Sayyiduna Miqdad bin Aswad (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: He said, "O Messenger of Allah! What is your opinion regarding a situation where I confront a disbeliever and he fights with me, and he strikes my hand with a sword and cuts it off, then (when I overpower him) he goes behind a tree to save himself and says: 'I accept Islam for the sake of Allah.' After he says this, should I kill him?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Do not kill him." I said, "O Messenger of Allah! He cut off my hand, and after cutting off my hand he said this. Should I kill him?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Do not kill him, because if you kill him, he will be in your place where you were before you killed him, and you will be in his place where he was before he uttered the word (of Islam)." (Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him, says:) The statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "Do not kill him, because if you kill him, he will be in your place where you were before you killed him," means that you will be killed in retribution (qisas), because before he accepted Islam, it was permissible to shed his blood, but when you killed him after he accepted Islam, you will reach a state where you will be killed in retribution for him. This hadith does not mean that killing a Muslim necessitates such disbelief that takes a person out of the religion, because Allah the Exalted has said: "O you who believe! Retaliation (qisas) is prescribed for you in the case of those killed."