Riyad al-Salihin from the words of the Master of the Messengers, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
Chapter: Judging People by What Is Apparent, Leaving Their Inward Secrets to Allah the Exalted.
On the authority of Usamah ibn Zayd, may Allah be pleased with both of them, who said:
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, sent us on an expedition to al-Huraqah of the Juhaynah tribe.
We attacked them in the morning at their watering places,
and I, along with a man from the Ansar, caught up with one of their men.
When we overwhelmed him, he said, "There is no god but Allah."
The Ansari refrained from killing him, but I pierced him with my spear until I killed him.
When we arrived back in Medina, news of this reached the Prophet, peace be upon him.
He said to me: "O Usamah,
did you kill him after he had said, 'There is no god but Allah'?"
I said, "O Messenger of Allah, he only said it to seek refuge from death."
He said, "Did you kill him after he had said, 'There is no god but Allah'?"
And he kept repeating it to me until I wished that I had not embraced Islam before that day.
Agreed upon.
In another narration, the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said:
"He said, 'There is no god but Allah,' and you killed him?!"
I said, "O Messenger of Allah, he only said it out of fear of the weapon."
He said, "Did you tear open his heart to know whether he had said it sincerely or not?!"
And he kept repeating it until I wished that I had only embraced Islam on that day.
"Al-Huraqah" is a clan of Juhaynah, a well-known tribe.
His saying "he only said it to seek refuge" means he was using it to protect himself from being killed, not out of true belief.
"We attacked them in the morning" means we came upon them at dawn.
"We overwhelmed him" means we drew near to him, overtook him, and brought our weapons over him.
"Until I wished that I had not embraced Islam before that day"
means: until I wished that my conversion to Islam had not preceded that event,
but rather that I had only just begun it then.
Among the benefits derived from the hadith:
The leader is the one who dispatches military expeditions and commands the soldiers.
It is obligatory to base the rulings of Islam on what is outward and apparent,
and it is not permissible to probe into what lies hidden in the inward conscience.
In this legislation there is a blocking of the means to evil,
and a prevention of those who desire revenge, vendetta, and bloodshed
under the pretext that the other person's inner intention is not genuine.
The Messenger, peace be upon him, did not rule that legal retribution (qisas) be carried out against Usamah,
because he had killed him based on a mistaken interpretation of the situation,
which constituted an element of doubt,
and prescribed punishments (hudud) are averted by doubts.
However, such an act makes blood money (diyah) incumbent upon the paternal relatives of the killer ('aqilah).
It is not permissible for someone who commits a major sin
to wish that he had not embraced Islam until after doing so;
rather, Usamah, may Allah be pleased with him, only said that
because of the overwhelming fear that seized his heart
from the severity of the Prophet's condemnation of the deed.
On the authority of Jundub ibn 'Abdullah, may Allah be pleased with him:
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
sent an expedition of Muslims against a group of polytheists,
and they met in battle.
There was a man among the polytheists
who, whenever he intended to target one of the Muslims,
went after him and killed him.
Then one of the Muslims sought to take him by surprise—
and we used to say that he was Usamah ibn Zayd.
When he raised the sword against him,
the man said, "There is no god but Allah,"
yet he killed him.
A bearer of glad tidings came to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
who questioned him, and the messenger informed him of the news,
eventually relating the story of that man and what had transpired.
So the Prophet summoned him and asked him,
saying, "Why did you kill him?"
He replied, "O Messenger of Allah,
he had inflicted heavy casualties upon the Muslims,
killing so-and-so and so-and-so,"
naming a number of them for him,
"and I charged at him;
yet when he saw the sword, he said,
'There is no god but Allah.'"
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said:
"Did you kill him?"
He replied, "Yes."
He said:
"What then will you do with 'There is no god but Allah'
when it comes on the Day of Resurrection?"
He said:
"O Messenger of Allah,
ask forgiveness for me!"
He said:
"And what will you do with 'There is no god but Allah'
when it comes on the Day of Resurrection?"
And he did nothing more than repeat:
"What will you do with 'There is no god but Allah'
when it comes on the Day of Resurrection?"
Narrated by Muslim.
"He had inflicted heavy casualties upon the Muslims"
means he struck hard against them and caused them great pain.
Among the benefits derived from the hadith:
This hadith and the one preceding it refer to the same single incident;
it is merely a matter of differing narrations in certain wordings,
while the subject matter is one and the same.
It is permissible to convey glad tidings of victory over enemies to the leader,
and to inform him of what occurred on the battlefield.
It is permissible for the leader to reprimand the army
whenever an infraction of the Sharia is committed by them.
On the authority of 'Abdullah ibn 'Utbah ibn Mas'ud, who said:
I heard 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, say:
"People used to be judged by divine revelation during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
but the divine revelation has now ceased.
We now judge you only by what is manifest to us of your actions:
whoever shows us good, we ensure his safety and bring him near,
and we have no business with his inner secrets;
Allah will hold him to account for his inner secrets.
But whoever shows us evil,
we do not ensure his safety, nor do we believe him,
even if he claims that his inner intention is good."
Narrated by al-Bukhari.
"They used to be judged by divine revelation"
means that revelation would descend concerning them,
disclosing the true reality of their state;
and that was during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.
"We ensure his safety"
means we treat him as trustworthy in our estimation.
"His inner secrets"
means that which he conceals and hides within.
Among the benefits derived from the hadith:
'Umar's informing the people, may Allah be pleased with him,
of how matters were during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
and how they became after his passing.
Islamic rulings must be applied according to people's outward conduct
and the actions that proceed from them.
A good intention does not justify committing a sin,
nor does it waive the execution of prescribed legal penalties and retribution.
The ruler is obligated to act justly toward his subjects,
and to execute the ruling of Allah equally upon the noble and the humble alike,
fearing no blame from any blamer for the sake of Allah.
An excuse is accepted from someone whose true state is known to us
and whose word we are certain of.
The ultimate reckoning on the Day of the Supreme Recompense
will be based upon what the servant has concealed in his inner heart:
if it was good, then the outcome will be good,
and if it was evil,
then his recompense will be of the same nature as his deed.
Riyad al-Salihin.