سورة المائدة

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) and Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): It is narrated from one of them regarding the verse: النَّفْسَ بِالنَّفْسِ وَالْعیْنَ بِالْعیْنِ وَالأَنفَ بِالأَنفِ [Life for life, eye for eye, nose for nose], that this verse is muhkam (firmly established).

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): وَکَتَبْنا عَلَیْهِمْ فیها أَنَّ النَّفْسَ بِالنَّفْسِ وَ الْعَیْنَ بِالْعَیْنِ وَ الْأَنْفَ بِالْأَنْفِ وَ الْأُذُنَ بِالْأُذُنِ وَ السِّنَّ بِالسِّنِّ وَ الْجُرُوحَ قِصاصٌ [And We prescribed for them therein that life is for life, eye for eye, nose for nose, ear for ear, tooth for tooth, and (that) wounds have reprisal]. This verse has been abrogated by this saying of Allah: "The ruling of retribution concerning the slain has been prescribed upon you: the free for the free, the slave for the slave, the female for the female." (Al-Baqara/178). But the saying of Allah: وَ الْجُرُوحَ قِصاصٌ [And wounds have reprisal] has not been abrogated.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): One example of an abrogated ruling is what was recorded in the Torah as an obligation regarding retaliation (qisas), and it is the saying of Allah the Exalted: وَکَتَبْنا عَلَیْهِمْ فِیها أَنَّ النَّفْسَ بِالنَّفْسِ وَ الْعَیْنَ بِالْعَیْنِ [And We prescribed to them in it that life is for life, and eye for eye...]. As a result, man and woman, free and slave were equal. Then Allah abrogated what was in the Torah with His saying: 'O you who believe, retaliation (qisas) is prescribed for you regarding the slain: the free for the free, the slave for the slave, and the woman for the woman.' (Baqara/178) So this verse: وَکَتَبْنا عَلَیْهِمْ فِیها أَنَّ النَّفْسَ بِالنَّفْسِ [And We prescribed to them in it that life is for life] has been abrogated.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Allah sent Muhammad al-Mustafa (peace be upon him and his family) with five swords; three of them are unsheathed... As for the sheathed sword, it is the sword by which the ruling of retaliation (qisas) is carried out. Allah the Mighty and Majestic has said: النَّفْسَ بِالنَّفْسِ وَ الْعَیْنَ بِالْعَیْنِ [life for life and eye for eye]. The choice to draw this sword lies with the guardians of the slain, but issuing its ruling lies with us. These were the swords with which Allah the Mighty and Majestic sent His Prophet. Whoever denies one of them, or denies anything of their method and rulings, has indeed disbelieved in the Quran which Allah sent down upon Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family).

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Abd al-Rahman ibn Ubayd said: When twelve nights of the month of Rajab had passed, Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) entered Kufa from Basra. He came forward until he ascended the pulpit, praised and glorified Allah, and then said: To proceed — praise be to Allah who aided His friend, forsook and abandoned His enemy, honoured the truthful upholder of truth, and humiliated the lying follower of falsehood. O inhabitants of this city, adopt the taqwa (Allah-consciousness) of Allah, and do not separate yourselves from obeying that group of the Ahl al-Bayt of your Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) who themselves have obeyed Allah — those who are more deserving of your obedience in what they themselves have obeyed Allah in, than that group of people who attach themselves to the truth [falsely] and claim it and exaggerate. With our virtue and our possessions they present themselves as possessors of virtue, and they deny that very virtue in our regard, and they contend with us over our right, and push us aside from it. Indeed they have tasted the evil consequence of their ugly deeds, and soon they shall meet the punishment of this wrongdoing [in the Hereafter]. Indeed, several men from among you have withheld their support from me, and I reproach them for this ugly act and censure and blame them. You too should speak ill of them, and let harsh words reach their ears, so that they submit to gaining our satisfaction, or we may observe from them something that pleases us. Malik ibn Habib al-Tamimi al-Yarbu'i, who was one of the security men, said: 'By Allah, I consider speaking ill of them and saying unpleasant and harsh words to them to be too little. By Allah, if you order us, we shall kill them all.' Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) said: 'O Malik, you have exceeded the bounds and stepped beyond the truth, and drawn the bow of vengeance to its very end!' He said: 'O Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him), a little oppression in some of the matters that come upon you is more effective than backing down and making peace with enemies.' Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) said: 'O Malik, Allah has not commanded such, and His command is not so. Allah the Exalted has said: النَّفْسَ بِالنَّفْسِ [life for life]; with this command, what room is there for even a little oppression? And Allah the Glorified has said: whoever is killed unjustly, We have given his heir authority. But let him not exceed the limit in retaliation, for indeed he is aided. (al-Isra/33).'

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): Whoever unjustly sheds someone's blood must be killed; Allah says: النَّفْسَ بِالنَّفْسِ [life for life].

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): It is narrated from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) used to rule with qisas (retaliation) regarding every wound in the body, unless the wounded person accepted the diyah (blood-money) of the wound and it was given to him.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Halabi narrates: Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him), concerning a man who had intentionally killed a woman and the woman's guardians wanted the man to be killed, said: "This matter depends on them. If they pay half of the diyah (blood-money) to the guardians of the slain and they accept it, half of a man's diyah belongs to them. And if a woman had killed a man, she would have to be killed for the murder, and qisas (retaliation) upon her person would be the only recourse for them." And he said: "The diyah for the wounds of men and women is the same; a woman's tooth is retaliated against a man's tooth, a woman's muzihah (a wound exposing the bone) against a man's muzihah, and a woman's finger against a man's finger. This is so as long as the wound is less than one-third of the diyah; but if it exceeds one-third of the diyah, the man's diyah becomes double the woman's diyah."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): al-Halabi said: "Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) was asked about the wounds of men and women with regard to blood-money (diyat) and retaliation (qisas)." The Imam said: "Men and women are equal in retaliation; tooth for tooth, wound for wound, and finger for finger — they are equal — until the wounds reach one-third of the blood-money. When they exceed one-third, the blood-money of the man in wounds becomes two-thirds of the diyah and the blood-money of women becomes one-third of the diyah."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abu Basir said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about the verse: فَمَنْ تَصَدَّقَ بِهِ فَهُوَ کَفَّارَةٌ لَهُ [But he who foregoes it, it shall be an expiation for him]. He said: "Whoever accepts the blood-money and forgoes wounds or other than that, his sins are forgiven to that same extent."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Mu'alla ibn Abi Uthman said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about the words of Allah the Mighty and Majestic: فَمَنْ تَصَدَّقَ بِهِ فَهُوَ کَفَّارَةٌ لَهُ [But he who foregoes it, it shall be an expiation for him]. The Imam said: "To the extent that he forgives regarding an intentional act, Allah forgives his sins."