(93) “Whoever deliberately kills a believer, his recompense is Hell, abiding therein. Allah is angry with him, has cursed him, and has prepared for him a tremendous punishment.”
As noted above, Allah declared that the killing of a believer does not proceed from a believer, and that killing constitutes practical disbelief. Here He mentions the warning issued to the deliberate killer—a warning that makes hearts quake, rends the innermost heart, and alarms people of understanding.
No greater warning than this—nor even its equal—has been issued regarding any of the major sins: namely, ⦗194⦘ the declaration that his recompense is Hell. This grave sin alone is sufficient to warrant that its perpetrator be recompensed with Hell, with all its terrible torment, humiliating disgrace, the wrath of the Almighty, the loss of triumph and felicity, and the attainment of failure and ruin. We seek refuge in Allah from every cause that distances one from His mercy.
This warning is governed by the same principle as comparable texts of divine warning concerning certain major sins and acts of disobedience, which threaten eternal abode in the Fire or deprivation of Paradise.
The leading scholars—may Allah have mercy on them—differed over how such texts should be interpreted, while agreeing that the position of the Kharijites and Muʿtazilites is false, for they hold that such sinners will remain eternally in the Fire even if they are monotheists. The correct interpretation is that given by the discerning scholar Shams al-Dīn Ibn al-Qayyim—may Allah have mercy on him—in al-Madārij. After mentioning and critiquing the interpretations of the leading scholars, he said:
“One group said: These and similar texts mention a factor that warrants punishment. The presence of a factor warranting a ruling does not necessarily mean that the ruling will take effect, for it takes effect only when its warranting factor is present and its impediments are absent.
“At most, these texts inform us that a certain act is a cause of punishment and warrants it. The evidence has also established the existence of impediments, some by scholarly consensus and others by revealed texts. Repentance is an impediment by consensus; monotheism is an impediment according to mass-transmitted texts that admit of no rebuttal; immense good deeds that efface sins are an impediment; grave afflictions that expiate sins are an impediment; and the prescribed legal punishments being carried out in this world are an impediment according to the revealed texts. None of these texts may be disregarded, so the texts on both sides must all be given effect.
“This is the basis for weighing good deeds against bad deeds, taking into account both the factor warranting punishment and that which prevents it, and allowing whichever is stronger to take effect.
“They said: Upon this principle rest the benefits and harms of both worlds. It also underlies the rulings of the revealed law and the decrees of destiny. This is required by the wisdom that pervades existence, and through it causes are connected to their effects in both creation and command. Allah, Glorified is He, has set against every force an opposing force that repels and resists it, and the outcome belongs to whichever predominates.
“Vital strength tends toward health and well-being, while the corruption and excess of the bodily humors prevent the body’s natural constitution and strength from functioning; the outcome belongs to whichever predominates. The same applies to the respective powers of medicines and diseases. A servant may possess one factor conducive to soundness and another conducive to ruin. Each prevents and resists the other’s full effect; when one outweighs and overcomes the other, the effect belongs to it.
“From this one understands the division of created beings into those who enter Paradise without entering the Fire, those for whom the reverse is true, and those who enter the Fire and are then brought out of it. The length of their stay there—and whether their departure is swift or delayed—depends on the strength within them of the factor warranting that stay. Whoever possesses illuminated spiritual insight sees through it everything Allah has related in His Book concerning the Resurrection and its details, as though witnessing it with his own eyes.
“He knows that this is necessarily entailed by Allah’s divinity, lordship, might, and wisdom; that anything contrary to it is impossible for Him; and that attributing anything contrary to Him is attributing to Him what does not befit Him. Thus, this truth is to his spiritual insight what the sun and stars are to his physical sight.
“This is the certainty of faith, which burns away sins just as fire burns wood. One who has reached this station of faith cannot persist in sin, even if he falls into many sins, for the light of faith within him calls him to renew his repentance at every moment and return to Allah with every breath. Such a person is among those most beloved to Allah.”
Thus ends his statement. May Allah sanctify his soul and reward him with goodness on behalf of Islam and the Muslims.