and it will be proclaimed: “This is the treachery of so-and-so.” His disgrace and scandal will be broadcast before all creatures in recompense for the perfidy and betrayal he tried to conceal.
Lessons Derived from the Hadith
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Betraying anyone who is under a truce or treaty is unlawful. The most heinous betrayal is that committed by the commander of an army, for his treachery is imputed to Islam itself, tarnishing its image and driving people away from it. By contrast, the betrayal of private individuals is attributed only to them.
If the Muslims have a covenant with the unbelievers yet fear that they will break it, they must first declare the pact void, just as the Almighty says: “And if you fear treachery from any people, throw their covenant back to them on equal terms; surely Allah does not love the treacherous” (Quran 8:58). -
The threatened punishment embraces anyone who is entrusted with life, honor, a secret, or property and then betrays that trust.
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The shameful disgrace and great scandal awaiting the betrayer on the Day of Resurrection arise because he concealed his perfidy; he will be repaid in the opposite manner—publicly exposed—and that punishment is more severe than the worldly consequences of betraying a human trustee. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Do not betray even the one who betrays you.”
Hadith Twelve
Abd Allah ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrated that a woman was found slain during one of the Prophet’s ﷺ campaigns, and he condemned the killing of women and children.
Lessons Derived from the Hadith
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Those who may lawfully be killed and fought are the combatant men among the unbelievers.
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Non-combatants—women, children, the elderly who can no longer fight, and monks—are not to be killed, for combat is intended only to repel the harm of the unbelievers and their obstruction of the call to Islam. If such women or elderly people wield influence or actively assist in fighting the Muslims, they may be killed.
Likewise, if military necessity requires bombarding the enemy with weapons that destroy them indiscriminately—such as artillery—while their women and children are among them and it is impossible to distinguish the combatants from the rest, they may be bombarded even though those vulnerable ones may also be killed.