The Enemy’s Envoy/Messenger: The Ruling and Sanctity of Amān (Protection)
Written by: ʿImrān Ayyūb Lāhorī
Summary ruling (bold): An enemy’s envoy (qāṣid / rasūl) is to be treated like one who has been granted amān; harming or killing such envoys is prohibited.
① Narration reported from ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd رضي الله عنه:
Arabic:
لولا أنك رسول الله لضربت عنقك
Translation:
“Were it not that you are a messenger of Allah, I would strike off your neck.”
(Reported in Sunan Abī Dāwūd: 2400; also Abū Dāwūd: 2762; Aḥmad: 1/390; classified as authentic in the sources cited.)② Another wording preserved in Sunan Abī Dāwūd:
Arabic:
أما والله لولا أن الرسل لا تقتل لضربت أعناقكما
Translation:
“By Allah, were it not that messengers are not to be killed, I would cut off both your necks.”
(Sunan Abī Dāwūd: 2399 / 2761; Aḥmad: 3/487)③ Narration reported from Abū Rāfiʿ رضي الله عنه:
Arabic:
إِنِّي لا أخِيسُ بِالْعَهْدِ وَلا أَحْبِسُ الْبَرِيدَ
Translation:
“Indeed I do not violate an oath, nor do I imprison envoys and messengers.”
(Sunan Abī Dāwūd: 2758; al-Nasā’ī: 199/9; Aḥmad: 6/8; Bayān al-Ẓimān: p.393; al-Ḥākim: 3/598; Bayhaqī: 9/145)Scholarly remarks (translated):
- Imām al-Shawkānī رحمه الله: These ḥadīths are proof that it is forbidden to kill the envoys of disbelievers, even though they may utter words of disbelief. (Nayl al-Awṭār: 5/100)
- Ibn Qudāmah رحمه الله: The killing of envoys is impermissible because necessity forbids it; if we were to kill their envoys, they would kill ours and thus ruin the mutual exchange of messages and correspondence. (Al-Mughnī: 13/79)
Conclusion (bold): Islamic evidence and the consensus of the juridical tradition protect envoys and messengers: they are to be granted safety (amān) and must not be killed or imprisoned. The prophetic practice and juristic reasons (preservation of diplomatic intercourse, trustworthiness of treaties and messages) underpin this ruling.
