“And do not kill a soul which Allah has made sacred except for a just cause... Q17:33

“And whosoever (deliberately) kill a believer; his reward shall be Jahannam (hell fire), he shall dwell therein forever, Allah’s wrath shall be on him and Allah (also) curses him and Allah has prepared for him a great punishment. Q4:93.

Islam places a great price on the life of human beings. The right to life is both individually and communally protected. This is so because Allah (SWT) created man (Adam) from dust and breathed unto him His (Allah) own soul. The spirit that makes man a living being comes from Allah, the Creator. When a man is to leave this world, his soul is withdrawn unto Allah. This accounts for the sayings of the Prophet when Abu Salamah gave up the ghost in  Madinah, the Holy Prophet entered his room to access his health condition but discovered that he was breathing his last breathe. Leaving the room, the Prophet said Inna lillahi wa inna ilaehi raaji’una. Meaning: verily we are from Allah and unto Him is our return (Bukhari).’

Human life should be preserved at all cost because Allah (SWT) reserves the uncontestable right to give and take it back. Islam forbids  parents from killing their child out of the fear of wants because He (SWT) is the Creator and the Provider Q17:31. Wanton killings which is rampant in our society today is an issue of great concern because the Muslims who have been severely warned (against it)still commit this great sin. Violent or gentle, all approaches to illegal killings are abhorred by Almighty Allah and His Prophet.

Killing a human being, especially a believer, will land the murderer or assassin in hell fire even if he frequents in the mosque, fasts in Ramadan, gives Zakat and embarks on Holy pilgrimage to Makkah or performing ‘Umrah every year.

In Shariah, killing a soul which is called homicide is considered the second greatest sin next to Shrik (Associating partners unto Allah). A soul is not to be taken except in the case of someone who illegal kills another soul or an adulterer or an apostate.  Only one or all of the above mentioned categories deserves to be killed by the state and not by any individual or group.

Taking vengeance on someone who has violated our right in case of killing is not the prerogative of the individual or group but the exclusive prerogative of the state authority.

Therefore, engaging in murder acts in the form of stabling, poisoning, shooting, suicide bombing, letter bombing, calculated accidents etc are all antithetic to Islam. The Holy Prophet (SAW) says: Eschew seven destructive sins; …  mentioning killing innocent soul as one of them (Bukhari and Muslims). The Holy Prophet further said that the first sin that shall be probed into among mankind on the Day of Judgment is the shedding of blood. Bearing in mind the stern warning on the sanctity of life in several places in the glorious Quran and admonition of the Holy Prophet (SAW), we should be conscious of the day when Allah (SWT)  shall prosecute all the sinners and reward them with everlasting punishment.

The mother of the believers- Aishah bint Abubakr(RA), said the Holy Prophet (SAW) never abused, cursed nor slapped another person let alone kill a soul for any personal reason(s); but fought battles in the cause of Allah. All acts of killings have to stop that peace may reign in our society. Also, all acts of injustice whether on minority or the majority must be put to a halt.