If Anyone Slays a Person (Qur'an 5:32)
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This article analyzes the Qur'anic verse 5:32 and the definition of 'Mischief' in Islam.
Introduction
Many websites[1][2][3] and public figures[4][5] have claimed that the following verse appears in the Qur'an, and that it denounces killing and equates the slaying of one human life to that of genocide against the entirety of mankind.
However, this verse, as above quoted, cannot be found in any printed copy of the Qur'an, translation or otherwise. The reason for this is simple: the verse in question does not exist.
Qur'an 5:32
What is actually being presented by apologists and duaah here is a somewhat distorted paraphrasing of the following verse:
Although this verse often cited to the effect that Islam as a religion categorically forbids killing (particularly in the name of the relgion), in addition to the entirety of the verse itself it is instructive to look at the verse in context:
The full passage shows how the quoted portion related to the Qabeel and Habeel (Cain and Abel) cycle in Islam (including details taken from the Talmud, see Parallelism). It is also apparent that the passage as a whole calls for the murder and torture of certain people, including those who "spread mischief" or "spread corruption", a concept about which the Islamic tradition has much to say.
Analysis
Its Context
The preceding verses 5:27-31 talk about the biblical story of Cain and Abel. Abel offered animal sacrifice to Allah and Abel offered crops. Allah liked the animal sacrifice, but he rejected the crops, so Cain got angry and killed Abel [6]. Then comes the verse 5:32, beginning with "for that reason" or "on that account" (مِنْ أَجْلِ ذَٰلِكَ, min ajli dhaalika), meaning "for the reason Cain killed Abel" [7]. Then the verse describes a decree given to "the Children of Israel" i.e. the Jews who, according to Islam, received an earlier set of scriptures. Incidentally, the Qur'an here is mistakenly referencing a human rabbinical commentary found in the Talmud[8] as if it had been a decree in the words of Allah.
The next two verses explain how the principle should be applied by Muslims, particularly regarding the caveat about those who cause mischief ('fasadin', which appears both in verse 32 and verse 33 and was an Arabic word defined in dictionaries as corruption, unrighteousness, disorder, disturbance [9]). What is often presented as being a purely peaceful message, at the same time includes a warning:
Scope of the principle
The principle in verse 5:32 seems to refer to the killing and saving of not just believers, but any person ('nafsan' نفسا, which means a soul) who is not excluded by the exceptions. Nevertheless, the highly respected Qur'anic exegesis of Ibn Kathir contains evidence that it wasn't universally interpreted in that way, with some hadith narrations that restrict the principle to the killing of a believer, while other narrations use a more general formulation like the Qur'anic verse.
For 5:32 he cites the early Qur'anic commentator and Tabi'un, Sayid ibn Jubayr (who lived at the time of Prophet Muhammad, and was a companion of Aisha):
Tafsir Ibn Kathir
He also cites another Tabi'un and commentator of the Qur'an, Mujahid ibn Jabr (a student of Ibn Abbas; a paternal cousin of Muhammad) while commenting on verse 5:32:
Tafsir Ibn Kathir
Muslim scholars generally consider Mujahid ibn Jabr to be a narrator of the highest reliability.[10]
Ibn Abbas is also cited by ibn Kathir for this verse, giving the more general opinion, that it refers to the killing of a "soul that Allah has forbidden killing". Being a companion of Muhammad, Ibn Abbas was present around the time these verses were revealed. Together with ibn Jabr, he went through the Qur'an thirty times and memorized the meanings.
Uthman is also recorded in ibn Kathir's tafsir to have paraphrased the verse as applying to all people. This refers to the siege of Uthman's house by a Muslim delegation who had intercepted a letter from him calling for their execution. He convinces an ally not to fight the besiegers by citing verse 5:32.
Tafsir Ibn Kathir
The Meaning of "Mischief" (fasaad فساد)
The Qur'an describes the punishments for those who "wage war against Allah and his messenger" and strive for "mischief" or "corruption" (fasaad فساد) in the Land as execution, crucifixion, the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land:
Definitions of these groups can be found in hadiths, tafsirs, and even other Qur'an verses.
The polytheists were among those described by the clauses "those who wage war against Allah and his messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land". A hadith graded hasan by al-Albani in Sunan Abu Dawud confirms this:
The tafsirs for verses 5:32-33 provide wide definitions and examples of what is meant by "war against Allah and his messenger" and "mischief", as well as pointing to a specific incident of murder narrated in sahih hadiths.
Retribution for murder is one of the caveats in verse 5:32 for which the peaceful principle does not apply. Some of the punishments prescribed in verse 5:33 are ordered by Muhammad after the following murder incident narrated in sahih hadiths and cited in earlier tafsirs in reference to these verses:
In al-Suyuti's Tafsir al-Jalalayn, the following commentary is found in relation to this incident and Qur'an verse 5:33:
Besides this specific incident, the tafsirs interpret "mischief" (the Arabic word fasadin in verses 5:32 and 33) and even "waging war on Allah and his Messenger" in an alarmingly wide manner. In ibn Kathir's tafsir, the definition of "Mischief" according to Islam is explained in the context of Quran 2:11:
In relation to verse 5:33 Ibn Kathir says:
In the Tafsir attributed to ibn Abbas (date and true author unknown):
In the Tafsir al-Jalalayn, by al-Suyuti, the following commentary is found in relation to Qur'an verse 5:32. It covers much broader categories of people than the commentary regarding the specific punishments in 5:33 quoted from it above:
These broader definitions found in the tafsirs seem intended to accommodate the Islamic death penalties for married adulterers and apostates found in hadiths. At the same time, a broader understanding of what constitutes 'mischief' or 'corruption' in Islam is found even within the Qur'an, whether or not this was the intention in verses 5:32 and 33. See verse 3:63, for example, where those who merely dispute Islam are mischief makers:
According to Shaykh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, perhaps the world's most quoted independent Islamic jurist:
So what is first offered as the height of moral teachings found in the Qur'an, is generally understood by traditional scholars as compatible with an array of violent and intolerant practices.
The Worth of a Non-Believer
According to sahih hadith, Muhammad said the life of a non-Muslim is not sacred:
Narrated Anas bin Malik:
Allah's Apostle said, "I have been ordered to fight the people till they say: 'None has the right to be worshipped but Allah.' And if they say so, pray like our prayers, face our Qibla and slaughter as we slaughter, then their blood and property will be sacred to us and we will not interfere with them except legally and their reckoning will be with Allah." Narrated Maimun ibn Siyah that he asked Anas bin Malik,
"O Abu Hamza! What makes the life and property of a person sacred?" He replied, "Whoever says, 'None has the right to be worshipped but Allah', faces our Qibla during the prayers, prays like us and eats our slaughtered animal, then he is a Muslim, and has got the same rights and obligations as other Muslims have."The prominent scholar Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 1328 CE) regarded Muhammad's command in the above hadith as applying to those who fought against the Muslims.
Muhammad also gave the verdict (fatwa) that a Muslim can not be killed for killing a non-Muslim, and this stipulation forms one of the core principles of the laws of the Dhimma.
The majority of Muslim scholars held this view, while a minority (the Hanafi school of jurisprudence) believed that a Muslim can be killed if he kills a non-Muslim Dhimmi who is under the "protection" of the Islamic community.[11][12]
The lack of Qisas for killing a non-Muslim does not necessarily contradict the principle in Qur'an verse 5:32, and murder of both Muslims and non-Muslims is a punishable crime in predominantly Muslim countries around the world today. At the same time, the death penalty for apostasy still exists on the lawbooks of some of these countries.
Today
In the Islamic world, those who propagate their non-Islamic faiths or publicly criticize Islam are often harassed, imprisoned and even executed by their communities or their governments, under laws against "spreading disorder [mischief] through the land" and apostasy.
Certain prominent Islamist leaders have pretended to oppose these practices, only to deny their own remarks later on, to instead endorse intolerance and the prosecution (and indeed execution) of non-Muslims and religious minorities.[13]
See Also
- Parallelism: Sanhedrin 37a - verse 5:32 is a Rabbinic commentary misattributed to Allah
- Misrepresentations of Islamic Scripture
External Links
- The Most Peaceful Verse - Faith Freedom International (archived), http://www.faithfreedom.org/the-most-peaceful-verse/
- Can Infidels be Innocents? - Daniel Pipes (archived), http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2005/08/can-infidels-be-innocents
- Fort Hood in light of the Quran: An Open Letter To CNN - Answering Islam (archived), http://www.answering-islam.org/authors/nakdimon/fort_hood_cnn.html
Videos
- Arresting and Executing Apostates is Legitimate - Anjem Choudary on Newsnight
- Does Qur'an 5:32 Forbid Killing? (A Response to CNN and Arsalan Iftikhar on the Fort Hood Massacre)
- Understanding the Islamic Bombing of the Boston Marathon
References
- ↑ Jacob Bender, "Jewish-Muslim Dialogue and the Value of Peace", The American Muslim, July 19, 2007
- ↑ Arsalan Iftikhar, "Murder has no religion", CNN, November 9, 2009 (refutation to Arsalan Iftikhar's piece: Murder Has A Religion)
- ↑ "Islamophobia", Wisdom Today, June 8, 2009
- ↑ Andrew G. Bostom, "Keith Ellison's Taqiyya", American Thinker, March 13, 2011
- ↑ "TRANSCRIPT: Remarks of President Obama in Cairo", Fox News, June 4, 2009
- ↑ Tafsir Al-Jalalayn 5:27
- ↑ "Because of that which Cain did We decreed for the Children of Israel that whoever slays a soul..." - Tafsir Al-Jalalayn 5:32
- ↑ Talmud Sanhedrin 37a- "For this reason was man created alone, to teach thee that whosoever destroys a single soul of Israel, scripture imputes [guilt] to him as though he had destroyed a complete world; and whosoever preserves a single soul of Israel, scripture ascribes [merit] to him as though he had preserved a complete world." - It explains why Man was created only 1 (Adam), while animals were created in masses. [1]
- ↑ فَسَادٍ fasadin - Lane's Lexicon Book I page 2396
- ↑ "....Mujahid ibn Jabr, Abu al-Hajjaj al-Makhzumi is one of the major commentators of Qur'an among the Tâbi'în and of the highest rank in reliability among hadith narrators (thiqa)...." - Sh. G. F. Haddad - Mujahid (d. 102) - LivingIslam, April 4, 2000.
- ↑ "Killing a Muslim in punishment for killing a non-Muslim", Islamweb, Fatwa No.92261, August 1, 2006 (archived), http://www.islamweb.net/emainpage/index.php?page=showfatwa&Option=FatwaId&Id=92261.
- ↑ Fatawa: Killing a Muslim for a Non-Muslim - Islamic Science University of Malaysia, November 6, 2003
- ↑ For example, on the 20th of July, following the 7/7 terrorist attacks on London, Islamic cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed publicly stated "I condemn the killing of innocent people." only to be secretly recorded by an undercover reporter for the Sunday Times explaining two days later "Yes I condemn killing any innocent people, but not any kuffar."
One of his followers, Islamic preacher Anjem Choudary, also explained in a BBC interview "when we [Muslims] say 'innocent people' we mean 'Muslims'. As far as non-Muslims are concerned, they have not accepted Islam. As far as we are concerned, that is a crime against God." Ref: Daniel Pipes - Can Infidels be Innocents? - Danielpipes.org, August 7, 2005