Nasai

Urdu marginal note:
"His own and the murdered person's sins"—that is, in the case of pardon, the sins of the murdered person will also be placed upon the murderer, and the murdered person will become one destined for Paradise. This is contrary to taking retribution (qisas), in which case the sin of murder is forgiven for the murderer, but there is no guarantee that the sins of the murdered person will be forgiven.

Hadith Commentary: Benefits and Issues: When dawn (fajr) appears, after the call to prayer (adhan) and before the obligatory prayer, only the two sunnah units (rak‘ahs) of Fajr are to be performed; without a valid reason, no other prayer may be offered at this time. However, if someone has missed the ‘Isha prayer or the witr prayer, then it is permissible to perform them.

Benefits and Issues:
➊ If there is a fear that the criminal may escape, it is permissible to bind him.
➋ The heir of the murdered person has only one choice among three options: to pardon, to accept blood money (diyah), or to demand retribution (qisas).
➌ It is permissible for the ruler or judge to encourage forgiveness.
➍ If the killer is executed in retribution (qisas), it is hoped that this will serve as expiation for him; otherwise, his matter is with Allah.

(1) It is legislated and permissible for the judge and ruler to encourage the heirs of the murdered person to pardon (the killer), but they themselves have absolutely no right to pardon any criminal or murderer. If the ruler of the time or the judge who is passing judgment pardons a murderer on his own accord, even after the crime has been proven, then this is a clear injustice and tantamount to destroying justice and fairness. The practice prevalent among us, whereby after all legal requirements have been fulfilled, the authority to pardon criminals sentenced to death by the highest courts lies with “Mr. President,” is absolutely wrong and impermissible.

(2) It is permissible to bind (restrain) the criminal, especially when there is a fear of his escape or running away.

(3) “Your and the murdered person’s sins”—that is, in exchange for this pardon, your and the murdered person’s sins will be forgiven and both of you will become people of Paradise. The murdered person, because he was killed unjustly, and the heir of the murdered person, because he spared the life of the killer. It is as if he gave life to a person, and this is a great virtue. It can also mean that the killer will have two sins: one for killing the murdered person, and another for causing you (the heirs of the murdered person) grief and loss. However, the first meaning appears to be more correct. And Allah knows best!

(4) The heirs of the murdered person have the choice of only one out of three options. The first is to pardon the killer; this is the best, most virtuous, and most beloved to Allah, the Exalted. If they do not pardon, then they may take blood money (diyah) and let him go; this is also good, but a lesser degree of virtue than the first. The third and final option is to kill (the murderer) in retribution (qisas). The more one can avoid this, the better it is. If they are not willing to accept the first two options, then the killer will be killed in retribution, and that is all.

(5) The repeated exhortation of the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) to the heir of the murdered person to pardon is evidence that pardon is a preferred and beloved act. Furthermore, from the Prophet’s (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) repeated encouragement to pardon, it is also understood that in Islamic law, pardoning is better than taking retribution (qisas), and the heirs of the murdered person should be encouraged to pardon.

(1) "Then you will be like him" — The apparent meaning is that if you kill him, you too will be an unlawful killer, but this is not the intended meaning here, because killing the murderer in retribution (qisas) is not a crime. As for the murderer saying, "I did not intend to kill," this does not necessitate pardoning the murderer, because only Allah ta'ala knows the intention. Outwardly, the situation was one of killing. The meaning of your (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) statement is that you will have no superiority over him. He killed in anger, and so did you. Although he killed unlawfully and you would do so lawfully, virtue is only attained if you pardon. You will be praised in this world and will attain a great reward in the Hereafter. By uttering such an ambiguous statement, you (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) stirred feelings of forgiveness in him and succeeded in your objective.

(2) It is understood that forgiveness is better than retribution (qisas), especially when the murderer also presents the excuse that he did not intend to kill, although in such a case forgiveness is not obligatory. That is why you (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) handed the murderer over to the heir of the slain, so that he could kill him. (For further details, see: Fawaid wa Masail Hadith: 4726)

English Translation:

In matters that are pardonable, encouraging forgiveness and reconciliation is a good thing because, in the case of forgiveness or reconciliation, mutual enmity comes to an end. Love increases. Society becomes peaceful. Although taking retribution is permissible, often in the case of taking retribution, provocation arises. Displeasure and enmity are created; therefore, the Shari‘ah has declared forgiveness superior to taking retribution, provided that the other party admits their mistake with humility and sincerely seeks forgiveness. However, if they display arrogance and pride, then taking retribution is superior so that the pride of the arrogant person is broken. It is appropriate for the ruler to strive for reconciliation in the aforementioned types of cases. If reconciliation is not possible, then he should decide according to the truth. However, some social crimes are not pardonable, for example: theft, adultery (zina), etc. If such cases reach the court, then a decision is necessary. Murder falls under the first category. (For further details related to the narration, see: Ahadith: 4726, 4735)