Why did Abel not defend himself against his brother?

July 29, 2024

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Question

In the story of the two sons of Adam (pbuh), Abel and Cain, why did Abel surrender and not defend himself against his brother, which was his fundamental right?

Answer

Salaam

Thank you for writing to us.

The Qur’an does not make any reference to Abel (Arabic Hābīl) “surrendering” to his brother Cain (Arabic Qābīl) or refraining from defending himself. Rather, the Qur’an indicates that Abel was not willing to initiate an attack against his brother. It is possible, and the text supports this possibility, that Habil attempted to defend himself when Qabil attacked him with the intention of murder but was ultimately unsuccessful in doing so.

In his commentary on Qur’an 5:29, Javed Ahmad Ghamidi explains that the verse contains the words “اَنْ تَبُوْٓاَ بِاِثْمِيْ وَاِثْمِكَ,” which involve the suppression of a governing noun (muḍāf) before both nouns. Ghamidi argues that this suppression implies that Qabil would be responsible for any harm caused to himself as he was the initiator of the attack.

Regards,

Mushfiq Sultan
Assistant Fellow
Al-Mawrid

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Mushfiq Sultan serves as an Assistant Fellow at Al-Mawrid and manages Al-Mawrid’s Query Service. His responsibilities at Al-Mawrid encompass research, writing, creation of educational content on various aspects of Islam and responding to the questions received at Al-Mawrid, thereby contributing to the institute’s mission of fostering a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the religion. Presently, he is working on the Hindi translation of Javed Ahmad Ghamidi’s important works, Mīzān and Al-Bayān. He has an exceptional interest in world religions, their philosophies, and their mutual relations. He published his first book ‘Muhammad (saws) in the Bible- An Exposition on Isaiah 42’ in 2016. He has written articles on Islam, Christianity, and Hinduism. Mushfiq has been teaching at Al-Mawrid Institute since 2018 and can be reached at sultanmushafiq@gmail.com