He replied:

Praise be to Allah. If the fleeing man fled with the intention of repenting of unlawful fighting, he is not to be judged as destined for the Fire, for Allah accepts His servants’ repentance and pardons their sins. But if he fled merely because he was unable to fight, and would have killed his opponent had he been able to overcome him, then he is in the Fire, as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

“When two Muslims confront one another with their swords, both the killer and the one killed are in the Fire.” He was asked, “O Messenger of Allah, we understand why the killer is, but why the one killed?” He replied, “He intended to kill his companion.”

If the one killed is in the Fire because he intended to kill his companion, then this applies all the more to the one who fled. Both shared the same intention and engaged in the same action, but the one killed suffered harm that the defeated man did not. If that calamity did not expiate the sin of fighting, then the calamity of defeat is even less likely to expiate it. Indeed, the sin of the fleeing man who remains intent on fighting is greater than that of the man killed in battle, and he is more deserving of the Fire: the latter’s evil deeds ceased with his death, whereas the former persists in grave wickedness.

For this reason, a group of jurists held that a fleeing rebel is to be killed if he has a group to which he can retreat and there is reason to fear his return to battle. By contrast, a rebel incapacitated by his wounds is not to be killed. The reason is that the wounded man’s capacity to cause harm has ceased, whereas the fleeing man’s has not.

Furthermore, it may be said of the one killed that the calamity of being killed may lessen his punishment, even though he is among the people of the Fire; and the calamity of defeat is less severe than that of being killed. It is thus clear that the defeated man is worse off than the one killed if he remains intent on killing his brother. As for whoever repents, Allah is indeed All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.