Surah Al-Ma'idah, Ayah 34

Human Beings Should Respect the Sanctity of Other Human Beings

Allah says, because the son of Adam killed his brother in transgression and aggression,

كَتَبْنَا عَلَى بَنِى إِسْرَءِيلَ

(We ordained for the Children of Israel...) meaning, We legislated for them and informed them,

أَنَّهُ مَن قَتَلَ نَفْساً بِغَيْرِ نَفْسٍ أَوْ فَسَادٍ فِى الاٌّرْضِ فَكَأَنَّمَا قَتَلَ النَّاسَ جَمِيعاً وَمَنْ أَحْيَـهَا فَكَأَنَّمَا أَحْيَا النَّاسَ جَمِيعاً

(that if anyone killed a person not in retaliation of murder, or (and) to spread mischief in the land - it would be as if he killed all mankind, and if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of all mankind.) The Ayah states, whoever kills a soul without justification -- such as in retaliation for murder or for causing mischief on earth -- will be as if he has killed all mankind, because there is no difference between one life and another.

In the second verse (34) : إِلَّا الَّذِينَ تَابُوا مِن قَبْلِ أَن تَقْدِرُ‌وا عَلَيْهِمْ (... except those who repent before you overpower them), an exception has been mentioned. The exception is that should the robbers and rebels were to repent - before they are surrounded and overpowered by government forces, and are in a state when their position of strength is still operative - and decide on their own to abandon their practice of highway robbery, then, this Prescribed Punishment will stand dropped in their case. This exception is different from the general Law of Hudud because in other crimes such as theft and adultery, if the criminal, after he has committed the crime and has been indicted by a Qadi court as guilty, were to prove that he had repented genuinely, then, though the punishment of the Hereafter (Akhirah) would stand forgiven by virtue of this repentance, yet the Islamic Prescribed Punishment ( حَد شَرعی ) will not be forgiven in this mortal world - as it will be explained later, after some verses, under the punishment for theft.

The wisdom behind this exception is that, on the one hand, such severity has been maintained in the punishment of robbers that for the commitment of the crime - even if by one person out of a whole group - punishment is given to the whole group. Therefore, on the other hand, things have been made softer and lighter through this exception, that is, let them repent if they would, in which case, the punishment of the mortal world would also be forgiven. In addition to that, there is a strategic advantage here in this provision, that is, it is not always easy to control or overpower a powerful group, therefore, the door of persuasion has been left open for them so that they are induced to repent.

Yet another expedient consideration in this matter is that killing a person is an extreme punishment. Here, the drift of the Islamic Law is that it should happen as rarely as possible while, in a case of robbery, the killing of a whole group becomes necessary, therefore, the ef-fort to reform them too, through persuasion, was continued simultaneously. The kind of effect it produced was that ` Ali Asadi who robbed passersby on the outskirts of Madinah with the help of his group happened to hear one of those days the following verse of the Holy Qur'an being recited by a Qari in the caravan (under attack) : يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَ‌فُوا عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِن رَّ‌حْمَةِ اللَّـهِ (0 My servants who have committed excesses against their own selves, do not lose hope in the mercy of Allah - Zumar, 39-53). When he looked for the Qari and found him, he asked him to re-cite the verse once again. When he had heard the verse the second time, he put his sword back into the sheath, repented from robbery and reached Madinah. At that time, Marwan ibn al-Hakam was the chief executive of Madinah. The well-known Sahabi, Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ I held Asadi by the hand and took him to the Amir of Madinah. Before him, he recited this verse of the Qur'an and said: You cannot give him any punishment.

The government was already helpless :against their robbery and the disorder generated by it. Everyone was pleased with the outcome.

An event similar to this happened when Haritha ibn Badr rebelled, left the city and took to the practice of killing and plundering. But, Al-mighty Allah gave him the Taufiq (ability) later on when he repented and returned to Madinah. Then, Sayyidna ` Ali ؓ did not subject him to the ordained legal punishment (حَد شَرعی).

At this point, it is worth remembering that the waiver in the Islamic Legal Punishment (حَد شَرعی) does not make it necessary that the Rights of the Servants of Allah the criminal has trampled upon will also be forgiven. On the contrary, the fact of the matter is that any-thing valuable taken from anyone, which is still available, must be re-turned back. And if someone was killed or wounded, one is duty-bound to go through the consequences as stipulated under the Law of Qisas (Even Retaliation). However, since Qisas is the Right of the Servant of Allah, it could be forgiven if forgiven by the guardians of the person killed or by the person who holds that Right. Other than that, if someone has hurt someone else financially, it is necessary to vacate the liability (Daman), or have it forgiven by the person concerned. This is the favoured position of Imam Abu Hanifah and that of the majority of the jurists of Islam. A little reflection would show that this is a fairly obvious matter as the act of seeking deliverance from any infringement of the Rights of the Servants of Allah is a part of the act of Taubah (repentance) itself. Taubah without it remains just incomplete. Therefore, a robber or dacoit will be taken as genuinely repentant only when he pays for whatever Rights of the Servants of Allah he has infringed upon, or has it forgiven by them.

When one person kills another, he is the killer of not only one person but of all human beings, because he contravenes the law of respect for human life upon which the lives of all human beings depend. Similarly, when someone saves another from oppression, he is not the saviour of just one person but of all human beings, because he is protecting the principle of respect for life of all hman beings, which holds that nobody has the right to raise his hand to another. If one person attacks the honour, property or life of another, it means that abnormal conditions have developed in the society. It is necessary for Muslims to look at even one incident of this nature as if the life, property and honour of all people are in danger. In a society, the tradition of respect for each other’s life is formed as a result of a long history, and once this tradition is violated, it will be a very long time before it can be revived. Those who establish the tradition of violence in a society are the worst enemies of that society.