28/4. Chapter:
Sahih Muslim 1673d — A Clear Lesson on Unfair Retaliation
If a person attacks another person's life and limb, and the other defends himself and kills him or injures him, there is no penalty on him
Hadith About Retaliation and the Biting Hand Case
Sahih Muslim : 1673d
Sahih MuslimHadith Number 1673d
حَدَّثَنَا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ عُثْمَانَ النَّوْفَلِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا قُرَيْشُ بْنُ أَنَسٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ عَوْنٍ، عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ، بْنِ سِيرِينَ عَنْ عِمْرَانَ بْنِ حُصَيْنٍ، أَنَّ رَجُلاً، عَضَّ يَدَ رَجُلٍ فَانْتَزَعَ يَدَهُ فَسَقَطَتْ ثَنِيَّتُهُ أَوْ ثَنَايَاهُ فَاسْتَعْدَى رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " مَا تَأْمُرُنِي تَأْمُرُنِي أَنْ آمُرَهُ أَنْ يَدَعَ يَدَهُ فِي فِيكَ تَقْضَمُهَا كَمَا يَقْضَمُ الْفَحْلُ ادْفَعْ يَدَكَ حَتَّى يَعَضَّهَا ثُمَّ انْتَزِعْهَا " .
'Imran bin Husain Narrated from:
A person bit the hand of a person. He withdrew his hand and his foretooth or foreteeth fell down. He (the man who lost his teeth) referred the matter to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and he said, What do you want me to do? Do you ask me that I should order him to put his hand in your mouth, and you should bite it as the camel bites? (If you want retaliation, then the only way out is) that you put your hand in his mouth (allow him) to bite that and then draw it away.
Reference : Sahih Muslim 1673dIn-book reference : Book 28, Hadith 29USC-MSA web (English) reference : Book 16, Hadith 4147
Summary of Sahih Muslim Hadith 1673d
This hadith about retaliation gives more wording from Allah's Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم). A man bit another man's hand. The bitten man withdrew his hand, and the biter's foretooth or foreteeth fell. The biter complained, but the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) asked what he expected to be ordered. Should the other man be told to leave his hand in the biter's mouth so he could bite it like a camel? The wording makes the unfairness plain. The hadith is a strong search match for qisas and diyah hadith, but it does not teach private revenge. It shows the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) rejecting a claim that would make the victim submit again to the same biting harm.
What we learn from this hadith
- A person cannot fairly demand a result that repeats the harm he began.
- The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) exposed the weakness of the claim through a direct question.
- The bitten person's act of pulling away is central to the ruling.
- The narration teaches that justice looks at the cause of the injury.
