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If the person who is warding off an attack on any of these rights is killed, he is a martyr, for he has defended truth against falsehood.
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The martyr in this context is not like the battlefield martyr who is neither washed nor prayed over and is buried in the clothes in which he fell. Rather, he is a martyr in the Hereafter only; in this world the outward rulings apply to him, so his body is washed, shrouded, and the funeral prayer is performed for him.
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It is lawful to defend one’s life, family, honor, and property, beginning with the least force necessary—unless one fears that the assailant will kill him first if he hesitates. In that case he may strike a fatal blow or sever a limb, and he incurs no liability for doing so.
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Repelling an assailant from one’s life, family, honor, and property is sanctioned—unless it is a time of civil strife, discord, and division; then he should submit and refrain from fighting anyone.
Al-Awzaʿi said: “There is a difference between a situation in which the people have an Imam and are united; the hadith is to be understood with reference to that situation.”
- Resolution of the Council of Senior Scholars concerning incidents of armed robbery, kidnapping, and the use of intoxicants
Resolution no. 85 dated 11/11/1401 AH:
Praise belongs to Allah alone, and blessings and peace be upon the one after whom there is no prophet.
To proceed: In its seventeenth session, convened in Riyadh in the month of Rajab 1401 AH, the Council of Senior Scholars reviewed a letter from His Majesty King Khalid ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz—may Allah protect him—addressed to His Eminence Shaykh ʿAbd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Humayd, Chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council, and to His Eminence Shaykh ʿAbd al-ʿAziz ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Baz, General President of the Departments of Scholarly Research, Iftaʾ, Daʿwa, and Guidance, in which His Majesty requested a study of two serious issues that corrupt morals and undermine security:
The first: the perpetration, inside the cities, of armed robberies and kidnappings by certain criminals,