Chapter: The Conditions of Legal Retaliation

His statement, “The conditions of legal retaliation,” means: the conditions for legal retaliation to be established.

Know that, linguistically, qiṣāṣ means following a trace, like recounting a narrative. In the Sacred Law, however, it means that the offender is dealt with as he dealt with his victim: if he kills, he is killed; if he severs a limb, his limb is severed; and so on.

Allah has permitted this community three options: legal retaliation, accepting blood-money, and pardoning. Which of them is best? That depends on what serves the public interest. If the public interest calls for legal retaliation, then legal retaliation is best; if it calls for accepting blood-money, then accepting blood-money is best; and if it calls for pardon, then pardon is best.

In this matter, one must be guided by sound reason rather than emotion. Some people are swayed by emotion and therefore pardon, but this is not correct, for we are not more entitled to pardon than Allah Most High. Allah has made legal retaliation obligatory, saying:

“O you who believe! Prescribed for you is legal retaliation in cases of murder.” [al-Baqarah 2:178]

Likewise, He has made obligatory the prescribed punishment for the fornicator, the amputation of the thief’s hand, and similar rulings.

According to what the scholars have mentioned, the Jewish law required legal retaliation, allowing neither pardon nor the acceptance of blood-money. Christian law, on the other hand, did not prescribe legal retaliation. This Sacred Law came as a middle way between the two laws, combining firmness with grace; for abandoning