Islam and Slavery — Page 62
62. Similarly, Ata bin Abi Ribah is reported to have said :"The prisoners of war cannot be put to death; the commandment concerning them is that they should be released either as an act of grace or in return for reasonable ransom. " (¹). The plain verse of the Quran referred to above coupled with the clear explanations quoted above leaves no doubt as to the fact that Islam does not allow the slaying of the prisoners of war, and certainly those who ascrible this teaching to Islam are grievously mistaken. . If it be asked, why some of the Muslim theologians have declared the slaying of the prisoners of war to be lawful when Islam does not allow it, the answer is that this has been due to a misunderstanding. There are certain instances in history when the Holy Prophet, ordered certain prisoners of war to be put to death. But those who have inferred the justifiability of slaying prisoners of war from these instances have ignored the fact that the prisoners who were slain were slain not because they were prisoners of war but because they had been guilty of certain crimes punishable with death. It is evident that if a prisoner is guilty of an offence which calls for capital punishment, the fact of his being a prisoner cannot exempt him from that punishment. If a free man can be punished with death for an offence punishable with death, why cannot a prisoner be so punished? As may be seen from an inquiry into each individual case, every prisoner who was put to death by the order of the Holy Prophet was (1) Fath Al-Baree, Vol, Vi. . P. 106. {