Is a sick person who would fight if healthy subject to execution?

General Chapter

Al-Mughni

Book of Jihad

Book 54 · Issue 1 · Bab 1

Open in Qurani

Primary text

A sick person who, were they healthy, would engage in fighting, must be executed. This is analogous to finishing off a wounded combatant. The evidence rests upon the principle of neutralizing an active threat that would exist if the condition were different.

Supporting text

If the patient's recovery is despaired of, they are treated as an invalid (az-zaman) and are not executed, because there is no fear that they will reach a state where they can fight.