✦ Ruling on Freeing Muslims Captured by Non-Muslims ✦
Source: Fatāwā Amonpuri by Shaykh Ghulām Muṣṭafā Ẓahīr Amonpuri
❖ The Question
What is the ruling regarding freeing Muslims who are imprisoned or captured by non-Muslims?
❖ The Answer
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ammā baʿd:
Freeing Muslim prisoners who fall into the captivity of non-Muslims is the duty of the Muslim rulers. The scholars classify it as a farḍ kifāyah (collective obligation).
❀ Sayyidunā Abū Juḥayfah رضي الله عنه narrated:
I asked Sayyidunā ʿAlī رضي الله عنه:
هل عندكم كتاب؟
“Do you have any special written document?”
He replied:
لا، إلا كتاب الله، أو فهم أعطية رجل مسلم، أو ما فى هذه الصحيفة
“No, except the Book of Allah, or understanding given to a Muslim man, or what is in this scroll.”
I asked: “What is in the scroll?” He said:
العقل، وفكاك الأسير، ولا يقتل مسلم بكافر
“It contains rulings about blood money (diyah), freeing captives, and that no Muslim should be killed in retaliation for a disbeliever.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, 111)
❀ Imām Ibn Baṭṭāl رحمه الله (d. 449H) said:
فكاك الأسير فرض كفاية لهذا الحديث وعلى هذا كافة العلماء
“Based on this ḥadīth, freeing a captive is a farḍ kifāyah, and this is the view of the entire body of scholars.”
(Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, 5/210; al-Tawḍīḥ by Ibn al-Mulaqqin, 18/273; Sharḥ al-Qasṭallānī, 5/166)
❖ Conclusion
According to authentic ḥadīth and the consensus of scholars, freeing Muslim captives from non-Muslim imprisonment is a collective obligation (farḍ kifāyah). If some Muslims undertake this duty, the rest are absolved; but if none do, all are sinful.
✿ ھذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب ✿
