Murder - Retaliation Of The Murder

LESSON # 182 FROM HOLY QUR’AN

BAQARAH – 2 (The Cow)

Murder - Retaliation Of The Murder

Verse –178a  of 286, Section – 22 (Part One-Fourth of 2)

O ye who believe! Retaliation is prescribed for you in the matter of the murdered; the freeman for the freeman, and the slave for the slave, and the female for the female.

Yaaa-‘ayyuhallaziina  ‘aa-  manuu kutiba  ‘alaykumul-Qisaasu  fil-qatlaa.  ‘Al-hurru  bil-hurri  wal-‘abdu  bil-‘abdi  wal-‘unsaa  bil-‘unsaa.

Lesson

Qatlaa – (the murdered persons) particularly those persons who are killed intentionally and purposely by someone.

Qisaasun – (Retaliation) that is to say for taking the revenge against any crime keeping it in equality/balance. According to the Divine’s Law technically the murderer will be killed or if any body has injured to some other person, he will be punished with the wound at the same scale and at the same part of the body.

Kutiba  ‘alaykum – (prescribed for you) the literal meaning of the word kutiba is ‘written’. Due to use of the word ‘alaa with it, now it means ‘prescribed’ and ‘obliged to do under regulations’.

During the times of darkness before Islam it was custom in the Arabians that if a person from any higher family was killed then they used to kill many persons from the family of murderer. If any slave was killed from the higher family, they used to kill any freeman from the family of killer desiring the killer would also be a slave because they considered the respect of higher family’s slave was equal to the freeman of a lower family; also it was more than that. So instead of killing the slave any freeman was to be murdered as revenge. Then if any female was killed out of the higher family by a female from the lower family, the heirs of the murdered female used to kill any male of that lower family leaving the murderer female. Because they thought that their female was equal to the male of lower family.

The Holy Qur’an finished this racial distinction and difference, and commanded that being the human beings all the persons are equal, their lives are alike, either any person is rich or poor, noble or mean, scholar or illiterate, young or old, healthy or ailing. If any female kills any male then only that woman should be killed. Because her life is equal to that male’s life. If any slave is the killer then only he will be murdered. If any mean person has murdered then in the retaliation that mean person will be killed only, not any other person.   

Transliteration in Roman Script & English Translation of Holy Qur’an written by Marmaduke Pickthall, Published by Paak Company, 17-Urdu Bazar, Lahore and Paraphrase collected from Dars e Qur’aan published By Idara Islah wa Tableegh, Lahore (translated by Muhammad Sharif) (http://hltsharif.blogspot.com) (muhammadsharif276@gmail.com)