Al-Miqdad b. al-Aswad told that he said, “Tell me, Messenger of Allah , supposing I meet an infidel and we fight together and he strikes one of my hands with his sword and cuts it off, then flies for refuge from me to a tree and says he has submitted himself to Allah (or, in another version, says when I intend to kill him that there is no Allah but Allah), shall I kill him after he has said it?” He replied, “Do not kill him.” He protested, “But, Messenger of Allah, he cut off one of my hands.” Allah's Messenger ﷺ then replied, “Do not kill him, for if you do so, he will be in the position in which you were before you killed him, and you will be in the position in which he was before he made his testimony.”* (Bukhari and Muslim.) *i.e. he will now be one for whose killing retaliation may be demanded, and you will be one whose blood may lawfully be shed.