The circumstances in which a man who kills is subject to retaliation

Amr bin Maymun (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I saw Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) in Madinah a few days before he was wounded. He was standing with Sayyiduna Hudhayfah bin al-Yaman (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Uthman bin Hunayf (may Allah be pleased with him), saying: "Do you two not fear that you have imposed on the land a tax greater than it can bear?" They both said: "We have imposed on it only what it can bear." Sayyiduna Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Had I imposed more on it, it would have yielded double." And Sayyiduna Uthman bin Hunayf (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "I have not placed any heavy burden on the land." Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Make sure you do not place on the land a burden it cannot bear." They said: "No (we have not)." Then Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "If Allah Almighty keeps me safe, I will make such provision for the widows of Iraq that they will not be dependent on anyone after me." Only four days had passed when this incident occurred. He said: On the morning he was struck, there was no one between me and him except Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both). He would go between the rows having the gaps closed, and when the rows were straight, he went forward and said the takbir, and in the first rak'ah he recited Surah Yusuf or Surah al-Nahl, so that the people could gather. He said: He (may Allah be pleased with him) was about to say Allahu Akbar for the bowing when I heard him saying: "The dog has killed me, the dog has bitten me!" Then that man (the killer) ran; he had a double-edged knife, and he ran striking right and left, wounding 13 men, of whom 9 died. When one of the Muslims saw him, he threw his cloak over him, and when he was certain that he would now be caught, he cut his own throat. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) took Sayyiduna Abd al-Rahman bin Awf (may Allah be pleased with him) by the hand and put him forward to lead the prayer. The people in the corners of the mosque did not come to know of the incident; since they no longer heard the recitation of Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), they began saying: "Subhan Allah! Subhan Allah!" Sayyiduna Abd al-Rahman bin Awf (may Allah be pleased with him) led the people in a short prayer. When they had finished, Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both): "See who has wounded me." He came back after a while and said: "The slave of al-Mughirah (bin Shu'bah)." He asked: "The craftsman (Abu Lu'lu'ah Fayruz)?" He said: "Yes." He said: "May Allah destroy him! I had ordered that he be treated well. Al-hamdu lillah (praise be to Allah), Allah did not decree my death at the hands of a man who claims to be a Muslim." And he said: "You and your father (Sayyiduna al-Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him) used to like the disbelievers to increase in Madinah." (Sayyiduna al-Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) owned the most slaves.) He said: "If you wish, we will kill them." Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "You are wrong! After they have spoken your language, prayed facing your qiblah and performed Hajj as you do, you cannot kill them now." After this he (may Allah be pleased with him) was brought home, and the state of the people was as if no calamity as great as the one that befell them that day had ever befallen them before. Some were reassuring one another that nothing would happen, and some were saying: "We fear greatly for Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him)." Then nabidh was brought to him; he drank it and it came out of the wound in his belly. Then milk was brought, and it too came out of the wound. Then the people understood that he (may Allah be pleased with him) would now pass away.

Abu Rafi' (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Abu Lu'lu'ah was the slave of Sayyiduna al-Mughirah bin Shu'bah (may Allah be pleased with him). Then he narrated the whole story and said that he made a double-edged dagger and poisoned it. He said: Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said the takbir; Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) used to speak a little after the iqamah and then say the takbir. He (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Straighten your rows." And he (the killer) was standing right there in the row. When he (may Allah be pleased with him) said the takbir for the Fajr prayer, he attacked him and wounded his shoulder and his side, and Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) fell. He wounded 13 (thirteen) more people, of whom 6 (six) died. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was lifted up and carried away. Then he narrated the long hadith. He said: Then Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) asked for something to drink in order to see the depth of his wound. Nabidh was brought, and it came out of his wound; it could not be known whether it was nabidh or his blood. Then he asked for milk and drank it, and it too flowed out of his wound. The people said: "O Commander of the Believers! Do not worry, nothing will happen." He (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "If there is any harm in being killed, then I have been killed."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: After being wounded, Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) lived for 3 (three) days and then passed away. He was given the ritual bath (ghusl) and was also shrouded.