Prohibition of Mutilation, Punishment by Fire, and Fleeing the Battlefield
Written by: Imran Ayyub Lahori
(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]
