format_quote Originally Posted by
anonymous
As per the hadith We know that the Pen is lifted up for the insane, sleeping one and child who is yet to attain puberty
I want to know whether it can also be lifted up for those who had to deal with the insane person.
Let's say a retard was going to hit you with a bottle , knife or anything dangerous that has the potential to cause serious physical damage or even try to kill you , do we have a right to defend ourself and subdue the retard should we allow ourselves to be killed ?
And if the answer to the question is yes, will the same apply if a family member such as Parent is retarded or drunk and attempts to kill us for no reason or should we attempt to subdue them which would involve getting into a physical fight which could potentially injure them ?
We always have to obey Parents as per Allah's commandment unless they ask us to disobey Allah But ,how should we best deal with such a violent situation where they lose sanity ? As far as i know , Allah judges us by our circumstances and intentions and the intention in this case was to defend ourself..
Asalaamualaykum:
Firstly you are correct that certain people are not accountable for their actions in Islam (The examples you have already listed)
The answer to your question comes in one of two scenarios.
Scenario One : is where you are conversing with the person over time ( lets assume 15 minutes). The person looses it and attacks you. Islam gives you all the right to defend yourself from bodily harm irrelevant of who the attacker is.
The definition of defending yourself is as follows:
1. Your first responsibility is to vacate the area safely.
2. If you cannot vacate the area you will shield yourself from possible blows.
3. If you shielding yourself doesn't constitute to your safety - then striking the person will be regarded as part of that defence.
What is important here is to realise that if you suspected irrational behaviour during the conversation OR you were arguing to point where you have further imbalanced and already imbalanced person...then you become responsible of the event. Simply because you were the person that was sane/sober and they actually weren't so questions will be asked to why you entertained the conversation instead of vacating early.
Scenario Two: Is where the person attacks you suddenly - you basically never saw it coming. You have the islamic right to defend yourself inclusive of the 3 points that I have mentioned above.
The magic question is, "Is there a different course of action in defending oneself based on who the attacker is?" - or in other words "would it make a difference if my father attacked me?". Once again please remember the 3 forms of defence mentioned above.
The answer is simply NO - Islam does not differentiate the status of the attacker. If Islam does take into account that one cannot Defend himself/herself from say a Father - then it will give the public an impression that Islam advocates Child abuse. (In terms of your question)
Another proof that Shariah does not differentiate who the attacker is - is to remember that should a father kill his son, or a stranger kill the son - the Islamic punishment is identical for both the father being the killer or the stranger being the killer.
Once again the definition of defence here is the 3 points i have mentioned in that order. Points 1,2 & 3 in that order.
Wasalaam.