Nasai

(1) By "muthlah" is meant the cutting of the limbs (such as ears, nose, private parts, etc.) of the slain in order to disgrace the corpse. This was a common practice in wars. The disbelievers used to do this with pride. Islam is a serious religion; therefore, the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) forbade muthlah even in wars and even with enemies. However, if a murderer had treated his victim in this way before or after killing him, then the same treatment will be meted out to him in the same manner, so that the right of retribution (qisas) is fulfilled and this act is discouraged.

(2) Some people, due to the hadith prohibiting muthlah, have declared the hadith of the ‘Uraniyyin abrogated. From the chapter arrangement of Imam al-Nasa’i rahimahullah, this apparently seems to be the case, as after the previous chapter heading, he has established a chapter on the prohibition of muthlah. From this, it appears as if the opinion of those people has been given preference. However, this is not correct, as has already been mentioned before. Rather, the preferred view is that the hadith of the ‘Uraniyyin is not abrogated, because the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) never ever performed muthlah on the ‘Uraniyyin. Whatever was done to them was only as retribution (qisas). Since those people had done the same to the shepherd of the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), therefore, the same was done to them in retribution. In the narration from Anas radi Allahu anhu, Sunan al-Nasa’i hadith: 4048, and in the narration from Anas radi Allahu anhu in Sahih Muslim hadith: 1671, it is explicitly stated that [إنَّما سمَل النَّبيُّ أعيُنَ أولئكَ لأنَّهم سمَلوا أعيُنَ الرِّعاءِ ] “The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) only gouged out their eyes because they had gouged out the eyes of the shepherds.” It is also possible that Imam al-Nasa’i rahimahullah mentioned this narration after the ahadith regarding the punishment of the people of the tribes of ‘Ukl and ‘Uraynah and the Jew, in order to indicate that the aforementioned ahadith are not contrary to this hadith; otherwise, the Companions would certainly have pointed it out—especially since the narrators of all three types of ahadith, i.e., the hadith of the ‘Uraniyyin, the killing of the Jew in retribution for the Ansari girl, and the hadith prohibiting muthlah, are all Anas radi Allahu anhu. (See also, hadith: 4039)