Al-Baqarah Section 22 - Genuine Righteousness - Retaliation - Bequest
Righteousness consists not in mere formalities but in Piety, in Faith in God, Belief in the Day of Judgment, the Angels, the Book (the Holy Qur’an), the Apostles of God, in Charity to the nearest kith and kin, to the Orphans, to the needy, to the wayfarers, in the regular offering of prayers, in giving the poor-rate, fulfilling the promises - patience in times of trials and sufferings.
Al-Baqarah Verses 177 - 182
لَيْسَ الْبِرَّ أَنْ تُوَلُّوا وُجُوهَكُمْ قِبَلَ الْمَشْرِقِ وَالْمَغْرِبِ وَلَٰكِنَّ الْبِرَّ مَنْ آمَنَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ وَالْمَلَائِكَةِ وَالْكِتَابِ وَالنَّبِيِّينَ وَآتَى الْمَالَ عَلَىٰ حُبِّهِ ذَوِي الْقُرْبَىٰ وَالْيَتَامَىٰ وَالْمَسَاكِينَ وَابْنَ السَّبِيلِ وَالسَّائِلِينَ وَفِي الرِّقَابِ وَأَقَامَ الصَّلَاةَ وَآتَى الزَّكَاةَ وَالْمُوفُونَ بِعَهْدِهِمْ إِذَا عَاهَدُوا وَالصَّابِرِينَ فِي الْبَأْسَاءِ وَالضَّرَّاءِ وَحِينَ الْبَأْسِ أُولَٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ صَدَقُوا وَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُتَّقُونَ
“It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces towards the East and the West, righteousness is rather one who believeth in God and the Last Day and the angels and the Book, the apostles, and giveth his wealth out of 1ove for Him to the kindred and the orphans and the poor and the wayfarer and the needy and for those in bondage; And established prayer and payeth the poor-rate; And those who fulfil their promise when they make a promise and the patient ones in distress and affliction and in the time of war these are they who are the Truthful and these are they who are the pious” (2:177).
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الْقِصَاصُ فِي الْقَتْلَى الْحُرُّ بِالْحُرِّ وَالْعَبْدُ بِالْعَبْدِ وَالْأُنْثَىٰ بِالْأُنْثَىٰ فَمَنْ عُفِيَ لَهُ مِنْ أَخِيهِ شَيْءٌ فَاتِّبَاعٌ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَأَدَاءٌ إِلَيْهِ بِإِحْسَانٍ ذَٰلِكَ تَخْفِيفٌ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ وَرَحْمَةٌ فَمَنِ اعْتَدَىٰ بَعْدَ ذَٰلِكَ فَلَهُ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ
“O, ye who believe! Retaliation is prescribed for you in the matter of the (unlawfully) murdered, the freeman for the freeman, the bondman for the bondman the woman for the woman; but. if any remission is made (to any one) by his (aggrieved) brother then the recognised course be adopted, and payment made to him in handsome manner. This is an alleviation and a mercy from your Lord, and whosoever transgresseth the limit after this, then for him shall be a painful chastisement” (2:178).
وَلَكُمْ فِي الْقِصَاصِ حَيَاةٌ يَا أُولِي الْأَلْبَابِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ
“And for you there is (security of) life in (the law of) Retaliation O, ye men of understanding, so that ye may guard yourself (against evil)” (2:179).
كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذَا حَضَرَ أَحَدَكُمُ الْمَوْتُ إِنْ تَرَكَ خَيْرًا الْوَصِيَّةُ لِلْوَالِدَيْنِ وَالْأَقْرَبِينَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ حَقًّا عَلَى الْمُتَّقِينَ
“It is prescribed for you when death approacheth (any) one of you, if he leaveth behind any goods that he maketh a bequest for parents and (the nearest) kinsmen in goodness (this is) a duty (incumbent) upon the pious (ones)” (2:180).
فَمَنْ بَدَّلَهُ بَعْدَ مَا سَمِعَهُ فَإِنَّمَا إِثْمُهُ عَلَى الَّذِينَ يُبَدِّلُونَهُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ
“And whosoever altereth the bequest after he has heard it, the guilt shall be on those who alter it. Verily, God is All-hearing and All-Knowing” (2:181).
فَمَنْ خَافَ مِنْ مُوصٍ جَنَفًا أَوْ إِثْمًا فَأَصْلَحَ بَيْنَهُمْ فَلَا إِثْمَ عَلَيْهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ
“But he who feareth from a testator anything unjust or sinful and establisheth agreement between them (it shall be) no sin for him; Verily God is Forgiving and Merciful” (2:182).
Commentary
Verse 177
To speak of the importance or the significance of this verse it will suffice to say that the Holy Prophet said that whosoever acts up to this (one) verse has attained to perfection in faith. The spirit of this verse cannot fail to impress upon any reader be he even a non-Muslim. The formal or the theoretical and the real or the practical piety has been made clearly distinct in this verse. Faith in God and benevolence towards mankind have been set as the essence of the religion Islam.
There is no specific virtue in turning towards any particular direction1. The theories and the practices given here are the real virtues which apart from being ordered by God, appeal as well to human reasoning. (A.P.)
It is also interpreted by some commentators that the turning of faces towards the east and the west refer to aspiration for the conquest of the countries in these directions which is not the aim or the purpose of the faith Islam, but the sole object of the religion is to propagate the truth through the practical virtues mentioned in the verse when conquest will naturally and automatically follow the footsteps of the virtuous ones.
The first and the foremost condition or the pre-requisite of virtue in man is mentioned as faith in God. i.e. in the Unity of God with all His divine attributes.
The Second condition is faith in the Last day of requital or judgment.
The Third condition is faith in the angels.
The Fourth condition is the faith in the Book i.e. the Holy Qur’an being the revealed Word of God. In Verse 98:3 belief in all the revealed scriptures as the true Word of God, is included as one of the articles of the faith.
The Fifth condition - the faith in truthfulness of all the apostles of God in opposition to the belief of the Jews and the Christians in a few of the prophets and disbelief in the others2.
The Sixth condition - Spending of whatever wealth or property (i.e. provision) one has been provided with by God, in the love for God, in spite of the love of wealth as it is given out in the verse:
لَنْ تَنَالُوا الْبِرَّ حَتَّىٰ تُنْفِقُوا مِمَّا تُحِبُّونَ
“Never shall ye attain to virtue until ye give away (in charity) of whatever ye love” (3:92).
Islam does not demand absolute hatred or indifference to property or the other things of earthly value, but the subordination of the possessions to the Spirit of charity, treating oneself only as a trustee charged with the prescribed duties as regulated and prescribed by God through His Apostle Muhammad. The charity in Islam, is also regulated and ranked:
Firstly - to the nearest in the relations.
Secondly - to the helpless orphans.
Thirdly - to the poor.
Fourthly - to the helpless wayfarers.
Fifthly - to the captives or the slaves in getting them liberated.
Islam is the first and the only religion which has prescribed liberation of slaves as a virtue and a condition of the genuine faith in God. No religion other than Islam has ever preached, while Islam enjoins, how best we can show our love for our fellow beings in bondage even though they may belong to any hostile camp. It shows what kind of a conquering nation Islam demands the Muslims to be. Setting free even the enemies when they are captured, spending of our own wealth has been made the condition of our faith in God.
No nobler teaching is found anywhere outside the pale of Islam. The teaching of the Bible ‘Love thine enemies’ has till now remained a never-practised ideal in Christendom. But only the practical Benefactor of humanity, the Holy Prophet Muhammad could enforce an ordinance of actual practice in life, saying: “For the love of God give away your wealth in freeing these enemies whom you have captured in war”
In 90:13 setting free of a slave has been prescribed as a cardinal virtue of the faith. And in 5:95 and 58:3 emancipation of slaves has been prescribed as ‘Kaffara’ i.e. expiation of sins.
Seventh condition - to keep up the prescribed prayer.
Eighth condition - giving away the poor rate. This condition regarding the prescribed poor rate, indicates that the previous or the fifth condition of giving away or spending of wealth in love of God was the general charity not fixed or prescribed.
Ninth condition - Fulfilling of a promise when it is made - This includes the pledge made to God 3.
This condition speaks of the faithfulness to treaties and pledges prescribed for a Muslim nation, for unfaithfulness to treaties and pledges have wrought greater havoc on humanity than any other cause.
Tenth condition - Being patient in distress and in the time of war or a conflict. This quality in a believer in God, is a characteristic excellence for it proves the individual having truly or in fact sold or surrendered his soul to God4. Naturally a man who in fact realizes that he has already sold or surrendered himself or his soul, will feel this life to be a burden of responsibility to him, the sooner he is relieved of this life the better. Such a soul can never be shaken in his fortitude in any battle or distress. Those who show the slightest cowardice in war or feel sorrow or melancholy in any disappointments, distress or any affliction naturally indicate that they have not in fact sold or surrendered themselves their souls to God. Their profession of the faith in God is only verbal and not real.
“These are they who are the true ones,” and they are the pious ones.’ One has to remember the qualities mentioned of the true ones, for in another place in the Holy Qur’an, God wants the believers in Him (i.e. the Muslim) to be with (i.e. to follow) the true ones5.
Any intelligent reader of this verse will find all these superb qualities in their perfection or completeness only in the Holy Prophet and the Twelve Holy Imams of the Ahl Al-Bayt, and it is left to every one of the readers of this Holy Book to see if history can present anyone else of any other religions, with all these qualities of faith in God6.
This is a very important verse particularly for those who sincerely long to have the correct lead or guidance to truth and the truthful ones.
This verse clarifies another very important guiding factor. If one reads Verse 2:2 in the light of this verse, it guides him to the knowledge that the Holy Qur’an is a guidance given to the pious or the righteous ones who possess all the qualities mentioned in this verse perfectly integrated, with each quality in its fullness or perfection. The personalities are referred to in plural and they can be no other than the Holy Prophet and the Twelve Holy Imams, each one of whom possessed all the excellence mentioned in this verse. These models of godly humanity, have been deputed, charged with the apostolic mission to guide mankind to divinity through the path of the Holy Qur’an.
Next only to the Holy Prophet, Ali, his cousin, and son-in-law, had been divinely endowed with every one of the qualities in the maximum degree a human being can possibly possess, and in this regard the position of Ali is unique, and this fact is acknowledged even by his enemies. Hence the Shi’as after the departure of the Holy Prophet, follow Ali and the other Holy Imams as the ideals of their life and no others.
The Muslim world as a whole without any exception of any school of thought in it, knows the fact and acknowledges it unreservedly that for the wonderful qualities of divine excellence, it was only Ali who earned exclusively for himself the unique title of ‘Mazharul Ajaib’ i.e. the Manifestation of Wonders. It must be remembered that though the Holy Prophet and Ali are of one and the same divine light, as the Holy Prophet had declared ‘I and Ali are of one and the same light’ but Ali is only next to the Holy Prophet, with the relation in this world, as the follower to a leader. The Holy Prophet has declared similar identity with the rest of his Ahl Al-Bayt.
Verse 178
The world was in a barbarous state. Which was the place in the world where murder and bloodshed was not rampant? The worse was that a murder once effected was sufficient to breed hostility for ages together among the tribes and the clans of the murdered and the murderer. In retaliation for a murder of a single man or woman, people would not be content with the murderer being slain, but a number of men on the side of the murderer were killed and this was considered as a matter of honour and an act of integrity pleasing the soul of the murdered individual. The superstition was that the spirit of the murdered one used to cry for the retaliation of its murder and gets as much satisfied as the number of men and women of the murderer’s side, are killed.
The screeches of the owls were held as the cry of the spirit of the murdered individual. The sons and the grandsons of the slain feel themselves bound in duty to their murdered ancestor, to retaliate as much as it may be possible for them. The blood animosities were hereditary and continued for generations together without any symptoms of abatement. The halt to this brutal conduct of the barbarous people ordered by Islam and the marvellous success achieved by this faith, is nothing but one of the wonderful miracles of the Holy Prophet, the blessings of which the human race as a whole will enjoy until the end of the world.
The law of requital enforced by Islam restricted strictly to the limits of justice tempered with the spirit of mercy of a genuine and a practical brotherhood, demanding only the life of the actual murderer himself, be he a man or woman, freeman, or a slave and none other. One unique provision made here is that the heirs of the murdered are given the choice of pardoning the murder in consideration, for a repenting payment on behalf of the one found guilty for the crime.
This is evidently an act of clemency befitting the brotherhood of the faithful, the murderer still being held as a brother (as addressed in the verse). With the offence mercifully remitted in the graceful spirit of the grant of pardon from one brother to the other in the fellowship of the faith, worshipping one and the same Lord, and also as the children of one and the same parents.
There happen circumstances which alleviate the crime of a murder. Under such state of affairs, a murderer is even today punished with imprisonment or a fine paid to the heirs of the slain as a compensation for the loss of the soul to the family. The amount paid in such cases is called ‘diyat’ or bloodwit. The concluding word of the verse plainly terms the moderation in the punishment as an alleviation from the Lord. And Verse 4:92 clearly lays alleviation only when the murder is not intentional and Verse 4:93 declares that the punishment for an intentional murder of a believer, for a Muslim, besides the punishment by the law in this life, there waits for him the hell to abide in it for ever.
Verse 49:9 is clear evidence to the fact as to how much and how far Islam aims at peace, security and order and the fullest possible justice in the world. It is laid for the Muslims that when two parties attack each other, to establish peace, reconciliation, harmony and justice among them, even resorting to arms and force, if necessary, is allowed to bring the situation under control and re-establish order.
Readers of this most practicable law of justice fully tempered with mercy, which has been practised most successfully for ages together by the Islamic States and which even today has been enforced by the civilized world, be compared in contrast to the mere idealist preaching of the Bible of the Church established in the name of Jesus, which has remained merely as a decoration of a faith and its book, never to be practised even by those who profess and propagate the religion. The Bible preaches:
‘And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other-, and him that taketh away thy cloak forbid not to take thy coat also.’ Luke 6/29
‘Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again.’ Luke 6/30.
Rome, a Christian power, the very heart of Christianity committed unprovoked aggression against Abyssinia, a Christian power, the other powers who joined Mussolini in the aggression against the poor Christian country, were also Christian, and the Pope, the Head of the Christian Church did nothing to stop the aggression.
The law of Islam is to administer justice in the most practicable way possible, fully tempered with reasonable and desirable mercy which can be granted to the guilty to re-establish love, harmony and peace among the members of the fellowship of the faith and the brotherhood of the human family.
‘Ma’roof’ - means anything known and recognised and approved - as an opposite of ‘Munkar’ meaning, rejected, unrecognised, disapproved or detested by common sense, established custom or by the authority of law particularly religious. Generally, in Qur’an it is read in the sense or recognised by common sense endorsed by Islam. In the case of the personal laws (viz. will,) treatment to relatives, charity, maintenance of widows or divorced wives, means a moderation recognised by common sense. In the case of ‘Amr bil-Ma’roof’ and ‘Nahya anil Munkar,’ Maroof means recognised undisputedly as the obligatory duty prescribed by Islam and ‘Munkar’ means abhorred and prohibited undisputedly.
Verse 179
Muslims were being put to death and they silently suffered murders. The enemies of Islam were contemplating a wholesale slaughter of the Muslims; the Muslims are warned that unless the law of just retaliation is enforced and put to work, there could not be security of life for them. It is in fact also that life can continue in peace and security only when those who are guilty of homicide are dealt with capital punishment.
‘Qisas’ - Islam pays the criminal in the same coin, not in the way the modern ingenuity has coined i.e. sending the criminal away from the public eye, in jails. For the desired effect upon the public against the crime, the execution should be publicly done so that it may serve as a lesson to the human mind at large against its ever leaning towards the heinous act. Men should also know that there is the law which is actually enforced in effect.
‘La’allakum Tattaqoon’. The object of the ordaining of the penalty for the crime is to make people abstain from evil and guard themselves against the chastisement in this world and in the hereafter.
Verse 180
‘Khair’ according to most commentators means abundant wealth i.e. large property. In Verse 100:8 wealth has been called ‘Khair’. The Sunni School holds this Verse (Verse 2:180) as abrogated by Verse 4:11 in which the shares of the different heirs are specified but the Shi’a School does not share this belief for there are clear instances of the Holy Prophet and his first divinely commissioned successor i.e. the first of the Holy Imams Ali referring to bequest.
The Holy Imam Ali had a freedman who possessed 700 Dirhams. When in his death-bed the man desired to bequeath a part of his wealth, Ali stopped him saying that he had not a large amount of wealth to bequeath any portion of it. Another instance has been quoted of A’ysha reporting about the Holy Prophet preventing a man who possessed only 400 Dirhams from bequeathing saying the wealth is not much to suffer a bequest. Bukhari and Muslim both report that Sad bin Abi Waqqas that when Sad fell sick, being sure of his death he sought permission from the Holy Prophet to bequeath his property for he had only one daughter. The Holy Prophet prevented him to bequeath the whole of his wealth and permitted him to bequeath only one third of his property. All these instances show that this verse was not abrogated.
This is one of the instances of abrogation of one Qur’anic passage by the other or by the traditions, held by the Sunni School. But a proper study of the said abrogating passage 4:11 shows that the distribution of the wealth of the deceased among the heirs is affected after paying full regard to the will made by the deceased. The word ‘Kutiba’ here should not be taken to mean as compulsory but as ‘Laid down’ to mean as ‘made legal’ which according to the context of the circumstances can be compulsory or optional. (A.P.)
Verse 181
This verse clearly states that misinterpreting the Word of God is sin, and woe unto those who do it, for God warns such people that He hears and knows everything.
Verse 182
In case of this limit being exceeded and if the rightful heirs are to be deprived of their claims, proper advice be given to the testator and the proper settlement be brought between the heirs and those in whose favour the bequest which has been made.
