Al-Muqaddimāt al-Mumahhidāt - Ibn Rush al-Jadd - (3/230)

Al-Muqaddimāt al-MumahhidātIbn Rush al-Jadd

afterward. Likewise, the view that the verse was revealed concerning those whom the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, punished by cutting off their hands and feet and gouging out their eyes is also unlikely. His judgment concerning them differed from the punishments prescribed in the verse, and the reports concur that the verse was revealed only after the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had passed judgment on that group.

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The soundest interpretation of the verse is that Allah revealed it to His Messenger to inform him of the ruling concerning Muslims and non-Muslims under Muslim protection who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive to spread corruption in the land. The occasion of its revelation was that someone from the Children of Israel living under Muslim protection broke his covenant and strove to spread corruption in the land. We consider this the soundest interpretation because the accounts Allah relates before and after this verse concern the Children of Israel and their prophets. It is therefore most fitting to understand this intervening verse as explaining the ruling concerning them and others like them. Moreover, it is reported from Ibn ‘Abbās that it was revealed concerning a group from the People of the Book who broke their covenant and spread corruption in the land. They may therefore have been from the Children of Israel. Allah knows best and is most wise.

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When Mālik and those who share his view say that the ruler has a choice in punishing a brigand, they do not mean that he may act according to his whims. Rather, he chooses from the punishments Allah has prescribed for the offender whichever he judges, through independent legal reasoning, to be most pleasing to Allah and most appropriate. Many a brigand who has not killed anyone is more harmful to the Muslims than one who has killed, through his planning and incitement to waylay Muslim travelers.

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If the brigand is a man of strategic judgment and planning, the appropriate exercise of legal judgment is to execute or crucify him, because amputation does not remove the harm he poses to the Muslims. If he is not of this description and is apprehended at the outset of his brigandage, he is subjected to the lightest of these penalties: beating and banishment.

بعد ذلك وكذلك قول من قال: إن الآية نزلت في الذين حكم فيهم رسول الله ﷺ بما حكم من قطع أيديهم وأرجلهم وسمل أعينهم بعيد أيضا لمخالفة حكمه فيهم ما تضمنته الآية من العقوبات مع تظاهر الآثار بأن الآية إنما وردت بعد الذي كان من حكم رسول الله ﷺ في هؤلاء الرهط المذكورين. فصل وأولى ما قيل في الآية أن الله أنزلها على رسوله إعلاما منه له بالحكم فيمن حارب الله ورسوله وسعى في الأرض فسادا من أهل الإسلام وأهل الذمة، وأن سبب نزولها كان نقض ناقض من أهل الذمة من بني إسرائيل عهده وسعيه في الأرض بالفساد. وإنما قلنا إن ذلك أولى ما قيل في الآية لأن القصص التي قصها الله قبل هذه الآية وبعدها من قصص بني إسرائيل وأنبيائهم وأن تكون هذه الآية المتوسطة بين ذلك تقتضي تعريف الحكم فيهم وفي نظائرهم أولى ما قيل في ذلك مع ما روي عن ابن عباس أنها نزلت في قوم من أهل الكتاب نقضوا العهد وأفسدوا في الأرض، فيحتمل أن يكونوا من بني إسرائيل والله أعلم وأحكم. فصل وليس معنى قول مالك ومن قال بقوله في تخيير الإمام في عقوبة المحارب إنه يفعل فيه بالهوى، ولكن معناه أنه يتخير من العقوبات التي جعلها الله جزاءه ما يرى أنه أقرب إلى الله وأولى بالصواب بالاجتهاد فكم من محارب لم يقتل هو أضر على المسلمين ممن قتل في تدبيره وتأليبه على قطع طرق المسلمين. فصل فإن كان المحارب ممن له الرأي والتدبير فوجه الاجتهاد فيه قتله أو صلبه لأن القطع لا يرفع ضرره عن المسلمين. وإن لم يكن على هذه الصفة وأخذ بحضرة خروجه أخذ فيه بأيسر ذلك وهو الضرب والنفي.