In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
All praise is due to Allah, who created souls and gave them life, who honoured them through Islam and made them precious, and who threatened those who transgress against them with the Hellfire and its blazing heat. I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship but Allah, alone without partner, and I bear witness that Muḥammad is His servant and Messenger. May Allah’s peace and abundant blessings be upon him. To proceed:
Dear brothers and sisters! Fear Allah with true fear, and be mindful of Him in secret and in public, as He says:
“O you who believe! Fear Allah as He should be feared, and do not die except as Muslims.” [Surah Ali-Imran: 102]
Respected Servants of Allah! Have you heard the question of the wronged soul:
“O Lord, ask this one — for what reason did he kill me?”
What an awe-inspiring scene! What a terrifying moment!
Reflect on this three-way dialogue that the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) told us about, as reported by al-Nasaʾi and others:
“The killer and the one killed will be brought on the Day of Resurrection, with the slain person holding onto the head of his killer, his veins gushing blood, saying: ‘O Lord, ask this one — why did he kill me?’”
Then the Lord of all worlds — though He knows everything — will ask:
“For what reason did you kill him?”
One killer will answer:
“I killed him for the leadership of so-and-so.”
Another will say:
“I killed him so that honour might belong to so-and-so.”
Allah Almighty will say:
“Indeed, honour does not belong to so-and-so,” and that man will bear the burden of his sin.
Then Allah will say to the killer: “Perish!,” and he will be taken away to the Hellfire.
Dear brothers and sisters! What in this world could be worth such an end?
Today, the calamities that befall the Muslim believers keep breaking their backs; scarcely does one wound heal before the blood of innocent Muslims begins to flow again in torrents. Muslim blood has long been shed at the hands of their enemies, but what is even more shocking is when it flows at the hands of those who claim to belong to Islam—when both the killer and the killed are Muslims, as it’s taking place in Northern Nigeria. Where is the faith of these wicked killers in their violation of sacred life? Where are their minds?
The Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) informed the Companions one day, saying:
“Before the Hour there will be great killing.” They asked: “O Messenger of Allah, what is this killing?” He said: “Murder.”
Some people thought he meant fighting between Muslims and non-Muslims, but the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) said:
“It is not the killing of the disbelievers; rather, some of you will kill one another—until a man kills his neighbour, his cousin, and his close relative.”
Some Companions said:
“O Messenger of Allah, will we still have our senses on that day?” The Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) replied: “No. The minds of most people of that time will be taken away, and a deluded mass of people will remain, who have no sense. Most of them will think they are upon something, but they are upon nothing.” [Reported by Ibn Majah and Ahmad]
How astonishing were the Companions of the Prophet (may Allah be pleased with them), who exclaimed in shock:
“Will we still have our minds that day?”
For Allah’s sake, can a sane Muslim—one who knows the sanctity of Muslim life, one who knows how greatly Allah has honoured it, and what terrible punishment He has prepared for its unjust killer—ever bring himself to kill a soul protected by Allah without right?
For Allah’s sake, can a Muslim who has heard Allah’s words:
“And whoever kills a believer intentionally — his recompense is Hellfire, wherein he will abide eternally. Allah has become angry with him, has cursed him, and has prepared for him a tremendous punishment.” [Surah al-Nisaʾ: 93] —allow his soul to drive him to murder an innocent Muslim?
For Allah’s sake, can a Muslim believer who fears Allah’s punishment and hears His warning against killing the souls He has forbidden without right — where He says:
“And those who do not invoke any deity along with Allah, nor kill a soul which Allah has forbidden except by right, nor commit adultery—and whoever does this shall meet a penalty. The punishment will be multiplied for him on the Day of Resurrection, and he will abide therein in humiliation.” [Surah al-Furqan: 68–69]— can such a Muslim believer still take part in shedding forbidden blood?
Indeed, killing an innocent person without right is among the gravest of sins and the greatest of major crimes after shirk (associating partners with Allah).
The Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) said:
“A believer will continue to have room and hope in his religion as long as he does not shed unlawful blood.” [Reported by Bukharī]
Do you know the worth of a believer’s life in the sight of Allah? Before I answer you, let me ask: which do you think is more sacred—the House of Allah, the Kaʿabah itself, or the life of a single innocent Muslim?
I refer the answer to the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him), who once looked at the Ka’abah and said:
“How great you are and how great is your sanctity! But the sanctity of the Muslim believer is greater in the sight of Allah than yours.” [Reported by al-Baihaqi]
Thus, our beloved Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) made clear that the sanctity of a Muslim believer before Allah is greater than that of the Ka’abah itself. What crime, then, have these oppressive killers committed?
The enormity of the sin of killing is such that the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) placed it alongside shirk (associating partners with Allah) as one of the sins for which Allah does not forgive its perpetrator, and which leads inevitably to the Hellfire. He (Peace be upon him) said:
“Every sin may be forgiven by Allah, except one who dies as a polytheist (Mushrik), or a Muslim believer who kills a Muslim believer intentionally.” [Reported by Abu Dawud]
Such is the madness of these criminal murderers that they take pride in the killing of the innocent people, even displaying their crimes to the world with joy — without shame or remorse.
Have they not heard the Prophet’s (Peace be upon him) words:
“Whoever kills a Muslim believer and feels pleased or proud about it, Allah will not accept from him any obligatory or voluntary act.” [Reported by Abu Dawud]
Today, gangs, terrorists and bandits are mobilised to attack the innocent people, accompanied by corrupt media outlets that justify and trivialise their crimes—until people become desensitised to the sight of Muslim blood flowing in rivers, regarding it as something ordinary.
To all such people, the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) says:
“If the people of the heavens and the earth were to join together in shedding the blood of a single believer, Allah would cast them all into the Hellfire.” [Reported by al-Tirmidhi]
By Allah, it is a disaster and a dreadful trap for anyone who brings himself into this great sin — there is no escape from it.
Abdullah Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said:
“Among the grave matters from which there is no escape for one who plunges into them is shedding unlawful blood without right.” [Reported by Bukhari]
Dear servants of Allah! Why has the shedding of blood become so easy among people today? Search within the love of this world (dunya) and its temptations, and you will find your answer.
What caused the very first murder on earth, after which the flow of blood never ceased? What made the son of Adam kill his brother? What made him say to his brother: ‘I will surely kill you’? And for what crime did his brother’s blood become lawful to him?
It was the world — the dunya — which the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) even feared for his Companions. He said to them:
“By Allah, it is not poverty that I fear for you, but I fear that the world will be opened up to you as it was opened to those before you, and that you will compete for it as they competed for it, and it will destroy you as it destroyed them.” [Reported by Bukhari and Muslim]
That is the deceptive, bewitching world (dunya)—which appears in different forms: competition over a woman, pursuit of power and authority, or greed for gold and wealth.
And indeed, the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) said:
“The Hour will not be established until the Euphrates uncovers a mountain of gold. People will fight over it, and out of every hundred, ninety-nine will be killed, and each man among them will say, ‘Perhaps I will be the one to survive.’” [Reported by Muslim]
Do you see this worldly life that people fight over and all its fleeting pleasures? Its disappearance in its entirety is less significant before Allah than the killing of a single Muslim without right.
The Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) said:
“By Him in whose hand is my soul, the killing of a Muslim believer is greater in the sight of Allah than the destruction of the entire world.” [Reported by al-Nasa’i]
Respected brothers and sisters! Allah has blessed us with Islam—truly the greatest and most precious of all blessings. Allegiance to it is greater than allegiance to kinship, lineage, or blood. It is the bond that can never be broken, and the brotherhood that endures as long as Islam remains.
Dear Muslim brothers and sisters! After the blessing of Islam, faith, and the Qur’an, can a Muslim take up arms against his fellow Muslim?
Did not our beloved Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) say:
“Whoever carries a weapon against us is not one of us”? [Reported by Bukharī and Muslim]
Is this how we show gratitude for the blessing of Islam?
The Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) called the killing of a Muslim an act of disbelief, saying:
“Insulting a Muslim is wickedness, and fighting him is disbelief.” [Reported by Bukhari and Muslim]
He (Peace be upon him) also stood before his Companions on the Day of the Greater Hajj and declared:
“Do not turn back after me as disbelievers, striking the necks of one another.” [Reported by Bukhari and Muslim]
The word of Tawhīd — la ilaha illallah (there is no deity worthy of worship but Allah) — is precious and protective. It safeguards life, honour, and property. So what will those who shed blood say about la ilaha illallah on the Day of Judgment?
Dear brothers and sisters! Beware of trials and tribulations! Beware of the deception of devils and their allies!
Fear Allah concerning bloodshed, and know that no one will avail another in anything on that Day.
We seek refuge in Allah from the time of which the Prophet (Peace be upon him) said:
“By the One in Whose Hand is my soul, there will come upon the people a time when the killer will not know why he killed, and the one killed will not know why he was killed.” [Reported by Muslim]
Finally, Respected brothers and sisters! Know that, based on Islamic jurisprudence (Shari’ah) and the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), taking the law into one’s own hands — commonly known as vigilantism or extrajudicial punishment — is strictly prohibited. While Islam strongly commands the establishment of justice and forbids wrongdoing, it designates the authority to punish solely to established legal authorities or courts.
Islam places immense emphasis on justice, law, and order. While it mandates opposing injustice, it strictly prohibits taking the law into one’s own hands (vigilantism), as this leads to anarchy and further injustice.
Ya Allah, grant victory to Islam and honour to the Muslims, and destroy the wrongdoers.
Ya Allah, send tranquility into the hearts of those striving in Your path, deliver Your oppressed servants, and raise high the banner of the religion by Your power, O Mighty, O Firm.
Ya Allah, forgive the Muslim men and women, the believing men and women, the living among them and the dead.
Ya Allah, guide our leaders to that which You love and are pleased with, and take them by the forelock to righteousness and piety.
Our Lord, grant us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and protect us from the punishment of the Hellfire.
Dear servants of Allah! Remember Allah with much remembrance, and glorify Him morning and evening.
And our final call is that all praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
All praise is due only to The Almighty Allah, and may His peace and blessings be upon Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), the final Messenger and the seal of Prophets.
Murtadha Muhammad Gusau is the Chief Imam of Nagazi-Uvete Jumu’ah and the late Alhaji Abdur-Rahman Okene’s Mosques, Okene, Kogi State, Nigeria. He can be reached via: [email protected] or +2348038289761 or +2348024192217.
This Jumu’ah Khutbah (Friday sermon) was prepared for delivery today, Friday, Sha’aban 04, 1447 AH (January 23, 2026).
