446. al-Ghārāt – reporting on the desertion of Khirrit ibn Rāshid, who was one of the Khārijis, from the Commander of the Faithful: “`Abdullah ibn Qa`in said: “…I came to the Commander of the Faithful and reported to him what I had heard about Khirrit, what I had told his cousin and the response he had given me.”
The Imām said: “Leave him alone. If he accepts the truth and returns, we will recognize that and accept it from him; and if he rejects it, we will send for him.”
I said: “O Commander of the Faithful! Why do you not seize him right now to give his pledge of assurances [to be secure of his evils]?’
He said, “If we treat all those whom we accuse like this, then we should fill up prisons by them; and I do not believe it to be permissible to attack people, imprison them and punish them, unless they have openly expressed their antagonism towards us.”1
See: The Encyclopedia of Commander of the Faithful, VI, 447 (The Revolt of Khirrit ibn Rāshid).
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Warning against Torture
447. Imām Ali (a.s.): “He who whips a person unjustly, God the Blessed and the Exalted will whip him with a whip of fire.”2
448. Imām Ali (a.s.): “The most detested person before God is one who bares a Muslim’s back unrightfully and beats a person who has not beaten him, or kills he who has not committed a murder.”3
1.. al-Ghārāt, vol. ۱, p. ۳۳۳ ۳۳۵, Bihār al-Anwār, vol. ۳۳, p. ۴۰۷, h. ۶۲۸, Sharh Nahj al-Balāghah, vol. ۳, p. ۱۲۹.
2.. Da`ā'im al-Islām, vol. ۲, p. ۵۴۱, h. ۱۹۲۷.
3.. Da`ā'im al-Islām, vol. ۲, p. ۴۴۴, h. ۱۵۵۱, Tahdhib al-Ahkām, vol. ۱۰, p. ۱۴۸, h. ۵۸۸.
