Is it Permissible for Prisoners to be executed?

The question as to whether it is permissible to kill prisoners or not has been briefly answered above; Islām does not permit this. However, since various Muslim scholars have disagreed upon this issue and Christian historians have also made it a target of objection, it is necessary to write about this in some detail. Hence, first and foremost it should be known that from the verse of Sūrah Muḥammad(sa), which has been quoted above, it becomes very clearly evident that it is unlawful to kill prisoners of war. After a Qur’ānic verdict, no individual possesses the right to propose another method. However, for the additional satisfaction of readers, we wish to mention that the translation we have rendered of this Qur’ānic verse is not an invention of the current time. Rather, the Companions interpreted it in the same manner and their actions were according to this. As such, there is a narration in the Aḥādīth as follows:

Meaning, “Ḥasan relates that on one occasion a prisoner was presented before Ḥajjāj, and Ḥaḍrat ‘Abdullāh bin ‘Umar(ra) was also present. Ḥajjāj addressed Ibni ‘Umar(ra) saying, ‘Stand up and take off his head.’ Ibni ‘Umar(ra) responded, ‘We have not been ordered to do so. Allāh the Exalted states, ‘When prisoners are taken in war, they should either be released as an act of benevolence or released on ransom. There is no commandment to kill them.’”1

Similarly, it is related by Ḥasan Baṣrī and ‘Aṭā’ bin Abī Rabāḥ:

Meaning, “A prisoner is not to be killed, rather, the commandment is that either he should be released as an act of benevolence or on ransom.”2

The clear verse of the Holy Qur’ān which has been quoted above coupled with this clear elaboration leaves no room for doubt or uncertainty that the issue of the legalization of killing prisoners is absolutely incorrect and without foundation. Islām does not at all permit that a prisoner of war be killed. At this instance, if the question arises as to why certain Muslim scholars have fallen into error as regards to this matter, then the answer is that this misunderstanding has arisen due to the fact that allegedly, certain examples can be found in history where the Holy Prophet(sa) killed various prisoners of war. However, the people who have drawn conclusions from these examples have not paused to contemplate that those prisoners of war who were ordered to death by the Holy Prophet(sa) were not killed in their capacity as prisoners of war. Rather, the reason for their execution was because they were liable to be put to death on account of various other crimes. It is obvious that if a prisoner is guilty of a crime for which the punishment is death, his being taken captive cannot save him from this punishment. If a free individual may be executed in punishment of a crime, then why not a prisoner? Hence, as shall be proven at its appropriate place, every such prisoner who was ordered to death by the Holy Prophet(sa), was not put to death on the basis that he was a warrior belonging to an enemy tribe or because he was an individual from a combatant nation. Rather, he was executed because he had become guilty of such a crime for which the punishment was death. However, upon witnessing the apparent state whereby certain prisoners were executed, various scholars have drawn the conclusion that it is permissible to execute a prisoner as well. However, such a concept is categorically incorrect and baseless in light of both the Islāmic teaching as well as the practice of the Holy Prophet(sa).

This is an outline of the teaching, which has been given by Islām with respect to prisoners of war. Every sensible individual can appreciate that this is a very just law granted to the world by God through the Holy Prophet(sa). Even those nations, which are referred to as advanced and civilized in this day and age, have not been able to give the world a better law, whereby, on the one hand, if war lingers on unnecessarily, international injustice has been suppressed, and on the other hand, an aspect of benevolence and kindness has also been maintained in the best possible manner. As a matter of fact, if one contemplates, this law has given more importance to treating the enemy with compassion and benevolence, even more so than employing measures of self-defense. Indeed, to this day, there has been no nation which has ordered just and benevolent treatment towards such enemies who were thirsty for their blood and who sought to destroy them.