Abu Qilaba reported that he was sitting behind Umar bin Abdul-Aziz when the people there discussed a certain matter at length. They said, "The caliphs have carried out retaliation for this." Umar turned to Abu Qilaba, who was behind him, and asked, "What do you say, Abdullah bin Zayd?" Or he said, "What do you say, Abu Qilaba?"I replied, "I do not know of any soul whose killing is permitted in Islam except a man who commits adultery after having been married, or one who kills another person without just cause, or one who wages war against Allah and His Messenger ﷺ."Anbasa then said, "Anas narrated to us such and such."I said, "Anas narrated it to me directly." I continued, "A group of people came to the Prophet ﷺ and spoke with him, saying, 'We have found this land unhealthy.' He said, 'Here are some camels of ours being taken out to pasture. Go out with them and drink from their milk and their urine.' So they went out with them and drank from their urine and their milk and recovered their health. Then they turned on the herdsman, killed him, and drove off the camels. What punishment could be considered too severe for such people? They killed a person, waged war against Allah and His Messenger, and terrorized the Messenger of Allah ﷺ."Anbasa exclaimed, "Glory be to Allah!"I said, "Do you doubt me?"He replied, "Anas narrated this very thing to us." Then he said, "People of such and such, you will continue to be in a state of good as long as this man, or one like him, remains among you."
أنه كان جالسا خلف عمر بن عبد العزيز، فذكروا ما ذكروا، فقالوا وقالوا: قد أقادت بها الخلفاء، فالتفت إلى أبي قلابة وهو خلف ظهره فقال ما تقول يا عبد الله بن زيد أو قال ما تقول يا أبا قلابة؟ قلت: ما علمت نفسا حل قتلها في الإسلام إلا رجل زنى بعد إحصان أو قتل نفسا بغير نفس أو حارب الله ورسوله ﷺ. فقال عنبسة: حدثنا أنس بكذا وكذا. قلت: إياي حدث أنس. قال: قدم قوم على النبي ﷺ. فكلموه فقالوا: قد استوخمنا هذه الأرض، فقال: هذه نعم لنا تخرج، فاخرجوا فيها، فاشربوا من ألبانها وأبوالها. فخرجوا فيها فشربوا من أبوالها وألبانها واستصحوا، ومالوا على الراعي فقتلوه، واطردوا النعم، فما يستبطأ من هؤلاء؟ قتلوا النفس وحاربوا الله ورسوله، وخوفوا رسول الله ﷺ فقال: سبحان الله فقلت: تتهمني؟ قال: حدثنا بهذا أنس، قال: وقال: يا أهل كذا، إنكم لن تزالوا بخير ما أبقي هذا فيكم أو مثل هذا.
Bukhari narrated it in the Tafsir (4610), and Muslim in Qasama and Muharibin (1671:12), both by way of Ibn Awn, who said, Salman Abu Raja, the freed slave of Abu Qilaba, narrated to me from Abu Qilaba, and he related it. The wording given here is Bukhari's. Muslim did not give the full wording, but related part of it and referred the rest back to the chain before it.As for His saying, "and strive throughout the land to cause corruption" [Maidah 5:33], "the land" here encompasses cities as well as roads. This is the position of the majority of scholars, apart from Abu Hanifa. Malik went so far as to say, regarding a man who lures another man by deceiving him until he brings him into a house and then kills him and takes his belongings, that this counts as highway robbery, and that his blood is a matter for the ruler, not for the guardian of the slain man.Abu Hanifa and his followers said that highway robbery only applies on roads, not in cities, because in a city a person who cries for help will find rescue, unlike on the road, where he is far from anyone who could rescue or aid him.As for His saying, "except for those who repent before you apprehend them. Know then that Allah is forgiving and merciful" [Maidah 5:34], the apparent sense of the verse indicates that all punishment falls away, whether it be killing, crucifixion, the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or banishment from the land. This is how some of the companions understood it, such as Ali bin Abu Talib and Abu Hurairah. Others said that what is forgiven is only what pertains to the right of Allah, while the rights of human beings are not thereby dropped.