with the very evil his brother had intended for him. For this reason it is established in the two Ṣaḥīḥs (1) that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“When two Muslims confront one another with their swords, both the killer and the one killed are in the Fire.”

They asked, “O Messenger of Allah, we understand about the killer, but what of the one who is killed?”

He replied, “He was just as eager to kill his companion.”

As for the verse, ﴿Indeed, I wish that you bear my sin as well as your own and thus become one of the people of the Fire; such is the recompense of the wrong-doers﴾ (al-Māʾidah 5:29), its meaning is: I intend to refrain from fighting you—even though I am stronger and more capable—so, since you have resolved upon your course, may you return burdened with both my sin and your own; that is, you will carry the sin of murdering me in addition to the past sins you already bear. This is the explanation given by Mujāhid, al-Suddī, Ibn Jarīr, and many others.

The verse is not to be understood as saying that the victim’s sins automatically pass to the murderer by the mere act of killing, as some have imagined; Ibn Jarīr even reports consensus to the contrary.

As for the statement some uninformed people attribute to the Prophet, “The killer leaves the slain with no sin at all,” it has no basis whatsoever; it is unknown in any ḥadīth collection with a sound, fair, or even weak chain (2).

What can occur, however, is that on the Day of Resurrection the murdered person will demand his right from the murderer; if the murderer’s good deeds are insufficient to settle the injustice, some of the victim’s misdeeds will be transferred to him, as is confirmed in an authentic ḥadīth concerning all forms of wrongdoing—and murder is among the gravest of them. Allah knows best. We have treated this matter in detail in the Tafsīr (4); praise be to Allah.

Imām Aḥmad, Abū Dāwūd, and al-Tirmidhī (5) relate from Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ, who, during the turmoil surrounding ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān, said: I bear witness that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “There will be a trial in which the one who remains seated will be better than the one who stands, the one who stands will be better than the one who walks, and the one who walks will be better than the one who runs.” He was asked, “What if someone enters my house and stretches out his hand to kill me?” He replied, “Be like the son of Adam.”

Ibn Mardawayh transmitted a similar report from Ḥudhayfah ibn al-Yamān, raised to the Prophet, in which he said, “Be like the better of the two sons of Adam.” (6)