but He did not accept from the other. The one whose offering had been rejected said to his brother, “I will surely kill you! Why does Allah accept from you and not from me?” He envied him for the favor Allah had shown him. His brother answered—as his Lord declared—“Allah accepts only from those who are mindful of Him” (al-Māʾidah 5:27), meaning: fear Allah and He will accept from you. Anyone who threatens his brother with murder is not God-fearing. In the end he did kill him—may Allah protect us—“So his soul prompted him to kill his brother; he killed him and thus became one of the losers” (al-Māʾidah 5:30). Thus, he brought utter loss upon himself through that heinous act.

It is said that he then carried his brother’s corpse on his back for forty days, not knowing what to do with it, for graves were unknown at that time. Allah therefore sent a crow scratching the ground with its claws to show him how to conceal his brother’s nakedness. Another report says that two crows fought until one killed the other; the survivor dug a hole and buried the dead one, and the murderer followed its example, burying his brother. How astonishing that crows were the creatures who taught the children of Adam how to bury the dead!

In short, for every soul slain without right, the first murderer bears a share of the sin—Allah’s refuge is sought. Likewise, whoever inaugurates killing after people had been safe—ambushing and assassinating them so that others feel emboldened to do the same—also carries a portion of the guilt, for he opened the door to that violation. “Whoever institutes an evil practice bears its sin and the sin of all who follow it until the Day of Judgment.” We ask Allah to make us and you callers to goodness and practitioners of it. He is Ever-Generous, All-Giving.