37/2. Chapter:
Sunan an-Nasai 3986 — A Believer's Life Is More Valuable Than the World
The Gravity of the Sin of Shedding Blood
Killing a Believer Is Graver Than the Loss of the World
Sunan an-Nasai : 3986
Sunan an-NasaiHadith Number 3986
أَخْبَرَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ مُعَاوِيَةَ بْنِ مَالَجَ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ سَلَمَةَ الْحَرَّانِيُّ، عَنِ ابْنِ إِسْحَاقَ، عَنْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ بْنِ مُهَاجِرٍ، عَنْ إِسْمَاعِيلَ، مَوْلَى عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَمْرٍو عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَمْرِو بْنِ الْعَاصِ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " وَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ لَقَتْلُ مُؤْمِنٍ أَعْظَمُ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ مِنْ زَوَالِ الدُّنْيَا " . قَالَ أَبُو عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ إِبْرَاهِيمُ بْنُ الْمُهَاجِرِ لَيْسَ بِالْقَوِيِّ .
Abdullah bin 'Amr bin Al-'as Narrated from:
The Messenger of Allah [SAW] said: 'By the One in Whose Hand is my soul, killing a believer is more grievous before Allah than the extinction of the whole world.'
Reference : Sunan an-Nasa'i 3986In-book reference : Book 37, Hadith 21English translation : Vol. 5, Book 37, Hadith 3991
Summary of Sunan an-Nasai Hadith 3986
This hadith about killing a believer uses a powerful comparison. The Messenger of Allah swore by the One in Whose Hand was his soul and said that killing a believer is more grievous before Allah than the extinction of the whole world. The wording is meant to make the seriousness of unlawful bloodshed impossible to ignore. Worldly things can appear huge, valuable, and lasting, yet the hadith places the life of a believer above the loss of the entire world in this comparison. The narration does not describe legal penalties or give details about particular cases. Its message is moral: a believer’s life must not be treated cheaply. The report also includes a narrator’s note that Ibrahim bin Muhajir was not strong, which honestly preserves information about the chain. The teaching remains a direct warning against taking sacred life and against thinking that worldly goals can make such killing small.
What we learn from this hadith
- The life of a believer is treated as extremely weighty before Allah.
- The extinction of the world is used as a comparison to show the gravity of killing.
- No worldly aim should make unlawful bloodshed seem minor.
- The narration preserves a note about the strength of one narrator.
