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What is the ruling on exacting retribution (qisas) from a premeditated murderer in the absence of a Muslim ruler, and does the principle of killing a group for an individual apply to an assassination (qatl ghilah) in which more than eight people participated?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The establishment and execution of the hudud (Islamic penal laws) are entrusted to the ruler (wali al-amr) or his representative, due to the order and prevention of corruption and chaos that result from it. As for assassination (qatl al-ghila), there is no pardon for it, and all those who participated in it are to be killed, as Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, did when he killed five or seven men for a single man they had assassinated, and his saying: "If the people of Sana'a had conspired against him, I would have killed them all." And as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, killed Al-Harith ibn Suwayd for Al-Mujadhdhar ibn Dhiyad by assassination. However, the execution of this judgment is for the ruler only.

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

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