Spiritual Disease and Its Cure by Imam Shams-ud-Deen Muhammad bin Abi Bakr bin Qayyim AlJ awziyyah

Allah ~ said: ( Because of that, We ordained for the Children of Israel that if anyone killed a person, not in retaliation for murder or for spreading mischief in the land, it would be as if he had killed the whole of mankind; and if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he had saved the life of the whole of mankind) 1 This has caused some confusion among many people. It is known that the sin of the one who killed a hundred persons is greater in the Sight of Allah than the sin of the one who killed only one person. Some people believe that the resemblance in the sin suggests the resemblance of the punishment; but resembling one thing with another thing does not suggest taking it with all its regulations. Allah ~ has said: (The Day they see it, it will be as if they had not tarried in the world except an afternoon or a morning)2 and ( On the Day when they will see that (torment) with which they are promised as if they had not stayed more than as hour in a single day) 3. This does not necessarily mean that they stayed in this world only for that period of time. The Prophet ~ said: "If someone performs the 'Jsha Salat in congregation, it is as if he had stood in prayer for half a night, and if someone performs the Fajr Salat in congregation, it is as if he had stood in prayer for a whole 1

night" • He ~ also said: "He who observed the fast of Ramadan and then followed it with six (fasts) of Shawwal, it would be as if he fasted perpetually."2 And he ~ also said: "If anyone recites surat: ( Say: He is Allah, the One) , it is as if he had recited one third of the Qur'an."3 However, it is known that the reward for the doer of such acts - as mentioned in the above Hadiths - does not reach the reward of the one resembled. If they are considered equal in reward, then the person who performs 'Isha and Fajr in congregation and stands performing the night prayer in between them would just be tiring himself all night, with no extra reward due. If it is said: "Then where is the resemblance between the one who kills one person and the one who kills a hundred persons"? The resemblance is in many aspects: First, Both of them are disobedient to Allah ~ and His Messenger ~' and are to receive Allah ' s Punishment, and both of them have earned Allah's Anger and Curse, and dwelling eternally in the Hell-Fire. The difference between them is in their punishment in their lowest levels of Hell. Second, they both equally deserve being killed. Third, they are both equally guilty in their willingness to kill unlawfully. Whoever kills a person without any right, simply for causing mischief in the land, can kill anyone just to take their property; therefore he is an enemy to humanity! Fourth, Allah ~ has made the believers, in their mercy and sympathy towards one another, as one body; so when a killer hurts one part of that body, all the other parts of that body are also hurt. So when someone hurts a believer, it is as if he has hurt all the believers. The Prophet ~ said: "No human being is killed unjustly, but a part of the responsibility for that crime is laid up on the first son of Adam (Qabil) who invented the tradition of killing (murdering) on the earth."4 Although, this promise of punishment never came to apply to the first fornicator, the first thief, or the first drunkard. The first polytheist would be rather more deserving of that punishment than the first killer, because he/she would have been the first to set the example of polytheism. It is for this reason that the Prophet ~ saw ' Umar bin Luhay Al-Khuza'i receiving the greatest punishment in the Hell-Fire, because he was the first who changed the Religion of Ibrahim ~,; as Allah ~ said: (and do not be the first to disbelieve therein ) 5 i.e. that people take you as an example - after you - and so their sins of disbelief would rest upon you. The same judgment is for the one who sets a bad practice which people followed. Abdullah bin 'Abbad ~ reported that the Prophet ~ said: "On the Day of Resurrection the slain will bring their slayer with his forelock and his head in his hand, and his own jugular vein meanwhile dripping with blood, and he will say: 'My Lord, he killed me' , till he brings him near the throne." People mentioned repentance to Ibn 'Abbas ~' but he recited the Verse: ( Whoever kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell to abide therein ) 1, and said: this Verse has not been abrogated nor changed, so how could he benefit from any repentance?"2 Nafi' said: "Abdullah bin ' Umar looked at the Ka'bah one day and said: 'How great you are , and how great is your sanctity; but the sanctity of a believer is greater in the Sight of Allah!" Abu Hurayrah 4, reported that the Prophet ;i said: "Abusing a Muslim is Fusuq (i.e., an evil-doing), and killing him is Kufr ( disbelief). " 3 The Prophet :i also said: "Beware! Do not renegade as disbelievers, after me, by striking the necks of one another."4 The Prophet :i said: "Whoever has killed a person who has a treaty with the Muslims, shall not smell the scent of Paradise, though its scent may be perceived from a distance of forty years. " 5 This is the punishment for the one who kills a disbeliever who is under a protection treaty; so what about the punishment for the one who kills a believer who worships none but Allah ~? The Prophet ;i said: "The passing of the whole world would mean less to Allah than the murder of a Muslim man."6