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Is it permissible to electrify doors to kill a thief, given the absence of police and the forcing open of iron doors, and what is the ruling on someone who dies as a result of this? Does the hadith "Whoever is killed defending his property" apply to him, or the hadith "He is in the Hellfire"?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

It is not permissible to electrify a door to prevent a thief, due to the risk of exposing the household members, visitors, and passersby to danger and perdition. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "There should be neither harming nor reciprocating harm." Thus, a potential harm to property should not be averted by a potential harm to lives. Moreover, a thief should be repelled by the least harmful means available, and should not be killed initially merely for theft. Rather, killing is permissible only out of necessity, such as when the thief initiates combat and cannot be repelled except by killing. If the thief dies due to an electrified door, it becomes difficult to prove his intention of theft, which could expose the homeowner to punishment, unlike if the homeowner kills him in self-defense of himself and his property after the thief initiated combat. Furthermore, this method may not provide the desired protection, as the thief may devise a way to evade the electricity. Therefore, a Muslim should seek other means to protect his home.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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