Sunan Ibn Majah
Sunan Ibn Majah 2624
حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ الدِّمَشْقِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا الْوَلِيدُ، حَدَّثَنَا الأَوْزَاعِيُّ، حَدَّثَنِي يَحْيَى بْنُ أَبِي كَثِيرٍ، عَنْ أَبِي سَلَمَةَ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " مَنْ قُتِلَ لَهُ قَتِيلٌ فَهُوَ بِخَيْرِ النَّظَرَيْنِ إِمَّا أَنْ يَقْتُلَ وَإِمَّا أَنْ يُفْدَى " .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abd al-Rahman ibn Ibrahim al-Dimashqi reported to us: al-Walid reported to us: al-Awza‘i reported to us: Yahya ibn Abi Kathir reported to me, from Abu Salamah, from Abu Hurairah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, ‘Whoever has a person killed has the better of two choices: either to have him killed in return, or to accept compensation.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic says ‘whoever has a person killed,’ without explicitly stating a relative; the English witness supplies ‘relative.’ ‘Be bought off’ or ‘ransomed’ is the sense of yufda in the context of compensation.