he is liable, because he transgressed by forcibly taking control over him. Had he not overpowered this boy—or this insane person—so as to keep him in that place, he would not have been struck by that snake.

His statement, “or he is struck by a thunderbolt”: likewise, if a thunderbolt strikes him. Al-Jawhari said: it is a fire that descends from the sky accompanied by intense thunder.

Modern science now confirms this, for a thunderbolt is an intensely hot electrical mass that descends upon a place and burns it in an instant. I even read in some magazines that the energy contained in a single thunderbolt is such that, were all the generators on earth brought together at their maximum output, they would not equal this thunderbolt which Allah creates in a moment.

People used to say that this thunderbolt was a piece of iron descending from the sky, claiming, “We have seen it.” But this is not correct; rather, it is a consuming fire. This is why it sometimes falls upon trees and sets them ablaze, and falls upon animals, upon which marks of burns from this fire can be seen. Yet it appears to me—and Allah knows best—that, if the report is authentic that they found iron, it was because, when it struck the ground, the iron melted, gathered together, and was then extracted. The thunderbolt itself is not lightning; rather, it descends along with lightning, and there may be lightning without a thunderbolt.

Thus, when this child was wrongfully seized by the man and forced to remain seated in his house, Allah sent down a thunderbolt upon him and destroyed him. Liability rests upon this oppressor who compelled him to remain in his house. He cannot say, “He perished by Allah’s act, through a heavenly calamity in which I had no part!” Rather, we say to him: You transgressed against this person and confined him in this place.