When Should a Rebel Against the Ruler Be Killed?
✍ Written by: Imran Ayyub Lahori
Essential Legal Guidelines (چند ضروری مسائل)
❖ ① Killing a Rebel Only After Armed Action
If a person merely intends to revolt against the ruler, he must not be killed until he actually initiates warfare or active rebellion.
The Prophet ﷺ said:
"فَإِذَا خَرَجُوا فَاقْتُلُوهُمْ"
“When they go out (to fight), then kill them.”
[Nayl al-Awṭār: 5/627]❖ ② Khawārij Remain Muslims
Imām al-Khaṭṭābī (رحمه الله) reported the consensus (ijmāʿ) of Muslim scholars that:
Even though the Khawārij are misguided, they still belong to the Ummah of Islam.
Therefore:
- Marriage with them is valid.
- Their slaughtered animals are lawful.
- They are not disbelievers, so long as they uphold the foundations of Islam.
[Fatḥ al-Bārī: 14/307]❖ ③ Seizure of Rebel Property During Conflict
If the ruler temporarily seizes the wealth of rebels to suppress rebellion, this is permissible, provided it is returned after peace is restored.
This act falls under “commanding good and forbidding evil.”
However, appropriating their property as spoils or personal wealth is prohibited, since the rebels are still Muslims.
[As-Sayl al-Jarrār: 4/559; Al-Mabsūṭ: 10/124; Badāʾiʿ al-Ṣanāʾiʿ: 7/140; Fatḥ al-Qadīr: 4/409; Tabiyyīn al-Ḥaqāʾiq: 3/295]❖ ④ No Sin or Liability Upon the Just Side
Scholars agree that those who fight on the side of truth and justice (Ahl al-ʿAdl) incur no sin for killing rebels, nor are they liable for any loss of life or property resulting from the battle.
[Sharḥ Muslim by al-Nawawī: 7/170; Kashshāf al-Qināʿ: 4/128; Al-Mughnī: 8/13; Mughni al-Muḥtāj: 4/125; Al-Qawānīn al-Fiqhiyyah: p. 364; Bidāyat al-Mujtahid: 2/448; Badāʾiʿ al-Ṣanāʾiʿ: 7/141]❖ ⑤ Fighting for Worldly Power or Wealth
If the battle is waged for worldly gain, power, or political control, not for a mistaken interpretation (taʾwīl), then their status is that of highway robbers (muḥāribīn).
They shall receive the punishment mentioned in the Qur’an:
"إِنَّمَا جَزَاءُ الَّذِينَ يُحَارِبُونَ اللَّهَ..."
[Surah al-Mā’idah: 33]
“The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger… (is severe retribution).”
❖ ⑥ Liability and Punishment According to the Shāfiʿī School
According to the Shāfiʿiyyah:
- If the rebels destroy any life or property of the just side outside actual battle, they are liable (ḍāmin).
- If they commit an offense deserving ḥadd (fixed punishment), the penalty is applied.
- However, even in murder, qiṣāṣ (retributive killing) is not obligatory; pardon is permissible.
[Al-Muhadhdhab: 2/221; Mughni al-Muḥtāj: 4/129]
Summary of the Ruling◈ A person intending rebellion is not killed until he takes up arms.
◈ Rebels remain Muslims as long as they hold to the fundamentals of Islam.
◈ Property seizure for security reasons is temporary and not ownership.
◈ Fighters for truth incur no sin for killing rebels.
◈ Fighting for worldly causes renders one subject to the punishment of muḥāribīn.
◈ In the Shāfiʿī view, rebels’ liability applies only to damages outside battle; pardon remains preferable in capital cases.
