidden in their hearts. {On that day, you will be brought forth [before Allah], and none of your secrets will remain hidden.}
390/1- Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: “I have been commanded to fight against the people until they testify that there is no deity worthy of worship but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and until they establish the prayer and pay Zakat (alms). If they do so, their blood and property are guaranteed my protection, unless (they commit acts that are punishable) in accordance with Islam, and their reckoning will be with Allah Almighty.” [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri and Muslim]
1) The disbelievers should be fought until they enter into Islam, the proof of which is to pronounce the Two Testimonies of Faith, and to fulfill the requirements of Tawhīd.
2) Actions should be accepted and judged according to their apparent nature in the worldly life.
The Word of accepting Islam: “La ilaha illa Allah” (There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah) is the key to Islam. Verily, every key has teeth, and the teeth of the Word of Tawhīd are the good deeds, the most superior of which are carrying out the Shariah obligations, the supplements of faith, as well as shunning prohibitions.
391/2 - Abu ‘Abdullah, Tāriq ibn Ushaym (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: “I heard the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) saying: ‘Whoever says, ‘there is no god except Allah’ and disbelieves in everything worshiped besides Allah, his property and blood become inviolable, and his reckoning will be with Allah Almighty.’” [Narrated by Muslim]
1) Disassociation from false deities that are worshiped besides Allah Almighty is a condition for the validity of Tawhīd.
2) The blood, property and honor of a Muslim are inviolable. It is impermissible to transgress against a Muslim or to inflict harm upon him.
3) People should be judged according to their apparent aspect, whereas their hidden aspects are entrusted to Allah.
392/3- Abu Ma‘bad, Al-Miqdād ibn al-Aswad (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: “I said to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him), ‘What if I meet a man from the disbelievers and we fight each other. He strikes one of my hands with the sword and cuts it off. Then he seeks refuge from me in a tree and says, ‘I have submitted to Allah (i.e. I accepted Islam).’ O Messenger of Allah, shall I kill him after he had said it?’ He said: ‘Do not kill him.’ I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, he cut off one of my hands, and then he said this after he had cut it.’ Thereupon he said: ‘Do not kill him, for if you kill him, he will be in the same position of you before you have killed him, and you will be in the same position he had been before saying the word which he had said.’” [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri and Muslim]
‘He will be in the same position of you’ means that his blood is inviolable on account of embracing Islam, whereas ‘you will be in the same position he had been’ means that your blood is no longer inviolable because you become liable for retribution due for his heirs. It does not mean that he is in the position of him in terms of disbelief. Allah knows best.
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1) Whoever enters Islam by proclaiming the testimony of Tawhīd will have his blood protected, even if he had sinned excessively before it, unless he is liable for some right.
2) A Muslim has to adapt his inclination in accordance with the Islamic law, not with bigotry and revenge. Spite has no place in the Shariah. Souls can never be refined and purified unless they give up their desires in favor of obeying their Lord.
393/4- Usāmah ibn Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) reported: “The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) sent us to Al-Huraqah, a branch of the Juhaynah Tribe. We attacked them early in the morning and defeated them, and I and a man from the Ansār caught hold of one of their men. When we overcame him, he said, ‘There is no god but Allah.’ At that moment, the Ansāri spared him, but I stabbed him with my spear and killed him. When we returned to Madinah, news of that incident reached the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him), so he said to me: ‘O Usāmah! Did you kill him after he had said, ‘There is no god but Allah’?’ I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, he just said it out of fear!’ He said: ‘Did you kill him after he had said, ‘There is no god but Allah’?’ He kept repeating this statement till I wished that I had not embraced Islam before that day.” [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri and Muslim]
Another narration reads: “So, the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘Did he say, ‘There is no god but Allah’ and you (still) killed him?!’ I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, he only said it out fear of the weapon.’ He said: ‘Why did you not split open his heart so that you could know if he had said it sincerely or not?!’ He continued repeating it until I wished that I had embraced Islam only that day.”
He said it out of fear: i.e. to avoid being killed, not out of belief in it.
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1) People in the life of this world must be judged according to their apparent state, and what is hidden in their hearts is entrusted to Allah Almighty for judgment.
2) Transgressing against the limits of Shariah is strictly disapproved, even when done out of mistaken personal reasoning.
394/5- Jundub ibn ‘Abdullāh (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: “The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) sent an army of the Muslims to a tribe of polytheists. The two sides met in combat. There was one of the polytheists who, whenever he wanted to aim for one of the Muslims, he went straight for him and killed him. A man from the Muslims was waiting for a chance to attack him while he was unaware. We heard that it was Usāmah ibn Zayd. When he (the Muslim man) raised his sword, the polytheist said, ‘There is no god but Allah’, but he killed him. A man came to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) with news of the victory, and he asked him (about the battle) so he informed him of everything including what that man (Usāmah) had done. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) summoned him and asked him: ‘Why did you kill him?’ He said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, He struck many of the Muslims and killed so-and-so of them – and he named a group. I attacked him and when he saw the sword he said, ‘There is no god but Allah.’’ The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘Did you kill him?’ Usāmah said, ‘Yes.’ The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘What will you do with (his statement): ‘There is no god but Allah’ if it comes on the Day of Judgment?’ Usāmah said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, seek forgiveness for me!’ He said: ‘And what will you do with ‘There is no god but Allah’ if it comes on the Day of Judgment?’ He added nothing, but kept repeating: ‘What will you do with ‘There is no god but Allah’ if it comes on the Day of Judgment?’” [Narrated by Muslim]
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1) Repayment of wrong should be done out of jealousy for the religion of Allah. Only those who are surely known to be disbelievers should be killed. But those whose hidden beliefs are unknown should be entrusted to Allah Almighty.
2) The statement of Tawhīd will be of a great status when it comes in the person’s record on the Day of Judgment. So, prosperous is he who is guided to fulfill the implications of Tawhīd.
395/6- ‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Utbah ibn Mas‘ūd reported: “I heard ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb (may Allah be pleased with him) say, ‘People were judged by the divine revelation during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him), but the divine revelation has ceased. Now, we only judge you by what is apparent to us from your deeds. Whoever appears to be good, we trust and honor him, and what he does in secret is not of our concern, for Allah will judge him for what he does in secret. Whoever appears to be evil, we will not trust or believe him, even if he says that his hidden aspect is good.’” [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri]
‘People were judged by the divine revelation’: This refers to the group of hypocrites who were exposed by the revelation that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) received concerning them.
1) Judging people’s hidden beliefs is a matter belonging to the unseen which are known to Allah Almighty alone. Those in charge of implementing the Shariah rulings should judge people according to their apparent states, while their secret state is entrusted to Allah.
2) On the Day of Recompense, one will be reckoned according to the intentions he hid within himself, if they are good, he will have good things, and if they are evil, he will be recompensed accordingly.
3) The one endeared and favored by the believers is the one whose deeds are good and displays what is good.