5. [al-Maidah, Medina 112 ]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
إِنَّمَا
جَزَاء الَّذِينَ
يُحَارِبُونَ
اللّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ
وَيَسْعَوْنَ
فِي الأَرْضِ
فَسَادًا...
5: 33. The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is:
C738. For the double crime of treason against the State, combined with treason against Allah, as shown by overt crimes, four alternative punishments are mentioned, any one of which is to be applied according to the crime committed, viz.,
- execution (cutting off of the head),
- crucifixion,
- maiming, or
- exile.
These were features of the Criminal Law then and for centuries afterwards, except that tortures such as "hanging, drawing, and quartering" in English Law, and piercing of eyes and leaving the unfortunate victim exposed to a tropical sun, which was practised in Arabia, and all such tortures were abolished.
In any case sincere repentance before it was too late was recognised as a ground for mercy.
... أَن يُقَتَّلُواْ أَوْ يُصَلَّبُواْ أَوْ تُقَطَّعَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَأَرْجُلُهُم مِّنْ خِلافٍ ...
execution, or crucifixion, of the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides,
C739. Understood to mean the right hand and the left foot.
... أَوْ يُنفَوْاْ مِنَ الأَرْضِ...
or exile from the land:
... ذَلِكَ لَهُمْ خِزْيٌ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَلَهُمْ فِي الآخِرَةِ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ ﴿٣٣﴾
that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter.
إِلاَّ
الَّذِينَ
تَابُواْ مِن
قَبْلِ أَن
تَقْدِرُواْ
عَلَيْهِمْ
...
5: 34. Except for those who repent before they fall into your power:
... فَاعْلَمُواْ أَنَّ اللّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ ﴿٣٤﴾
in that case, know that Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
5: 33 Asad It is but a just recompense for those who make war on God and his apostle [note 43], and endeavor to spread corruption on earth, that they are being slain in great numbers, or crucified in great numbers, or have, in result of their perverseness, their hands and feet cur of in great numbers [note 44], or are being [entirely] banished from [the face of ] the earth: such is their ignominy in this world [note 45]. But in the life to come [yet more] awesome suffering awaits them-
Pickthall The only reward of those who make war upon Allah and His messenger and strive after corruption in the land will be that they will be killed or crucified, or have their hands and feet on alternate sides cut off, or will be expelled out of the land. Such will be their degradation in the world, and in the Hereafter theirs will be an awful doom;
Transliteration Innama_ jaza_'ul lazina yuha_ribu_nalla_ha wa rasu_laha_ wa yas'auna fil ardi fasa_dan ay yuqattala_ au yusallabu_ au tuqatta'a aidihim wa arjuluhum min khila_fin au yunfau minal ard(i), zua_lika lahum khizyun fid dunya_ wa lahum fil a_khirati 'aza_bun'azim(un).
5: 34
Asad save for such [of them] as repent ere you [O believers] become more powerful than they [note 46]: for you must know that God is much- forgiving, a disperser of grace.
Pickthall Save those who repent before ye overpower them. For know that Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
Transliteration Illal lazina ta_bu_ min qabli an taqdiru_ 'alaihim, fa'lamu_ annalla_ha gafu_rur rahim(un).
[[ Asad’s notes – 43 …….is meant a hostile opposition to, and willful disregard of, the ethical precepts ordained by God and explained by all His apostles, combined with the conscious endeavor to destroy or undermine other people’s belief in God as well.
note 44 – In classical Arabic idiom, the “cutting off of one’s hands and feet” is often synonymous with “destroying one’s power”, and it is possibly in this sense that the expression has been used here.
45 – Most classical commentators regard this passage as a legal injunction, and interpret it, therefore, as follows: “The recompense of those who make war on God and His apostle and spread corruption on earth shall but be that they shall be slain, or crucified, or that their hands and feet be cut off on opposite sides,…………ignominy in this world.” This interpretation is, however, in no way warranted by the text, and this for the following reasons: [see the detail explanations]…………In short, the attempt of the commentators to interpret the above verse as a “legal injunction” must be categorically rejected, however great the names of the persons responsible for it. On the other hand, a really convincing interpretation suggests itself to us at once as soon as we read the verse – as it ought to be read – in the present tense: for, read in this way, the verse reveals itself immediately as a statement of fact – a declaration of the inescapability of the retribution which “those who make war on God” bring upon themselves. Their hostility to ethical imperatives causes “those to lose sight of all moral values; and their consequent mutual discord and “perverseness” gives rise to unending stripe among themselves for the sake of worldly gain and power: they kill one another in great numbers, and torture and mutilate one another in great numbers, with the result that whole communities are wipes out or, as the Quran puts it, “banished from [the face of] the earth”. It is this interpretation alone that takes full account of all the expressions occurring in this verse – the reference to “great numbers” in connections with deeds of extreme violence, …
46 …………It is to be noted that the exemtion from suffering relates t the hereafter.]]
[[ Ruby’s note – [[ Ruby’s note – I totally agree with Asad in this. It merely reflects the natural consequences as a result of arrogance, rejection of Truth and spreading corruption and aggressions on earth. The failure that take place as a result of revolting against God’s moral law and fighting actively against it and those who believe and comply with the Moral law.]]
[[ Ali’s notes -
740 Taqwa here too might be translated "fear of Allah", but the very next clause shows that "fear of Allah" does not mean "fear" in the ordinary sense, which would make you avoid the object of fear. On the contrary the "fear of Allah" is the intense desire to avoid everything that is against His Will and Law. It is in fact duty to Allah, for we are told to seek ardently the means by which we may approach Him, and that can only be done by striving with might and main for His cause. (5.35)
741 "Prosper" in the real sense, for that is all that matters, as the life of this world is brief and fleeting, and of small account as against Eternity. (5.35) ]]