Website: www.aaiil.uk

The Haram and Halal of behaviour and morals – 2: The slaughter in Sydney

Friday Khutba by Dr Zahid Aziz, for Lahore Ahmadiyya UK, 19 December 2025

“Say: Come! I will recite what your Lord has forbidden (made ḥarām) to you: Set up no partner with Him, and do good to parents, nor kill your children for (fear of) poverty — We provide for you and for them, nor go near to indecencies, open or secret, nor kill the soul which Allah has made sacred except in the course of justice. This He enjoins upon you that you may understand.” — ch. 6, Al-An‘ām, v. 151

قُلۡ تَعَالَوۡا اَتۡلُ مَا حَرَّمَ رَبُّکُمۡ عَلَیۡکُمۡ اَلَّا تُشۡرِکُوۡا بِہٖ شَیۡئًا وَّ بِالۡوَالِدَیۡنِ اِحۡسَانًا ۚ وَ لَا تَقۡتُلُوۡۤا اَوۡلَادَکُمۡ مِّنۡ اِمۡلَاقٍ ؕ نَحۡنُ نَرۡزُقُکُمۡ وَ اِیَّاہُمۡ ۚ وَ لَا تَقۡرَبُوا الۡفَوَاحِشَ مَا ظَہَرَ مِنۡہَا وَ مَا بَطَنَ ۚ وَ لَا تَقۡتُلُوا النَّفۡسَ الَّتِیۡ حَرَّمَ اللّٰہُ اِلَّا بِالۡحَقِّ ؕ ذٰلِکُمۡ وَصّٰکُمۡ بِہٖ لَعَلَّکُمۡ تَعۡقِلُوۡنَ ﴿۱۵۱﴾

In the last khutba, I covered this verse as far as its prohibition of killing one’s own children for fear of poverty. I now continue with the rest of it. It says:

“nor go near to indecencies, open or secret.”

The word translated as “indecencies” is fawāḥish, which is plural of the well-known word fuḥsh. Although this word is generally taken in Urdu as meaning obscene behaviour, but in Arabic it has the much wider meaning of any kind of evil exceeding proper limits, anything repugnant and distasteful, the display of bad qualities, bad behaviour and bad language. It is taught here that a Muslim should not indulge in such misbehaviour, neither openly nor secretly. Some people behave badly when dealing with the outside world, but in private company they would never behave like that towards their friends or close family. Others are the opposite. They behave well when in the presence of outsiders, to earn their respect, but they show the worst aspects of their character indoors. The Quran here teaches that, whether openly or secretly, in public or private, we must not display bad qualities and behaviour. Another example I may mention is when someone illegally or immorally demands something from another person, without openly asking for it, but by throwing a hint. This happens with bribery. A government official or authority figure will not openly ask you for a bribe to solve your problem but will hint to you in some suggestive way that if you bribe him he will do it. Perhaps such people feel that by committing a wrong in an indirect and less blatant way they bear less responsibility for it and even that the victim of their crime himself agreed to let them do it to them.

After this, the verse I recited comes to its last prohibition:

“nor kill the soul which Allah has made sacred except in the course of justice”.

Originally, I had only intended to mention this point briefly, and was going then to deal with the teachings given in the next verse. However, in the light of the shooting of innocent Jews in Sydney, Australia on Sunday 14 December 2025, I will now only expand on this particular teaching. The principle is declared here that every human life has been made sacred by Allah, and to kill anyone is to violate the sacredness of that life. The verse then adds:

“except in the course of justice”.

The exception here, about when it is justified to take a life, applies in the case of self-defence only. If an individual is attacked by another person, and to save his own life he has no choice but to kill that person, or if in the heat of the struggle he kills that person accidentally, then that is justified killing. If a person has committed murder and is arrested, there are many countries, including some states in the USA, in which he or she can be sentenced to death. But that is after a fair and thorough trial, at which all facts are established without emotion or prejudice or favouritism. Such a sentence may also be justified in Islam.

In another place the Quran further explains this as follows:

“And do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden except for a just cause. And whoever is killed unjustly, We have indeed given to his heir authority — but let him not exceed the limit in killing. Surely he will be helped.” (17:33)

The heir, or the party most affected by the murder, is given the authority to pursue justice against the murderer. But he must remain within limits, and not apply his own punishment by taking excessive revenge. The words “Surely he will be helped” mean that the law enforcement and justice system of the state will help him to a satisfactory and just resolution.

The above examples relate to killings on a personal basis. Killing in the course of justice is also allowed in Islam during a state of war. But a Muslim most certainly cannot kill people under the claim that he is at war with their nation or community. A war allowed in Islam is governed by strict rules. In the Holy Prophet Muhammad’s time, he undertook battles or made peace with his enemies after consultation with his followers. Muslims had to follow the decision arrived at by the whole community. When the Holy Prophet signed the well-known truce of Hudaibiyya with his Quraish enemies, and many Muslims were unhappy with the conditions of the truce, no Muslim was entitled to continue a war on his own by killing members of the Quraish. The Holy Prophet made several agreements with tribes of idol-worshippers. All Muslims had to abide by those agreements. So war and peace in Islam are national and state matters, which are openly and clearly declared, and no Muslims can take these matters into their own hands.

A war is only allowed by Islam for the self-defence of the Muslims, and in a battle only those of the enemy may be killed who are fighting against the Muslims. There is absolutely no permission in Islam for Muslims to creep up on and attack anyone against whom there is no declared war and who is even unaware that he is being targeted by Muslims as an enemy. The Quran instructs the Holy Prophet as follows about the enemy that Muslims were at war with:

“And if they incline to peace, you (must) incline to it also, and trust in Allah. Surely He is the Hearer, the Knower. And if they intend to deceive you, then surely Allah is sufficient for you.” (8:62–63)

This means that the Muslim side must be in communication with the enemy in case war can be avoided, and if they offer a peace agreement to Muslims, then Muslims must accept it, even at the risk that the enemy is trying to deceive them. The enemy can only be attacked if they have been clearly informed that you are at war with them, and not if they are unaware of it.

The murders in Australia are thoroughly against the teachings of Islam from several aspects. The murderers were living in Australia as citizens of that country. In terms of Islam, they had made a solemn and binding pledge to obey the laws of that country, and certainly not to disturb law and order. In return for that agreement they had the rights of citizenship. To violate such an agreement is absolutely forbidden in Islam. They were enjoying peace, security and prosperity in Australia. According to the Quran:

“the reward of goodness is nothing but goodness” (55:60).

They should have done good in return for good. Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad has written about this verse that if we only return with good the good done to us by a Muslim, but not the good done to us by a non-Muslim, we depart from God’s teaching because He has not restricted this to people of your own religion, but clearly stated that God is displeased with the evil person who does bad to anyone who has done him good.

The persons whom they brutally murdered were Jews who were performing an act of religious worship. According to the Holy Quran, Muslims must guard all places of worship, but specifically churches and synagogues (22:40). When those Jews were attacked, the duty of a Muslim, according to the Quran, was to protect them and save their lives.

Even in a war, during a battle, Islam does not allow Muslims to kill those of the enemy who are not actually fighting. In Sahih Bukhari, there is one chapter with the heading “The killing of children in war” and the next with the heading “The killing of women in war”. In both, the same hadith is reported as follows:

“In one of the battles of the Prophet, a woman (i.e., of the enemy side) was found killed. So the Messenger of Allah forbade the killing of women and children.” (hadith 3014, 3015)

Imam Mālik, founder of one of the four systems of Islamic Law, expressed the view that even if the enemy uses women and children as human shields to protect their male warriors, it is still disallowed for Muslims to kill the women and children. The same hadith occurs in Sahih Muslim (hadith 1744a and 1744b). It also occurs in Tirmidhi, where it is stated that the words “So the Messenger of Allah forbade the killing of women and children” have been reported by five different reporters and that it is an authentic and reliable hadith. It is also added in Tirmidhi:

“According to the knowledgeable ones among the Companions of the Holy Prophet and others, this instruction is to be acted upon, and they disliked the killing of women and children.” (hadith 1569)

It is also added there that if women and children of the enemy are killed unintentionally at night, because they could not be seen by the Muslims, then it is excusable. But nowhere is it stated that if the enemy has killed your women and children you may kill theirs.

The same hadith occurs in Abu Dawud as well, where there is also another report saying that on learning that a woman had been killed the Holy Prophet said:

“Fighting should not have been done with her.”

The Holy Prophet then sent a messenger to Khalid ibn Walid, who was leading the army, and said:

“Tell Khalid not to kill a woman or a hired servant” (hadith 2669).

In another hadith in Abu Dawud it is reported that the Holy Prophet, when sending an army to fight, said to them:

“Go in the name of Allah, trusting in Allah, and according to the religion of the Messenger of Allah. And do not kill the one who is very old, or very young, or an underage child, or a woman.” (hadith 2614)

Thus this prohibition, not to kill those among the enemy who are not fighting men, is to be found in various forms in four of the six most authentic collections of Hadith, and among these four are the two top-most collections: Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim. When we see that these prohibitions apply to actual battles, in which the fighting men of the enemy are fighting the Muslims, how much more must they apply to a situation of peace, where there is no battle and no fighting men of the enemy attacking Muslims!

The firing and killing that the two Muslim gunmen carried out in Sydney was ḥarām and absolutely forbidden according to the teachings of Islam. We pray that may Allah ease the suffering and grief of the bereaved relatives and friends of their victims, regardless of their religion. May Allah enable Muslims to give up and desist from committing such atrocities, and enable them to see the real teachings of Islam — Ameen.

Website: www.aaiil.uk