Why does Habil (Abel) want his brother Qabil (Cain) to go to Hell?

- “For me, I intend to let thee draw on thyself my sin as well as thine, for thou wilt be among the companions of the fire, and that is the reward of those who do wrong.” (al-Maida, 5/29)
- Why does Habil want his brother to get burned in Hell, and why does he not want his brother to be forgiven?

Dear Brother / Sister,

Yes, as you have stated, man does not want to disobey Allah; he does not want another person to disobey Allah either.

In that case, why did Habil utter, “For me, I intend to let thee draw on thyself my sin as well as thine”?

Having asked the same question before, Razi, answers this question from a few aspects;

1) Fundamentally, this statement was uttered when Habil, who was killed, understood from that Qabil would kill him. Therefore, this statement was said before the murdering. It seems like Habil uttered this sentence as an advice that means “Unless you give up committing this evil sin despite this advice, you will absolutely keep an eye on a moment that I am unaware in order to kill me, and I cannot defend myself. In that case, my only defense may be to kill you before you kill me. It would be based on only a presumption. That would be a really evil deed committed by myself.”

It is not haram to wish that a sin would be committed by another person under these circumstances; on the contrary, it would be obedience and sincerity.

2) The statement “For me, I intend to let thee draw on thyself my sin as well as thine” in the verse means, “I want you to load the punishment of crime of killing me.” There is no doubt that it is permissible for the oppressed person to want Allah to punish the one who oppresses him.

3) According to a narration, on the Day of Judgement, when the cruel person cannot find anything to persuade and please the person (whom he oppressed) convinced, the sins of the oppressed person will be taken from him and loaded on the cruel person.

Accordingly, the following can be stated: “On the one hand, I want you to draw on yourself my sins when you cannot find anything to persuade and please me on the Judgement Day; on the other hand, I want you to draw on yourself the sin of killing me.” (Razi, the tafsir of the verse in question)

After this short explanation, the details of the issue:

As it is narrated in the previous verse that Habil did not attempt to kill his brother Qabil because of the fact that he feared Allah, here as a second reason, it is understood that Habil wanted his brother to go to Hell shouldering the sins of both of them.

However, according to Quran whoever errs only errs against his soul, and no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another. (see al-Isra 17/15)

- So, why does a murderer shoulder the sins of the victim?

Mufassirs (interpreters of the Quran) interpret the verse given above as follows: “What is meant by it is not ‘I want you draw on yourself my sin’; it means “I want you to be a person of Hell undertaking the sin of killing me along with your other sins.

Actually, a religious and pious person wants neither himself nor another person to disobey Allah and to get burned in Hell.

As a matter of fact, it is understood that Habil tried to dissuade his brother from this evil deed, using a definite and determined style.

From this point of view, there were mufassirs who interpreted the verse as follows: “If you cannot find anything to persuade and please me on the Judgement Day, I want you to draw on yourself my sins, and the sin of killing me.” (Razi, XI, 207).

For, according to a hadith narrated from Hz. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), on the Judgement Day, if there is nothing in tyrant’s hands to persuade the innocent man by pleasing him, the sins of oppressed person will be taken from him and forwarded to the cruel person. (see Bukhari, Mazalim, 10)

Although Habil’s advice caused hesitation in Qabil’s mind, the result did not change; Qabil turned a deaf ear to his brother’s advice because of having such an expansive jealousy.

His nafs (soul) pushed Qabil into terrible murder of his own brother and no other thing except murder satisfied the feelings of his soul.

As a result, he became the one who lost in both the world and afterlife by murdering his brother. Furthermore, due to the fact that he became the first person who committed a murder in the world and the one who made a breakthrough of murdering, he took part in all the sins of the murderers who came after him.

Hz. Prophet said in one of his hadiths,

“Whenever a person is murdered unjustly, there is a share from the burden of the crime on the first son of Adam for he was the first to start the tradition of murdering.” (Bukhari, Janaiz, 33; Anbiya, 1; Diyat, 2; Musnad, I, 383i430,433; see Diyanet, Kuran Yolu, the translation of the verse in question)

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