Sunday, 15 June 2014

Prophet Adam's sons: Habil (Abel) and Qabil (Cain)

The First Murder[1]

“And recite to them the story of Adam's two sons [Habil and Qabil], in truth, when they both offered a sacrifice to Allah, and it was accepted from one of them but was not accepted from the other.

Lessons:
-       Allah only accepts deeds that are sincerely for His sake alone.
-       Envy can lead to murder.
-       Even brothers can kill one another over a woman.

Qabil said, "I will surely kill you." Habil said, "Indeed, Allah only accepts from the righteous who fear Him. If you should raise your hand against me to kill me – I shall not raise my hand against you to kill you. Indeed, I fear Allah, Lord of the worlds. Indeed I want you to obtain thereby my sin and your sin so you will be among the companions of the Fire. And that is the recompense of wrongdoers." And his soul permitted to him the murder of his brother, so he killed him and became among the losers.

Lessons:
-       The true believer should not try to kill the Muslim who is trying to kill him but to leave the matter to Allah even if he is killed.
-       The true believer must not have any intention to kill the fellow Muslim who is trying to kill him.
-       Whoever murders a Muslim, their place is in the fire of Hell.
-       It does not matter if the victim is in the right, as long as they wish to kill the one trying to harm them they are also guilty and liable to be punished in hell.
-        Narrated Al-Ahnaf bin Qais from Abu Bakra: “… I heard Allah's Messenger saying, 'If two Muslims meet each other with their swords then both the killer and the one killed are in the Hell-Fire.' I said, 'O Allah's Messenger! It is alright for the killer, but what about the one killed?' He replied, 'The one killed was eager to kill his opponent."[2]

Then Allah sent a crow searching in the ground to show him how to hide the disgrace of his brother. He said, "O woe to me! Have I failed to be like this crow and hide the body of my brother?" And he became of the regretful.

Lessons:
-       Allah exposes or hides our sins as He pleases.
-       Allah loves us to hide our sins than to expose it openly without shame.
-       Regret always follows a sinful act.

Because of that, We decreed upon the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul unless for killing another soul or for corruption done in the land – it is as if he had slain all of mankind. And whoever saves one soul – it is as if he had saved all of mankind. And our messengers had certainly come to them with clear proofs. Then indeed many of them, [even] after that, throughout the land, were transgressors.

Lessons:
-       Murder is one of the most heinous crimes in Islam.
-       Killing a person is like genocide and saving a person is like saving all of humanity.
-       This story and its truth is a proof from the prophets and a sign and warning to us all.
-       We must never be transgressors nor support or condone transgression.



[1] Surah al-Ma’ida 5:27-5:32
[2] Al-Bukhari, vol.9, book 83, no.14.

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