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Is it permissible to kill a thief who aggresses against one's life, honor, and property, in light of the authorities' complicity and dereliction of duty, bearing in mind the Prophet's (peace be upon him) saying: "If someone peeks through a hole in the door and one of you has a needle in his hand, let him plunge it into his eye"?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

We ask Allah to relieve the questioner's distress and grant him tranquility. The questioner refers to previous fatwas stating that the implementation of hudud (punishments) is the prerogative of the ruler, and it is not permissible for ordinary individuals to carry them out. The issue of thieves falls under the category of دفع الصائل (repelling an aggressor), which has been clarified in previous fatwas.

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

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