وَمَن يَقْتُلْ مُؤْمِنًۭا مُّتَعَمِّدًۭا فَجَزَآؤُهُۥ جَهَنَّمُ خَٰلِدًۭا فِيهَا وَغَضِبَ ٱللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَلَعَنَهُۥ وَأَعَدَّ لَهُۥ عَذَابًا عَظِيمًۭا
But whoever kills a believer intentionally - his recompense is Hell, wherein he will abide eternally, and Allah has become angry with him and has cursed him and has prepared for him a great punishment.
Introduction
This is āyah 93 of Sūrat An-Nisaa (The Women), the 92nd sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Medinan period and sits within Juzʾ 5. Medinan verses often address community life, law, and the building of society.
This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.
Revelation & occasion
- Period
- Medinan
- Order revealed
- 92 of 114
- Surah
- An-Nisaa (4)
(Whoso slayeth a believer of set purpose�) [4:93]. Said Ibn �Abbas, according to the report of al-Kalbi from Abu Salih: �Maqis ibn Subabah, who was Muslim, found his brother Hisham murdered at Banu�l-Najjar. He went to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and mentioned what had happened to him. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, sent with him an emissary from Banu Fihr and said to him: �Go to Banu�l-Najjar, greet them with the greeting of peace and say to them: �The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, commands you, if you know the killer of Hisham ibn Subabah, to hand him over to his brother to exact his retaliation; and if you do not know the killer, to pay him the blood money�. �The man from Fihr conveyed to them the message of the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, and they said: �We hear and obey Allah and His Messenger. By Allah, we do not know who the killer is, but we are willing to pay the blood money�. They gave him one hundred camels and they headed toward Medina. When they were very close to Medina, the devil whispered to Miqyas: �What have you done? Your acceptance of your brother�s blood money will be a slur on you. Kill the person who is with you and it would be as if you have avenged your brother in surplus of the blood money�. Miqyas did just that. He fractured the skull of the man from Fihr with a rock, rode a camel and drove away the rest to Mecca. He went back to Mecca as a disbeliever. Through him I avenged Fihr and charged his blood-wit To the chiefs of Banu�l-Najjar, the lords of Fari� castle. By killing him I gave vent to my vengeance and eased my tension, And was the first to return to the idols. This verse was then revealed (Whoso slayeth a believer of set purpose�). The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, sentenced him to death upon the conquest of Mecca. He was chased and captured by some people in the market place and executed�.
Tafsir
Hafiz Ibn Kathir
Chains of transmission
Oral — isnād
- ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation
Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.
- 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation
Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.
- TodayLiving chainsawaiting curation
Continuous ijāzah chains link reciters today back to the Prophet ﷺ.
Verified isnād chains for this āyah will be added by curators.
Written — the manuscript record
- ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation
The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).
- 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation
Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.
- Modern printModern printawaiting curation
The 1924 Cairo edition → today: the standard printed muṣḥaf used worldwide.
A curated chain of manuscript images for this exact āyah — roughly one per century — is coming. Help us source and verify them.
And now — what do you think?
The text, its history and the classical commentary are laid out above. Share your own understanding, ask a question, or reason with others.
Community resources
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