Tafsir of Al-Ma'idah 5:28

“If you stretch your hand against me to kill me, I shall not stretch my hand against you to kill you.”

It is said that Abel was stronger than him, but he refrained from killing him and submitted to him out of fear of Allah Almighty. This is because resisting was not permissible at that time, according to that [specific] law, as narrated by Mujahid. Ibn al-Mundhir recorded from Ibn Jurayj that he said: It had been prescribed for the Children of Israel that if a man stretched his hand toward another, the latter was not to resist him until he either killed him or let him be. Or, [he refrained] out of preference for what was better and more rewarding—which was to be the one killed rather than the killer by defending himself—provided that such [resistance] was permissible at that time.

Some scholars of verification said: There is a difference of opinion regarding this [matter] today. According to what Imam al-Jassas expanded upon, the correct position in the School [of Law] is that a man is obligated to repel corruption from himself and others, even if it leads to killing. For this reason, Ibn Abbas—may Allah be pleased with both of them—and others said: The meaning of the verse is, "If you stretch your hand toward me to kill me by way of oppression and initiation, I will not stretch my hand toward you to kill you by way of oppression and initiation."

According to what Mujahid and Ibn Jurayj stated, the verse would be abrogated. Whether it was abrogated before our Law [the Sharia of Muhammad] or not is a matter of discussion, and the evidence for it is the saying of the Almighty: "Then fight against the one that transgresses until it returns to the command of Allah," as well as other verses and hadiths. It is also said that [defending oneself] is not an obligation, but rather it is permissible. They cite as evidence that which Ibn Sa’d recorded in al-Tabaqat from Khabbab ibn al-Aratt, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), that he mentioned a fitna (strife) in which the one who sits is better than the one who stands, the one who stands is better than the one who walks, and the one who walks is better than the one who hastens. "If you reach that time, be the servant of Allah who is killed, and do not be the servant of Allah who is the killer." They used this to argue for the abandonment of fighting during strife and avoiding it, and the beginning of the hadith supports this.

As for those who prohibit this nowadays, citing as evidence the hadith, "If two Muslims meet with their swords, the killer and the killed are in the Fire," it has been refuted by the argument that the meaning is that each of them intends to kill his brother, even if he does not fight him, and they meet with this intention. [End of citation with additions.]

It is narrated from Sayyid al-Murtada that the verse does not fall within the scope of this dispute, because the lam (prefix) attached to the verb of killing is the lam of purpose (lam-i kay), which indicates intention and goal. There is no ambiguity regarding the ugliness of that [intention to kill], neither in the past nor in the present. This is because it is only good for the one defending himself to repel the oppressor for the sake of escape, without intending to kill him. It is as if he said to him: "If you oppress me, I will not oppress you." The Almighty said, "I shall not stretch my hand," in response to "If you stretch your hand," to emphasize that such an act is not part of his nature, nor is he one who would be characterized by it. For that reason, the negation was emphasized with the ba (in bi-basit), and he did not say, "I am not a killer," but rather, "I am not one to stretch [my hand]," to dissociate himself from the preludes to killing, let alone the act itself. The prepositional phrase related to "stretch" was placed first, as it is said, to signal from the very beginning that the harm and catastrophe of this stretching returns to him [the aggressor]. It occurs to me that it was placed first to hasten the reminder of his own self, which leads to the remembrance of the brotherhood that forbids killing.

Regarding the saying of the Almighty: "Indeed, I fear Allah, the Lord of the worlds," it is a justification for refraining from stretching his hand to kill him. In it, there is guidance for Cain toward fearing Allah Almighty in the most perfect manner, and an implication that the killer does not fear Allah Almighty.