—such as when one person claims one hundred riyals from another, and the defendant denies the claim while the judge knows with certainty that the hundred are in fact owed by the defendant. In this case the judge must neither rule on the basis of his private knowledge nor in contradiction to it. Instead he says, “I will refer the matter to another judge, and I, O claimant, shall testify for you.” The case is then transferred, and the first judge appears before the second as a witness; the latter issues judgment on the strength of the claimant’s oath together with the judge’s testimony.
- Ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with them) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “A believer will remain within ample scope concerning his religion so long as he does not shed forbidden blood.” Narrated by al-Bukhari.
[Explanation]
The author—may Allah have mercy on him—cites this ḥadīth in the Chapter on the Prohibition of Wrongdoing and the Obligation to seek pardon for it. He relates from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “A believer will continue to enjoy latitude in his religion so long as he does not shed forbidden blood.”
“To remain within ample scope” means that his standing in the religion is broad and unconfined. “So long as he does not shed forbidden blood” is explained as refraining from killing any of four protected lives: a Muslim, a dhimmī (a non-Muslim subject under Muslim rule), a muʿāhad (one bound by a treaty), or a mustaʾman (a person granted safe-conduct). These are the inviolable lives, and the most serious of them is the life of a fellow believer. As for a combatant unbeliever (kāfir ḥarbī), his blood is not protected.
If a person spills any protected blood, his religion becomes constricted for him: his breast tightens until faith departs from him—Allah’s refuge is sought—and he dies as a disbeliever.