سنن ابي داود
Abu Dawud
كتاب الحدودPrescribed Punishments (Kitab Al-Hudud)
باب فِي الاِمْتِحَانِ بِالضَّرْبِChapter: Testing by means of beating.
Hadith 4382
اُردوEn
حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الْوَهَّابِ بْنُ نَجْدَةَ ، حَدَّثَنَا بَقِيَّةُ ، حَدَّثَنَا صَفْوَانُ ، حَدَّثَنَا أَزْهَرُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ الْحَرَازِيُّ " أَنَّ قَوْمًا مِنْ الْكَلَاعِيِّينَ سُرِقَ لَهُمْ مَتَاعٌ ، فَاتَّهَمُوا أُنَاسًا مِنَ الْحَاكَةِ ، فَأَتَوْا النُّعْمَانَ بْنَ بَشِيرٍ صَاحِبَ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ، فَحَبَسَهُمْ أَيَّامًا ثُمَّ خَلَّى سَبِيلَهُمْ فَأَتَوْا النُّعْمَانَ ، فَقَالُوا : خَلَّيْتَ سَبِيلَهُمْ بِغَيْرِ ضَرْبٍ وَلَا امْتِحَانٍ ، فَقَالَ النُّعْمَانُ : مَا شِئْتُمْ إِنْ شِئْتُمْ أَنْ أَضْرِبَهُمْ فَإِنْ خَرَجَ مَتَاعُكُمْ فَذَاكَ وَإِلَّا أَخَذْتُ مِنْ ظُهُورِكُمْ مِثْلَ مَا أَخَذْتُ مِنْ ظُهُورِهِمْ ، فَقَالُوا : هَذَا حُكْمُكَ ، فَقَالَ : هَذَا حُكْمُ اللَّهِ وَحُكْمُ رَسُولِهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ " ، قَالَ أَبُو دَاوُد : إِنَّمَا أَرْهَبَهُمْ بِهَذَا الْقَوْلِ أَيْ لَا يَجِبُ الضَّرْبُ إِلَّا بَعْدَ الِاعْتِرَافِ .
Azhar ibn Abdullah al-Harari said: Some goods of the people of Kila' were stolen. They accused some men of the weavers (of theft). They came to an-Numan ibn Bashir, the companion of the Prophet ﷺ. He confined them for some days and then set them free. They came to an-Numan and said: You have set them free without beating and investigation. An-Numan said: What do you want? You want me to beat them. If your goods are found with them, then it is all right; otherwise, I shall take (retaliation) from your back as I have taken from their backs. They asked: Is this your decision? He said: This is the decision of Allah and His Messenger ﷺ. Abu Dawud said: By this statement he frightened them ; that is, beating is not necessary except after acknowledgement.
Related hadith on this topic
Explanation & Benefits
Shaykh Umar Farooq Saeedi
Benefits and Issues:
To beat or physically punish an accused or suspect for the purpose of investigation is a matter of scholarly disagreement among the jurists (fuqaha).
The Hanafis and Shafi‘is deny its permissibility, as it is possible that the person is in reality innocent, and thus punishing him would be oppression. However, the Malikis consider it permissible.
In any case, the judge (qadi) or ruler should investigate in light of the circumstances and conditions, just as during the Battle of Badr, the Companions (radi Allahu anhum) beat a slave of the Quraysh and tried to extract information from him.
(Sahih Muslim, Book of Jihad, Chapter: The Battle of Badr, Hadith: 1779)
To beat or physically punish an accused or suspect for the purpose of investigation is a matter of scholarly disagreement among the jurists (fuqaha).
The Hanafis and Shafi‘is deny its permissibility, as it is possible that the person is in reality innocent, and thus punishing him would be oppression. However, the Malikis consider it permissible.
In any case, the judge (qadi) or ruler should investigate in light of the circumstances and conditions, just as during the Battle of Badr, the Companions (radi Allahu anhum) beat a slave of the Quraysh and tried to extract information from him.
(Sahih Muslim, Book of Jihad, Chapter: The Battle of Badr, Hadith: 1779)
Source: Sunan Abu Dawood – Commentary by Shaykh Umar Farooq Saeedi, Page: 4382
Hafiz Muhammad Ameen
(1) It is not correct for the verifier of the book to declare the chain of this narration as weak. According to him, the reason for weakness is that there is doubt regarding Azhar bin Abdullah’s hearing from Hazrat Nu’man bin Bashir, but he has not mentioned any evidence for this doubt. The fundamental principle is that when a trustworthy (thiqa) or reliable (saduq) narrator reports with “an” (i.e., using the word “from”) and he is not accused of tadlis (concealing the directness of transmission), then his narration will be considered as based on hearing (sama’). And no one has called Azhar a mudallis (one who practices tadlis). Perhaps for this reason, Shaykh al-Albani and other scholars have graded this narration as hasan (good).
(2) In this chapter, the “thief” refers to a person upon whom the accusation of theft is made, but there is neither any witness nor is the stolen property recovered from him. Such a person, against whom there are indications of being a thief, can be detained for the purpose of investigation. If he confesses or the stolen property is recovered from him, then the punishment for theft becomes obligatory upon him. If nothing is proven, then he should be released, as is established from the conduct of Hazrat Nu’man bin Bashir radi Allahu anhu. Furthermore, it is not permissible to beat him, because through beating, even an innocent person can be made to confess. To beat an innocent or merely suspected person is oppression. However, it is correct that the truth be elicited with wisdom and prudence, or by intimidating him, etc., the reality may be ascertained.
(2) In this chapter, the “thief” refers to a person upon whom the accusation of theft is made, but there is neither any witness nor is the stolen property recovered from him. Such a person, against whom there are indications of being a thief, can be detained for the purpose of investigation. If he confesses or the stolen property is recovered from him, then the punishment for theft becomes obligatory upon him. If nothing is proven, then he should be released, as is established from the conduct of Hazrat Nu’man bin Bashir radi Allahu anhu. Furthermore, it is not permissible to beat him, because through beating, even an innocent person can be made to confess. To beat an innocent or merely suspected person is oppression. However, it is correct that the truth be elicited with wisdom and prudence, or by intimidating him, etc., the reality may be ascertained.
Source: Sunan Nasa'i: Translation and Benefits by Shaykh Hafiz Muhammad Amin Hafizullah, Page: 4878
