Prohibition of Mutilation, Punishment by Fire, and Fleeing the Battlefield
(Similarly) Mutilation, burning with fire, and fleeing from the battlefield are forbidden, except when one is taking refuge with one’s own troop.
① It is narrated from Ḥazrat Buraydah رضي الله عنه that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said in a long ḥadīth:
ولا تمثلوا
“And do not (during war) commit mutilation.”
[Muslim: 1731, Kitāb al-Jihād wa al-Siyar: Bāb Tamīr al-Imām al-Umara; Tirmidhī: 1617]
(Imām Shawkānī رحمه الله) considers this ḥadīth as proof for the prohibition of mutilation.
[Nayl al-Awtār: 3/5]
➊ It is narrated from Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent us on an expedition and instructed: if you find so-and-so, burn them with fire. Then when we prepared to depart he ﷺ said: I had commanded you to burn so-and-so, but إن النار لا يعذب بها إلا الله — “Only Allah inflicts punishment by the Fire.” Therefore, if you meet them, kill them (but do not set them on fire).
[Al-Bukhārī: 3016, Kitāb al-Jihād wa al-Siyar: Bāb lā yuʿaḏdhibu bi-ʿaḏābillāh; Abū Dāwūd: 2674; Tirmidhī: 1571; Dārimī: 222/2; Aḥmad: 307/2]
➋ When Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما learned that ʿAlī رضي الله عنه had burned (the adulterer), he said: were I to do that I would not burn him, because the Prophet ﷺ said: لا تعذبوا بعذاب الله — “Do not punish with the punishment of Allah…” Yet he added that he would certainly kill him, because the Prophet ﷺ said that whoever changes his religion should be killed.
[Al-Bukhārī: 3017, Kitāb al-Jihād wa al-Siyar: Bāb lā tuʿaḏdhibu bi-ʿaḏābillāh]
❀ It should be noted that in cases of necessity trees and other property may be burned, as in the report from Ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما that: حرق رسول الله نخل بني نضير و قطع — “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ burned and cut down the date-palm trees of Banu Nadir.”
[Al-Bukhārī: 4031, Kitāb al-Maghāzī: Bāb Ḥadīth Banū al-Nadīr; Muslim: 1746]
(The Jumhūr) permit sabotage and burning of property in the enemy’s city, but necessity and public interest must be considered.
[Fath al-Bārī: 265/6]
➊ The Exalted Allah says:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا لَقِيتُمُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا زَحْفًا فَلَا تُوَلُّوهُمُ الْأَدْبَارَ – وَمَن يُوَلِّهِمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ دُبُرَهُ إِلَّا مُتَحَرِّفًا لِّقِتَالٍ أَوْ مُتَحَيِّزًا إِلَىٰ فِئَةٍ فَقَدْ بَاءَ بِغَضَبٍ مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَمَأْوَاهُ جَهَنَّمُ ۖ وَبِئْسَ الْمَصِيرُ [Al-Anfāl: 15–16]
“O you who believe! When you meet those who disbelieve advancing, do not turn your backs on them; and whoever turns his back that day — except that he turns aside for combat or to join a group — will incur the wrath of Allah, and his refuge will be Hell — and wretched is the destination.”
➋ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Avoid the seven destructive things (among them): التولى يوم الزحف — turning the back on the day of marching (battle).”
[Al-Bukhārī: 2766, Kitāb al-Wasāyā: Bāb Qawl Allāh Taʿālā: …; Abū Dāwūd: 2874; Nisāʼī: 257/6]
- “متحرّفا للقتال” means turning from one side to the other, e.g., changing from a narrow place to an open one, or from below to above, or from an exposed area to concealment, in order to deceive the enemy.
- “متَحيّزًا إلى فِئَة” means going to take refuge with a Muslim group and then fighting alongside them.
[Tafsīr Fatḥ al-Qadīr: 294/2; Taysīr al-ʿAlī al-Qadīr: 278/2; Tafsīr al-Qurṭubī: 383/7]
