they would kill in retaliation everyone they found from the killer’s clan, community, and tribe. This caused corruption and destruction whose harm was widespread and whose burden was severe. Allah Most High therefore prescribed retribution, requiring that none but the killer be killed for the victim. This preserves the lives of his clan, community, and relatives. Life is preserved through retribution not because it involves killing, but because it is retribution: the killer alone, and no one else, is held accountable for the victim’s death. Thus, retribution preserves life in both respects.
Consider the grandeur, concision, eloquence, clarity, and profound meaning contained in these noble words.
He begins the verse with “for you,” indicating that the benefit of retribution belongs specifically to you and returns to you. He prescribed it only out of mercy and kindness toward you. Its benefit and good are yours, apart from the One whom His servants can neither harm nor benefit.
He then follows this with “in prescribed retribution,” indicating that the preservation of life lies precisely in justice: doing to the killer what he did to the victim.
Linguistically, “retribution” means matching one thing with another, while its underlying sense is that of following. Hence the words of the Most High:
“She said to his sister, ‘Follow him.’” (28:11)
That is, follow his trail. Likewise, He says:
“So they retraced their footsteps.” (18:64)
That is, they tracked their trail and followed it.
The same root is used for recounting a narrative, because its parts follow one another as they are related. The offender’s punishment is therefore called retribution because it follows his deed: he is treated as he treated his victim. This is one of the grounds for holding that the offender should be treated as he treated his victim, and thus be killed by the same means he used to kill, fulfilling the meaning of retribution.
[Surah al-Baqarah (2): verse 187]
“It has been made lawful for you to be intimate with your wives during the nights of fasting. They are a garment for you, and you are a garment for them. Allah knows that you were betraying yourselves, so He accepted your repentance and pardoned you. Now, therefore, be intimate with them and seek what Allah has ordained for you. Eat and drink until the white thread of dawn becomes distinct to you from the black thread of night. Then complete the fast until nightfall. But do not be intimate with them while you are in devotional retreat in the mosques. These are the limits set by Allah, so do not approach them. Thus Allah makes His signs clear to people, so that they may fear Him.” (187)
Shuʿbah narrated from al-Hakam, from Mujāhid, who said: “It means offspring.” Al-Hakam, ʿIkrimah, al-Hasan al-Basrī, al-Suddī, and al-Dahhāk also said this.