Question

The Quran says that if a believer kills another believer then he will go to hell but what if it is in self-defense? What should I do then? Where I live there are many youngsters that are Muslims but are very criminal and they do very bad things. What should I do when for example they try to break into my home?

Answer

All the Islamic laws are based on universal moral values and reason. The Qur’an condemns and prescribes punishment for murder. Murder is the crime of intentionally (thus self-defense is excluded) causing the death of another human being, without lawful excuse (thus killing a criminal by the state itself or by the heirs of a slain after the judgment of the court does not come under it).It involves your volition and liberty to act. It is an aggressive act and not a forced reaction. While in self-defense you are only trying to save your life and not trying to take the life of the aggressor. Any move you do is only to evade the menace he wants to bring about and not to kill him in response. If he gets killed the responsibility lies upon him and not on you. People do not often retaliate in such situations and they are not fond of killing. Usually they try to bear the difficulties and yield to dacoits’ ill wills and let them take what they want. But in case someone decides to fight back they have very right to do so. Court will always consider their position and they cannot be treated as criminals. In Islam it is not considered a sin when someone is killed by accident or and killing in self-defense is also not considered a grave crime both in the in sight of the Muslim states and in the sight of the Lord.

Answered by: Tariq Mahmood Hashmi

Date: 2015-01-09