Reports on killing or wounding the ruler

Abu Firas said: Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) addressed us and said: "O people! I have not sent my governors to you to beat your skins or to take your wealth; rather, I have sent them to teach you your religion and your Sunnah. Whoever is treated otherwise, let him bring it to me, and I will have retaliation taken from him." Amr bin al-As (may Allah be pleased with him) stood up and said: "O Commander of the Believers! If someone strikes some of his subjects to discipline them, will retaliation be taken from him?" He said: "Yes, by Allah! I will take retaliation from him, for I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) give retaliation against himself."

Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) said: We were with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) while he was distributing some things, when a man came and began to act hastily, so he struck him with his date-palm stalk, which wounded him. He said: "Take retaliation." The man said: "O Messenger of Allah! I have forgiven."

Abu al-Nadr and others (may Allah have mercy on them) said: It was narrated to us from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that he (peace and blessings be upon him) saw a man who had put on saffron perfume. He (peace and blessings be upon him) struck him with a stick and said: "Did I not forbid you from this?" The man said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)! Allah has sent you with the truth, and you have wounded me." He (peace and blessings be upon him) gave him the stick and said: "Take retaliation." The man said: "When you (peace and blessings be upon him) struck me, I had no garment on, and you have a shirt on." He (peace and blessings be upon him) lifted his garment from his belly, and the man clung to him (peace and blessings be upon him) and kissed him (peace and blessings be upon him).
This report is munqati' (its chain is broken), and it has also been narrated with a connected chain.

Sayyiduna Sawad bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) having put on khaluq (a perfume). He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Sawad! Did I not forbid you from this khaluq?" Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) struck me with a stick that was in his hand, and my belly was hurt. I said: "O Messenger of Allah! Retaliation." He (peace and blessings be upon him) uncovered his belly, and I began to kiss his belly. Then I said: "O Messenger of Allah! I seek your intercession on the Day of Resurrection."

Abd al-Rahman bin Abi Layla narrates from his father (may Allah be pleased with him) that Sayyiduna Usayd bin Hudayr (may Allah be pleased with him) was a very good-humoured and cheerful man. Once he was sitting with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), talking about some people and making him (peace and blessings be upon him) laugh, when he (peace and blessings be upon him) poked him in the side with his finger. He said: "You have hurt me." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Take retaliation." He said: "You are wearing a shirt and I have no shirt on." So he (peace and blessings be upon him) lifted his shirt, and he clung to his (peace and blessings be upon him) blessed body and began kissing it, saying: "O Messenger of Allah! This is what I intended."

Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent Abu Jahm to collect the sadaqah. A man argued with him, so Abu Jahm struck him and wounded him. They came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and demanded retaliation. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Take such-and-such." They did not agree. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Take such-and-such as well." They still did not agree. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Take such-and-such as well," and they were satisfied. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I will address the people this evening and inform them of your consent." They said: "Very well." He (peace and blessings be upon him) addressed them in the evening and said: "These people of Banu Layth came to me seeking retaliation. I offered them such-and-such and they were satisfied. Are you satisfied?" They replied: "No." So the Muhajirun were about to set upon them, but he (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered them to hold back from them, and they held back. Then he called them and gave them more, and they were satisfied. He (peace and blessings be upon him) again addressed the people in the evening, informed them of their consent and asked: "Are you satisfied?" They replied: "Yes, we are satisfied."

Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri (may Allah have mercy on him) said: It reached us that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) appointed Sayyiduna Abu Jahm (may Allah be pleased with him) as collector of the sadaqah. He struck a man of Banu Layth and wounded him severely. They demanded retaliation, so he (peace and blessings be upon him) satisfied them with diyah and did not take retaliation.

Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: A black man used to come to Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him); he was a good reciter of the Qur'an. Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) sent him with a military detachment and enjoined good treatment for him. Only a little time had passed when the man returned with his hand cut off. When Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) saw this, tears flowed from his eyes, and he asked: "What has happened to you?" He said: "He appointed me over some of his work. I committed a small breach of trust in it, so my hand was cut off." Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Your hand was cut off for one breach of trust, while he himself commits twenty breaches! If you are truthful in what you say, I will certainly get retaliation for you from him." Then he became close to Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), and his standing in his eyes did not diminish at all. The man used to stand at night in prayer and recite the Qur'an. When Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) heard his recitation, he would say: "Alas! This man's hand was cut off." Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: Only a little time had passed when some jewellery and goods were stolen from the house of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him). Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The household was raided (by a thief) last night." Then that man stood up, raised his sound hand and his severed hand, and began to supplicate: "O Allah! Expose the thief." Half the day had not yet passed when the goods were found with him. Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Woe to you! Is your knowledge of Allah so little?" He gave the order, and his foot was cut off.
Ma'mar said: Ayyub narrated to me through the route of Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that when Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) heard his voice, he said: "Your night is not the night of a thief." The point of evidence in this hadith is that he said: "If you are truthful in what you say, I will get retaliation for you."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr bin al-As (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: On a Friday Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Tomorrow bring the camels of the sadaqah so that they can be distributed, and let no one come in to us without permission." A woman said to her husband: "Take this halter; perhaps tomorrow Allah will grant us a camel too." The man refused. The next day, when this man saw Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) going in among the camels, he too went in. Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) turned to him and asked: "Why have you come?" He took the halter from him and struck him with it. When Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) had finished distributing the camels, he called the man, gave him the halter and said: "Take retaliation." Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Do not make it a Sunnah." He (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Who will save me from Allah on the Day of Resurrection?" Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Satisfy him with diyah." So Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) ordered his servant to give him a riding camel with its saddle, a cloak and five dinars, and the man was satisfied with that.

Ibn Shihab (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman (may Allah be pleased with them) offered themselves for retaliation, but retaliation was not taken from them, and they were the rulers at that time.

Sayyiduna Jarir (may Allah be pleased with him) said: A man who was very fierce and formidable against the enemy was with Sayyiduna Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him). The spoils of war were distributed, and Sayyiduna Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) gave him his share but did not give it in full. He refused to take it and demanded all of it, so Sayyiduna Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) gave him 20 lashes and shaved his head. The man took his hair and came to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). Sayyiduna Jarir (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I was the closest of the people to him. He took the hair out of his pocket and struck Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) on the chest with it, and he asked: "What is this?" He told him the whole story, and Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote to Sayyiduna Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him): "Amma ba'd (to proceed, after praise and glorification): So-and-so son of so-and-so has informed me of such-and-such. I adjure you by Allah: if you treated him this way in front of people, then in front of people, and if you did it in private, then in private, give him retaliation against yourself." The people said to the man: "Forgive him." He said: "Never, by Allah!" When he handed the letter to Sayyiduna Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him), he (may Allah be pleased with him) sat down for the retaliation, and the man raised his head to the sky and said: "I have forgiven him for the sake of Allah."