Nasai

(1) This blessed hadith explicitly indicates the prohibition of adultery and fornication, and also indicates the prohibition of those matters which are contrary to faith, because adultery is among the immoralities (fawahish). Allah the Exalted says: “And do not approach adultery. Indeed, it is ever an immorality.” (Bani Isra’il: 32)

(2) From this blessed hadith, the prohibition of intoxicants (khamr) is established. Intoxicants are the root of all evils. They incite vile and base actions. Likewise, the prohibition of theft and the killing of a respected soul is also made clear.

(3) “He does not remain a believer”—the intent is that these acts are contrary to faith. Faith prevents from them. So the person who commits these acts does not act according to the demands of faith; as if he is not a believer. This absolutely does not mean that he becomes a disbeliever (kafir), because it is a well-established principle of Ahl al-Sunnah that by committing any sin, even if it is a major sin (kabirah), a Muslim does not become a disbeliever. And this principle is decisively established by many verses and hadiths, for example: The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said: [مَن ماتَ وهو يَعْلَمُ أنَّه لا إلَهَ إلّا اللَّهُ، دَخَلَ الجَنَّةَ] “Whoever dies in such a state that he knows (has certainty) that there is no god but Allah, he will enter Paradise.” (Sahih Muslim, Kitab al-Iman, Chapter: The evidence that whoever dies upon tawhid will certainly enter Paradise, Hadith: 26) Likewise, the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) also said: [ما من عبدٍ قال: لا إلهَ إلّا اللهُ، ثُمَّ ماتَ على ذلِكَ، إلّا دخل الجنةَ] “Whoever says: La ilaha illallah, then dies upon that (belief), he has entered Paradise.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Libas, Chapter: White garments, Hadith: 5827) In these and many other similar hadiths, it is explicitly mentioned that whoever dies bearing witness to La ilaha illallah, i.e., the testimony of sincerity and tawhid, Paradise becomes obligatory for him. If Allah wills, He may, by His will, forgive him and admit him to Paradise at the outset, or if He wills, He may admit him to Paradise after some reckoning and punishment. Such a person is certainly not an eternal inhabitant of Hell, as the disbeliever and polytheist will remain in Hell forever. May Allah protect us from that. Or, the meaning of this blessed hadith is that when he is committing these acts, at that moment he is not a believer; when he refrains, faith returns to him. This meaning is transmitted from Ibn Abbas (radi Allahu anhu), the narrator of the hadith. Thus, he does not remain a believer temporarily. Or, he is not safe from punishment. Or, the intent is that a believer should not commit these acts; thus, the purpose is prohibition.

(4) In these three narrations, 4871 to 4873, since killing is mentioned among the major sins, and retribution (qisas) also pertains to killing, therefore these hadiths can be included in the Book of Retribution (Kitab al-Qisas).

(5) The sin of killing can only be forgiven through retribution (qisas). The forgiveness of the heirs of the slain does not absolve the sin of killing. It is only that he will be saved from punishment in this world. In the Hereafter, he will have to bear the punishment for killing, unless Allah the Exalted, by His mercy, makes the slain person pleased and forgives him in the Hereafter. And that is not difficult for Allah.