The Ruling on the Killer and His Accomplice
Author: Imran Ayub Lahori
❖ Principle
- If one person restrains (holds) the victim and another kills him:
- The killer is executed in qiṣāṣ.
- The one who restrained is imprisoned.
❖ Prophetic Evidence
① Ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما narrates that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
«إذا أمسك الرجل الرجل وقتله الآخر يقتل الذي قتل ويحبس الذي أمسك»
“If one man restrains another and the other kills him, the killer is to be executed and the one who restrained is to be imprisoned.”
[al-Dāraquṭnī 3/140, no.176; ʿAbd al-Razzāq 9/427, no.17893]
② ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib رضي الله عنه ruled in a similar case:
«يقتل القاتل ويحبس الآخر في السجن حتى يموت»
“The killer is to be executed, and the other is to be imprisoned until he dies.”
[al-Shāfiʿī, Maʿrifat al-Sunan wal-Āthār no.4845; al-Bayhaqī 8/50]
❖ Scholarly Opinions
✔ Ḥanafīs and Shāfiʿīs:
- Killer is executed.
- The restrainer is imprisoned.
- They cite the verse:
﴿فَمَنِ اعْتَدَىٰ عَلَيْكُمْ فَاعْتَدُوا عَلَيْهِ بِمِثْلِ مَا اعْتَدَىٰ عَلَيْكُمْ﴾
“So whoever transgresses against you, transgress against him in the same manner as he transgressed against you.”
[al-Baqarah: 194]
✔ Mālik and al-Layth:
- Both the killer and the restrainer are executed, because without restraint the killing would not have been possible.
✔ al-Shawkānī رحمه الله:
- Acting on the hadith is best.
- The duration of imprisonment is left to the discretion of the ruler (ḥākim).
[Nayl al-Awṭār 4/461; Subul al-Salām 3/1595; Fiqh al-Sunnah 3/30; al-Rawḍah al-Nadiyyah 2/650]
❖ Preferred Opinion (Rājiḥ)
- If the killing was possible only because of the restrainer, and he was present at the act, then both are partners in murder and both are executed.
- If the restrainer merely handed over the victim but was not present during the killing, then the killer is executed, while the restrainer is imprisoned.
❖ Conclusion
- Killer → executed in qiṣāṣ.
- Restrainer → imprisoned (unless he actively enabled the murder, in which case he too is executed).
- The distinction depends on the level of involvement.
