Hadith Text
وَعَنْ أَبِي بَكْرَةَ نُفَيْعِ بْنِ الْحَارِثِ الثَّقَفِيِّ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ: «إِذَا الْتَقَى الْمُسْلِمَانِ بِسَيْفَيْهِمَا فَالْقَاتِلُ وَالْمَقْتُولُ فِي النَّارِ». قُلْتُ: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ، هَذَا الْقَاتِلُ فَمَا بَالُ الْمَقْتُولُ؟ قَالَ: «إِنَّهُ كَانَ حَرِيصاً عَلَى قَتْلِ صَاحِبِهِ». مُتَّفَقٌ عَلَيْهِ.
Full Translation
On the authority of Abu Bakrah Nufay’ ibn al-Harith al-Thaqafi (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Prophet ﷺ said:
“When two Muslims meet each other with their swords — the killer and the killed are both in the Fire.”
I said: “O Messenger of Allah — this is the killer, but what is the matter with the killed?”
He said: “He was eager to kill his companion.”
Agreed upon.
Meanings of Key Words
- Iltaqa (الْتَقَى) — they meet each other; two people who deliberately come together in confrontation — not accidental, not defensive — they chose this encounter
- Bi-sayfayhima (بِسَيْفَيْهِمَا) — with their two swords; both came armed, both came ready, both came intending to fight
- Al-qatil (الْقَاتِلُ) — the killer; the one whose blow landed — he took a life
- Al-maqtool (الْمَقْتُولُ) — the killed; the one who died — he lost his life
- Fi al-nar (فِي النَّارِ) — in the Fire; the outcome for both — not a warning, a statement
- Hareesan (حَرِيصاً) — eager, desperately desirous; not just willing — actively, intensely wanting to kill his fellow Muslim
- Sahib (صَاحِبِهِ) — his companion; the same word used for friendship and closeness — these are not strangers or enemies by faith, they are brothers who chose to become killers of each other
Hadith Lessons
This hadith lands like a verdict. It is short, direct, and leaves no room for negotiation. And the question it provokes — but what about the one who died? — is the question that unlocks its deepest lesson about intention.
The Question Everyone Would Ask
The killer goes to the Fire — that is understandable. He took a Muslim life. But the killed? He is the victim. He lost. He died. How can the one who was struck down be in the Fire alongside the one who struck him?
Abu Bakrah asks this exact question, and the Prophet’s ﷺ answer is the entire point of the hadith: “He was eager to kill his companion.”
The man who died did not die innocent. He came with a sword. He came with the intention of killing. He was harees (حَرِيصاً) — eagerly, desperately wanting to end the life of his Muslim brother. The only reason he did not succeed is that the other man was faster. His intention was identical to the killer’s. His failure was physical, not moral.
This is Hadith 1 applied to its most extreme consequence: deeds are by intentions. The killed man’s intention was murder. The fact that he became the victim instead of the perpetrator does not change what his heart carried into that encounter. Allah judges the intention — and both men carried the same one.
The Sword They Both Carried
Notice the precision of the hadith: “with their two swords (bi-sayfayhima).” Not one sword — two. Both men came armed. Both men came ready. Both men made a choice to show up to this encounter as killers.
In the conflicts that tear Muslim communities apart — whether physical violence, or the modern equivalents of online warfare, family feuds, business betrayals, community divisions — this detail matters enormously. It is very easy, after a conflict, to cast yourself as the wounded party and the other as the aggressor. But the Prophet ﷺ asks: what sword did you bring? What was your intention when you entered that encounter? Were you truly the defender — or were you also, in your heart, eager to destroy?
Two Muslims destroying each other is never a story with one villain. It takes two people who chose — with intention — to meet each other with weapons.
The Sanctity of Muslim Blood
This hadith sits in the chapter on sincerity and intention, but it carries one of the heaviest warnings in the entire religion about the sanctity of Muslim life. The Prophet ﷺ placed killer and killed in the same sentence, with the same outcome — to make unmistakably clear: the life of a Muslim is not a battlefield. It is sacred ground.
In an era of Muslim-on-Muslim conflict — political, sectarian, communal — this hadith is not historical. It is immediate. Every time Muslims harm, destroy, or work toward the ruin of other Muslims — whether with literal weapons or with words, wealth, and influence — the question this hadith asks is alive: what intention did you carry into that encounter?
Three Questions to Close With
- Is there a conflict in my life — with a family member, a colleague, a community member — where I have cast myself entirely as the victim, but if I am honest, I came with my own “sword”?
- When I enter a disagreement or confrontation, what is my true intention — resolution and truth, or winning and destroying?
- Do I carry the weight of Muslim blood being sacred in the way the Prophet ﷺ described — or has familiarity made me careless about how I treat, speak about, or act toward other Muslims?