Shedding Blood of Nine Arch-Criminals

shedding blood of nine arch-criminals was declared lawful even under the curtains of al-ka‘bah. nevertheless, only four of them were killed while the others were pardoned for different reasons. as for those who were killed, mention could be made of ‘abdul ‘uzza bin khatal who had become a muslim and then deputed to collect alms-tax in the company of a helper. they had also a slave with them. ‘abdullah, in a fit of rage, killed the helper’s slave on account of a mere trifling dispute, and joined the pagan arabs as an apostate. he was never repentant at this heinous crime but rather employed two women singers and incited them to sing satirically about the prophet [pbuh].

the other man who was put to death was miqyas bin sababa. he was a muslim. a helper accidently killed his brother hisham. the prophet [pbuh] had arranged the payment of blood money to him, which he had accepted. his revengeful nature, however, was never appeased, so he killed the helper and went to makkah as an apostate.

similarly, huwairith and one woman singer went to death.

on the other hand, every attempt was made to grant pardon to the people. ‘ikrimah bin abu jahl, who had attacked khalid’s detachment at the time of the entry into makkah, was forgiven. to wahshi, the murderer of hamzah, the prophet’s uncle, and to hind, who had chewed his liver, was also extended his generous clemency. the same generous treatment was accorded to habar who had attacked the prophet’s daughter with a spear, while on her way from makkah to madinah, so grievously that she ultimately died of the fatal injuries.