English
Abdul Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Abdullah narrated from his father: We were traveling with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and he went to relieve himself. We saw a redstart with two chicks, so we took her chicks. The redstart came, fluttering. The Prophet (ﷺ) came and said: “Who has distressed this one with her young? Return her young to her.” He saw an ant colony we had burned and said: “Who burned this?” We said: “We did.” He said: “It is not fitting to punish with fire except the Lord of fire.”
Possible references (unverified, pending editorial review)
- Candidate: Sunan Abi Dawud 2675 (unverified) 98% confidence
- Candidate: Sunan Abi Dawud 5268 (unverified) 94% confidence
Confidence and text similarity are not editorial verification.
Commentary and footnotes (3)
Note 1
(1) His statement: “Return her young to her”: The command is recommended, as hunting a bird’s chick is permissible. So it is in (Al-Mirqat).
Note 2
(2) His statement: “It is not fitting to punish with fire except the Lord of fire”: In (Al-Hidayah) in the Book of Disliked Acts: It is disliked to place an iron collar on a slave’s neck that restricts head movement, as it is a punishment of Hell’s people, like burning with fire. In (Radd al-Muhtar) under Jihad: Burning and drowning are permissible if the enemy cannot be overcome without great difficulty; otherwise, it is not permissible.
Note 3
(٣) قوله: لا ينبغي أن يعذِّب بالنار إلا رب النار: وقال في (الهداية) في كتاب الكراهية: ويكره أن يجعل الرجل في عنق عبده الراية، وهو طوق الحديد الذي يمنعه من أن يحرك رأسه، وهو معتاد بين الظّلمةِ؛ لأنه عقوبة أهل النار، فيكرهكالإحراق بالنار. وفي (رد المحتار) كيفية القتال من كتاب الجهاد تحت قول (الدر المختار): (وحرقهم) ما نصه:لكن جواز التحريق والتغريق مقيد، كما في (شرح السير) بما إذا لم يتمكنوا من الظفر بهم بدون ذلك بلا مشقة عظيمة،فإن تمكنوا فلا يجوز.