Islam's stance on torturing captives

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His
Messenger.


Islam stance on captives and prisoners of war is very clear, as it strongly
opposes subjecting human beings to any form of degradation and barbarism.
Islam is the religion that strictly warns against hate crimes and all acts
of vendetta.

As Islam stands against waging war, especially against the innocents, it
never overlooks the possibility that mankind may resort to war against each
other. That’s why it shows keenness on regulating warfare, between Muslims
and non-Muslims; it enumerates those that should not be killed or even
targeted during the battles. Not only that. Islam also sets rules regarding
those taken as prisoners of war; how they should be treated and dealt with.
This is what is clarified by the late Sheikh Muhammad Abu Zahrah, in his
book Concept of War in Islam; it reads:

"Islam advocates clemency with captives. History has never known warriors so
merciful to their captives as the early Muslims who followed the teachings
of their religion. Numerous religious texts demand clemency with captives.

Prisoners are usually taken when a battle is at its height and there is
danger that rage may lead the victorious warriors to harm those who have
been defeated in order to take revenge. The Prophet, however urged his
followers to treat their captives with clemency. He said to them “You are
recommended to treat your captives kindly.” He also urged his Companions on
the day of Badr to be kind to their captives. Accordingly the Companions of
the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, gave their captive preference
over themselves in matters of food. This is the tolerance of Islam and its
respect for human dignity.

In this way Muslims learned two kinds of Jihad. The first is Jihad on the
battlefield where people give themselves to the cause of Allah and the
second one is Jihad against one’s desires that restrains man’s rage and
allows him to fight his foes with clemency and not in the accordance with
the laws of the jungle.

What are the teachings of Islam as regards the prisoners of war? Does Islam
grant them freedom, ransom or enslave them to the Muslims? Here, we should
again refer to the religious texts and the example given by the Prophet,
peace and blessings be upon him. The most direct of these texts is Allah’s
saying: “So when you meet in battle those who disbelieve, then smite the
necks until when you have overcome them, then make (them) prisoners, and
afterwards either set them free as a favor or let them ransom (themselves)
until the war terminates." (Muhammad: 4)

The Qur’anic verse thus provides alternatives: either the Muslim commander
should free those captives who can not offer ransom either in the form of
money or an equivalent number of Muslim captives, or he should ransom his
captives for money or for a similar number of Muslim captives. This is what
is now known as an exchange of prisoners. That kind of ransoming should be
adopted, as it leads to the release of two big groups of people – Muslims
and non-Muslims.

The religion of freedom, therefore, esteems the freedom of those who do not
follow it as much as it does that regarding its followers, for if the
advocate of freedom is himself free, he will not make any discrimination on
regional, racial or religious grounds, because freedom is a natural right to
every human being.

The Qur’anic verse does not mention a third choice, namely the enslavement
of captives; the Qur’anic text explicitly forbids it by limiting the choice
to only two alternatives – free dismissal or ransoming – without referring
to enslavement. Thus enslavement is not involved in the choice.

Moving to the Prophetic Tradition, we shall again find that the Prophet
never enslaved a free man throughout his reign. His Companions did take some
captives among the spoils in the conquest of “Bani al-Mustaliq” and turned
them into salves. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, did not
explicitly prohibit them from doing that, but his own action (of setting
free a prisoner) prompted them to release their captives.

This implies prohibitions of enslavement although it is not explicit. The
Prophet avoided the enslavement of any free man in his wars; his actions
tended towards its denunciation. He urged the manumission of those who had
been enslaved. The Qur’an refers to the permissibility of slavery only to
urge the emancipation of the enslaved.

The time of the Companions was characterized by the intensification of
clashes between the Muslims and the Byzantines in the West and between the
Muslims and Persians in the East. The enslaving of captive was practiced in
the wars of these nations. When they captured Muslims, they sold them as
salves. Those early Muslims made their dealing with their enemies on a
reciprocal basis. They therefore retaliated by enslaving their enemies, as
it was not fair that the Muslim captives should be kept as slaves while
enemy captives should enjoy their freedom.

The Arab commanders found neither Prophetic text nor Qur’anic verse
prohibiting slavery explicitly. They only found that the law of dealing on a
reciprocal basis necessitated retaliation. Thus if the enemy enslaved a free
Muslim it was the duty of Muslims to enslave an enemy captive in compliance
with the verse: “If then any one transgresses the prohibition against you,
transgress ye likewise against him. But fear Allah, and know that Allah is
with those who restrain themselves.” (Al-Baqarah: 194). The Muslims fighters
had therefore to enslave their enemies just as the latter had enslaved them.
The sin lies with him who initiates the bad policy.

The Muslims dealt justly with their enemies in compliance with the
injunctions of their religion. Having been forced to allow themselves to
enslave their enemies they also tolerated the same thing from their enemies
when they captured Muslims.

We may compare this wise policy in the treatment of captives with the modern
practice which though not allowing the actual buying and selling of captives
(as the slave trade has been abolished) yet it allows worse treatment.
Captives of the vanquished party may be retained by the victor to do really
hard work, while captives of the victor are released immediately after the
cessation of hostilities.”

Moreover, Sheikh `Atiya Saqr, former head of Al-Azhar Fatwa Committee, adds:

"The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, urged Muslims to show good
treatment to war captives; he said to his Companions: “Treat the prisoners
of war kindly.” Relating how the Companions complied strictly with this
order given by the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, one of the
prisoners of Badr, Huzayr ibn Humayr, states: “I was with one of Ansari
families, after being taken as captive.

Whenever they had lunch or dinner, they used to give me preference by
providing me with bread while they’d eat only dates, in showing compliance
with the Prophet’s order of treating prisoners well."

In light of the above-mentioned facts, it is crystal clear that Islam
requires that prisoners of war, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, should be
accorded with good treatment.

(This fatwa was first issued on January 21, 2002)

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You can also read:

War Ethics in Islam

What Islam Says About Prisoners

Treat Them Kindly

Allah Almighty knows best.