I asked Ibn Abbas, "Is there any repentance for someone who kills a believer intentionally?"He replied, "No."So I recited to him this verse from al-Furqan, "And those who do not invoke another god alongside Allah, nor kill the soul which Allah has forbidden except by right" [Furqan 25:68], to the end of the verse.He said, "This is a Meccan verse, abrogated by a Medinan verse, "And whoever kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell, abiding therein eternally" [Nisa 4:93]."
قلت لابن عباس: ألمن قتل مؤمنا متعمدا من توبة؟ قال: لا. قال: فتلوت عليه هذه الآية التي في الفرقان: {والذين لا يدعون مع الله إلها ءاخر ولا يقتلون النفس التي حرم الله إلا بالحق} [الفرقان: ٦٨] إلى آخر الآية قال: هذه آية مكية، نسختها آية مدنية {ومن يقتل مؤمنا متعمدا فجزاؤه جهنم خلدا} [سورة النساء: ٩٣].
Muslim narrated it in the Tafsir (20:3023) through Yahya bin Saeed Qattan, from Ibn Jurayj, who said, "Qasim bin Abu Bazza told me," from Saeed bin Jubayr, who said, then he related it as mentioned. Bukhari narrated it in the Tafsir (4762) through another route from Ibn Jurayj, in a shortened form.Nawawi said in his commentary on Sahih Muslim, "This is the well-known view attributed to Ibn Abbas." It has also been narrated from him that he does have a path to repentance, and that forgiveness for him is possible, based on the words of Allah, "Whoever does evil or wrongs himself and then seeks forgiveness from Allah will find Allah forgiving and merciful" [Nisa 4:110]. This second narration is the position held by all the people of the sunnah, the companions, the successors, and those who came after them. Whatever has been narrated from some of the early generations that contradicts this should be understood as emphasis and as a warning against killing, and as a rhetorical device meant to deter people from it.This verse which Ibn Abbas cited as evidence does not explicitly state that he will remain there forever, it only states that this is his recompense, and it does not necessarily follow that he will actually be given that recompense.Others have said that the words of Allah, "Whoever kills a believer intentionally..." are unrestricted, and so should be understood as applying to one who has not repented, since the other verse is restricted by repentance. Moreover, Allah says, "Indeed, Allah does not forgive that partners be set up with Him, but He forgives anything less than that for whom He wills" [Nisa 4:48], thereby restricting the lack of forgiveness to shirk alone.