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Context of
Revelation : The following
verses were revealed, making retaliation lawful, but at the same time
introducing elements of moderation as opposed to the excesses practised during
the times of paganism.
2 : 178
O those of you who believe! It is has been made incumbent upon you to
retaliate against murder : a free man in return for a free man and a slave in
return for a slave and a woman in return for a woman. But if the wronged
brother is willing to forgive, then let him seek a recompense in keeping with
tradition and payment made to him with due dignity. This is a dispensation and
a gesture of mercy from your Lord; but whoever transgresses after this will be
meted out an acerbic punishment
(This verse provides the basis for a
Criminal Justice System which is
prevalent in most Islamic
states all over the world
During the days of paganism, the established practice was to retaliate for the
life of a slave by taking the life of a
free man;
for the life of a woman
by taking the life of a
man; for the life of
one
by taking the lives of
two.
This verse was revealed to scrap the old system and replace it with a new
system that was fairer
and more judicious.
The life of a slave was made equal in
worth to the life of a slave; the life of a woman was made equal in worth to
the life of a woman; the life of a free man was made equal in worth to the
life of a free man.
As certain critics
of the Qur'aan would like to suggest, this verse does not give a
license
to take the life of a slave in retaliation for the murder of a slave, nor of a
woman in retaliation for the murder of a woman; nor of a free man in
retaliation for the murder of a free man. It merely states that
one for one
ought to be enough to
balance
the scales of justice and
redress
the wrong done.
In a vast majority of
secular countries, crimes are treated as
an offence
against the people of the
state;
the culprit is brought to justice and punished according to the
laws of the land
and the
bereaved parties
have no say in the matter, nor do they benefit
in any way from the penalty, other than perhaps a sense of satisfaction that
justice was done. For instance, criminals in the
United Kingdom
are prosecuted by the
Crown Prosecution service,
judged by a jury
and then sentenced by a
Judge
according to the verdict.
In the
United States,
criminals are prosecuted by the
Public Prosecutor
on behalf of the
people of the
State in which the crime had been
committed and similarly disposed. In either case, there is
no place for the
bereaved party
in any of the
proceedings; they are neither
consulted
nor are they
represented
nor do they benefit from them.
Islam addresses this injustice and imbalance in clear terms and ordains
that aggrieved parties
are duly represented in the criminal proceedings and their
loss
and their
feelings
are taken into consideration by the judge before passing a sentence. If a
slave belonging to one tribe is murdered by a rival tribe, a slave of the
rival tribe is held to ransom for the offence and the ransom paid to the
bereaved parties. The same applies to free
women
and to free men.
And if the bereaved parties are disposed to forgive the offender, whether in
return for an agreed sum of money
payable to them,
or to be given away in
charity, then so be it. This is an
important choice which is given to those who sustained the loss, - a more
satisfactory system of justice by any standards).
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