Al-Sharḥ al-Mumtiʿ - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (14/26)

Al-Sharḥ al-MumtiʿIbn al-'Uthaymin

Whoever compels a legally accountable person to kill someone whose life is equal to his own, and he kills him, then execution or blood money is due from them both, ……….

His statement, “Whoever compels a legally accountable person to kill someone whose life is equal to his own, and he kills him, then execution or blood money is due from them both”: “whoever” is a term of generality, because it is a conditional noun. Yet it is not intended in its full generality; rather, it refers to one who compels another and who would himself be subject to retaliation if he deliberately killed. This excludes compulsion by a child or an insane person. For if either a child or an insane person compelled a legally accountable person to kill someone whose life was equal to his own, nothing would be due from him, because his intentional act is itself deemed mistaken. Thus, we know that the author’s words, “Whoever compels,” are not intended in their full generality. Rather, this is an instance of a general expression by which a particular meaning is intended. Is there any parallel for this in the Arabic language or in the Sacred Law?

The answer is yes, and such examples are numerous. Allah Most High said concerning the people of ‘Ad: “Destroying everything by command of its Lord.” Yet it is known that it did not destroy the heavens, the earth, or the dwellings. Allah Most High said: “Then by morning nothing could be seen except their dwellings.” [al-Ahqaf: 25]

Allah Most High also said: “Those to whom people said, ‘Indeed, the people have gathered against you.’” [Al ‘Imran: 173] Yet it is known that the one who spoke was only one man, and that those who had assembled against them were not all people.

His statement, “a legally accountable person,” means one who is mature and sane.

His statement, “to kill someone whose life is equal to his own,” means to kill a person whose life is equal to that of the compelled killer. The conditions of such equality will, Allah willing, be discussed in the chapter on the conditions for retaliation.

His statement, “and he kills him,” means that the person who was compelled kills the one whom he was compelled to kill.

وَمَنْ أَكْرَهَ مُكَلَّفاً عَلَى قَتْلِ مُكَافِئِهِ فَقَتَلَهُ فَالقَتْلُ أَوِ الدِّيَةُ عَلَيْهِمَا، .......... «ومن أكره مكلفاً على قتل مكافئه فقتله فالقتل أو الدية عليهما» «مَنْ» مِن صيغ العموم؛ لأنها اسم شرط، لكنها ليست على عمومها، وإنما المراد بها من أَكره ممن يُقاد لو تعمد؛ ليخرج بذلك إكراه الصبي والمجنون؛ لأن الصبي أو المجنون لو أكره أحدهما مكلفاً على قتل مكافئ لم يكن عليه شيء؛ لأن عمده هو بنفسه خطأ، فَعَلِمنا أن قول المؤلف: «مَنْ أكره» ليس على عمومه، وإنما هو من باب العام الذي أريد به الخصوص، وهل لذلك نظير في اللغة العربية، أو في الشرع؟ الجواب: نعم، وهو كثير، قال الله تعالى عن عادٍ: ﴿تُدَمِّرُ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ بِأَمْرِ رَبِّهَا﴾ ومعلوم أنها ما دمرت السماء، ولا الأرض، ولا المساكن، قال تعالى: ﴿فَأَصْبَحُوا لَا يُرَى إِلاَّ مَسَاكِنُهُمْ﴾ [الأحقاف: ٢٥]. وقال تعالى: ﴿الَّذِينَ قَالَ لَهُمُ النَّاسُ إِنَّ النَّاسَ قَدْ جَمَعُوا لَكُمْ﴾ [آل عمران: ١٧٣]، ومعلوم أن القائل واحد، وأن الجامعين لهم ليسوا كل الناس. وقوله: «مكلفاً» هو البالغ العاقل. وقوله: «على قتل مكافئه» أي: على قتل شخص مكافئ للقاتل المُكرَه، وستأتي إن شاء الله المكافأة في باب شروط القصاص. وقوله: «فقتله» أي: المكرَه قَتَلَ من أكرِه على قتله.