Hadith: Do not punish (anybody) with Allah's punishment

عَنْ عِكْرِمَةَ:
أَنَّ عَلِيًّا رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ حَرَّقَ قَوْمًا، فَبَلَغَ ابْنَ عَبَّاسٍ فَقَالَ: لَوْ كُنْتُ أَنَا لَمْ أُحَرِّقْهُمْ لِأَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ: «لاَ تُعَذِّبُوا بِعَذَابِ اللَّهِ»، وَلَقَتَلْتُهُمْ كَمَا قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: «مَنْ بَدَّلَ دِينَهُ فَاقْتُلُوهُ».
[صحيح] - [رواه البخاري] - [صحيح البخاري: 3017]

‘Ikrimah reported:
‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) burned some people, and this news reached Ibn ‘Abbās, who said: Had I been in his place, I would not have burned them, as the Prophet (ﷺ) said: "Do not punish (anybody) with Allah's punishment." No doubt, I would have killed them, for the Prophet (ﷺ) said: "Whoever changes his religion, kill him."
[Authentic hadith] - [Narrated by Bukhari] - [Sahih Bukhari - 3017]

Explanation

‘Ali ibn Abi Tālib (may Allah be pleased with him) exercised his judgment and burned with fire a group of heretics who had apostatized from Islam. When this reached ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him and his father), he agreed with him on killing them but disapproved of burning them with fire. And he said: If I were in his place, I would not have burned them with fire, for the Prophet (ﷺ) made clear that no one punishes with fire except Allah, the Lord of the fire. It is sufficient to kill them, for the Prophet (ﷺ) said: Whoever apostatizes from Islam and changes his religion to another, kill him.

Benefits from the Hadith

1. The killing of one who apostatizes from Islam is obligatory according to the consensus of scholars—subject to its conditions—and it is to be carried out only by the ruler or the judicial authority.
2. His words: "Whoever changes his religion, kill him", i.e., whoever apostatizes from Islam—a general ruling that applies to both men and women.
3. An apostate is not allowed to remain in his apostasy; rather, he is invited to return to Islam, and if he does not accept, he has to be killed.
4. This Hadīth prohibits punishment by fire, and it indicates that legal punishments must not be carried out using fire.
5. The virtue of Ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) and the vastness of his knowledge and his deep understanding of the Prophet's Hadīths.
6. It contains a lesson on observing proper manners when correcting someone who is mistaken.