Question: Which was the first murder that was first committed on earth?
Answer: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Any soul that is unjustly killed, then the first son of Adam will carry a burden of its shedding, for he was the first to commit the crime of murder"(Ahmad). How did this happen? Imam at-Tabari (RAH) explains the story in his Tafseer of the Quran. Adam and Hawwa (Eve) were the first two people that were created by Allaah. And in order that human beings would continue to remain on earth as long as Allaah willed, there was need for marriage.
Therefore, Allaah allowed Adam to marry his daughters to his sons because the necessity of such action. In every pregnancy Allaah gave Adam a twin, a male and a female, and he used to give the female of one twin to the male of the other twin, in marriage. A beautiful daughter was once born for Adam and another one was not beautiful. So the twin brother of the not so beautiful daughter said, Marry your sister to me and I will marry my sister to you. He said, No, for I have more right to my sister. So they both offered a sacrifice. The sacrifice of the one who offered the sheep (Habil) was accepted while the sacrifice of the other (Qabil) (the twin brother of the beautiful daughter), which consisted of some produce, was not accepted. So Qabil killed his brother (Habil).Even though his brother admonished him against that.
The Teacher Of Evil
When he wanted to kill his brother, he did not know how exactly to do it, so he started to twist his neck. Thereafter, Shaytan appeared unto him and took an animal, placed it on a rock, then he took another rock, and smashed its head with it until he killed it while the son of Adam was looking. So he did the same thing to his brother. Having done this, Shaytan then went to Hawwa in a hurry and said to her, O Hawwa" Qabil killed Habil She asked him, Woe to you! What does kill mean? He said, He will no longer eat, drink or move. She said, And that is death? He said, Yes it is. So she started to weep until Adam came to her while she was weeping and said, What is the matter with you? She did not answer him. So he said, You and your daughters will inherit the practice of weeping, while I and my sons are free from it.
The Teacher Of Good
Having killed Habil, Qabil again had no idea of what to do with his body. Thereafter, Allaah sent two crows (birds). In this regards, Allaah says:
"Then Allaah sent a crow who scratched the ground to show him how to hide the dead body of his brother. He (murderer) said "woe to me! Am I not even be able to as this crow and to hide the dead body of my brother?" Then he became one of those who regretted" (Q5:31)
The burden
For his sin of being the first person to commit murder, every person that is killed on earth he will carry the burden. The Prophet peace and blessings be upon him) said:
"Any soul that is unjustly killed, then the first son of Adam will carry a burden of its shedding, for he was the first to commit the crime of murder" (Ahmad).
Question: Is it possible for a murderer to enter Paradise?
Answer: Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
"Allah laughs at two men. One of them kills the other, but each of them will enter the Garden: one fights in the way of Allah and is killed, then Allah turns to the killer, so he fights (in the way of Allah) and also becomes a martyr." (Muwatta). Tafsir At-Tabari.
This article was culled from the publications of Deen Communication Limited