—as Malik narrated—“If you kill him he is in the Fire, and if he kills you, you are a martyr.”

The reason is that a person who defends his wealth, his family, his own life, or his honor is facing an unlawful, violent aggressor who cannot be repelled except by lethal force. In that case, if the defender kills the assailant, the assailant is destined for the Fire; but if the assailant kills the defender, the defender is a martyr who will enter Paradise. That is the distinction between the two situations.

From this we understand that whoever kills his brother while intending to take his life is in the Fire; and if that same person is killed by his brother—who likewise intended to kill him but was unable to carry it out—then the slain man is also in the Fire. In short, both the killer and the killed are in the Fire.

This hadith therefore proves how grave the act of murder is and that it is one of the causes that lead to the Fire—may Allah protect us.

It also shows that the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, would raise doubts or problematic questions to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and he would resolve them. For that reason we do not find anything in the Book or the Sunnah that is genuinely ambiguous without a solution: either the solution is provided directly in the Book and the Sunnah without anyone having to ask, or it is given in response to a question that is put forward.

Among such examples is the Prophet’s statement, peace and blessings be upon him, that the Antichrist will remain on earth for forty days: the first day like a year, the second like a month, and the third like a week—