Context and Occasion of Revelation

This profound admonition was delivered during the Farewell Pilgrimage (Hajjat-al-Wadaʿ), the final pilgrimage of the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ). This context imbues the statement with immense weight, as it represents part of his final comprehensive guidance to the Ummah.

Primary Prohibition: Apostasy and Civil Strife

The core prohibition is against "irtidad" (apostasy/renegading) after the Prophet's death. The phrase "by striking the necks of one another" is a powerful metaphor for Muslims fighting and killing each other in civil wars (fitan).

Scholars explain that such internal warfare, where Muslims unjustly shed each other's blood, is a path that leads a collective towards the characteristics of disbelief, even if the individual perpetrators remain within the fold of Islam.

The Sanctity of Muslim Life and Unity

This hadith establishes the inviolable sanctity of a Muslim's life, property, and honor. It serves as a foundational text prohibiting all forms of civil discord and sectarian violence.

The command "Let the people keep quiet and listen" underscores the critical importance of this message, demanding the Ummah's absolute attention to a matter of existential consequence for its survival and unity.

Scholarly Interpretation and Application

Classical commentators like Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani emphasize that this hadith is a prophecy and a warning about the trials (fitan) to come. It explicitly forbids Kharijite-like ideologies that declare other Muslims as disbelievers and sanction fighting them.

The warning connects internal strife directly to a form of collective apostasy, as it dismantles the brotherhood of faith and violates the divine protections granted to believers.