Taysīr al-ʿAllām - Abd Allah al-Bassam - (644)

Taysīr al-ʿAllāmAbd Allah al-Bassam

Hadith 4
Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that a young slave-girl was found with her head crushed between two stones. She was asked, “Who did this to you? Was it so-and-so? so-and-so?” until a certain Jew was mentioned, whereupon she nodded her head. The man was seized and confessed, so the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) ordered that his head be crushed between two stones.

Hadith 5
Muslim and al-Nasāʾī ⦗1⦘ also narrate from Anas that a Jew killed a slave-girl for some awḍāḥ (silver ornaments), and the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) exacted lawful retaliation against him for her.

Lexical Notes
murḍūḍan: passive participle, meaning “crushed” or “smashed.”
awḍāḥ: pieces of silver jewelry, so called because of their bright whiteness.

Overall Meaning
In the Prophet’s lifetime a slave-girl was discovered with her head shattered between two stones, yet she was still breathing. Those present listed the names of possible assailants until they mentioned a Jewish man; she nodded, indicating that he was the one who had struck her. He was arrested, questioned, and eventually confessed that he had killed her to seize the silver ornaments she was wearing. The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) then commanded that he be punished in the same manner—his head was crushed between two stones—in fulfillment of Allah’s words: “If you retaliate, then retaliate with the like of that with which you were afflicted” (Q 16:126). Thus he was killed as he had killed the girl, protecting innocent blood and deterring others.

Points Derived from the Hadith

A man is executed in retaliation for murdering a woman. Allah says, “A life for a life” (Q 2:178). Al-Nawawī stated that this is the unanimous view of all authoritative scholars.
Retaliatory execution (qiṣāṣ) is carried out in the same manner as the murder, and is not limited to death by edged weapons. This is the opinion of the vast majority of scholars, including the three Imams: Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī, and Aḥmad.

(1) The attribution “related by Muslim and al-Nasai” is inaccurate: Muslim does not record the report with this wording. His version reads, “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ killed him between two stones,” which is also the exact wording found in al-Bukhari.

الحديث الرابع عِنْ أنَس بنِ مَالك ﵁: أنَ جَارِيَةً وُجدَ رأسها مَرْضُوضاً بين حجرين، فَقِيل مَنْ فَعَل هذَا بِكِ؟ فلان، فلان، حَتَّى ذكِرَ يهودي، فَأوْمَأتْ برأسها. فَأخِذَ اليَهْودِيُّ فَاعْتَرَفَ، فَأمَرَ النَبي ﷺ أنْ يُرَضَّ رَأسُهُ بَيْنَ حجرينِ. الحديث الخامس ولـ (مسلم) ، وَالنِّسَائِي (١) عَن أنَس: أن يهوديًّا قَتَلَ جَارِيَة عَلى أوْضَاح فَأقَادَهُ بِها رَسُولُ ﷺ. الغريب: مرضوضا: اسم مفعول، أي مدقوقا. أوضاح: بالفاء المعجمة، وبعد الألف حاء مهملة، وهي قطع الفضة، سميت أوضاحا لبياضها. المعنى الإجمالي: وجد على عهد النبي ﷺ جارية قد رض رأسها بين حجرين، وبها بقية من حياة، فسألوها عن قاتلها يعددون عليها من يظنون أنهم قتلوها، حتى أتوا على اسم يهودي، فأومأت برأسها: أي نعم، هو الذي رض رأسها، فصار متهما بقتلها. فأخذوه وقرروه حتى اعترف بقتلها من أجل حُليِّ فضة عليها. فأمر النبي ﷺ أن يجازى بمثل ما فعل، فرضَّ رَأسه بين حجرين، تأويلا لقوله تعالى: ﴿وَإن عَاقبتمْ فَعَاقِبُوا بِمِثْل مَا عُوقبتمْ بِهِ﴾ فقتلوه كما قتل الجارية، صيانة للدماء، وردعا للسفهاء. ما يستفاد من الحديث: ١- أن الرجل يقتل بالمرأة. قال تعالى: ﴿النفس بالنًفْس﴾ قال النووي: وهو إجماع من يعتد به. ٢- ثبوت القصاص في القتل بالمثل، وأنه لا يختص بالمحدد، وهو مذهب جمهور العلماء ومنهم الأئمة الثلاثة مالك، والشافعي، وأحمد.

(١) قوله: (ولمسلم والنسائي) هذه الرواية التي عزاها لمسلم، ليست فيه بهذا اللفظ وإنما لفظه: " فقتله رسول الله ﷺ بين حجرين" وهي بهذا اللفظ للبخاري أيضا.