Elucidating Verse 5:33 - Surah Al-Maidah

[Zainab_M]

 


 


I would like to share with all of you, my email discussion with Brother Shabir Ally regarding verse 5:33 of Surah Al-Maidah.

"The only reward of those who make war upon Allah and His messenger and strive after corruption in the land will be that they will be killed or crucified, or have their hands and feet on alternate sides cut off, or will be expelled out of the land. Such will be their degradation in the world, and in the Hereafter theirs will be an awful doom;"  (5:33) Al-Maidah.


According to the classical Islamic Fiqh, Br. Shabir interpreted the above verse as applying to the crime of highway robbery, though the Quraan makes no such references.

I've also often heard people say that the punishment for desertion from the army is death in Islam.  However, I haven't found this anywhere in the Glorious Quraan either, so I asked Br. Shabir for clarification.

Br. Shabir mentioned that my questions had prompted him to look up his source books for a clarification.  But I haven't heard from him since.  However, my interpretation of verse 5:33 was as follows which Br. Shabir found interesting and acceptable.

While interpreting a certain verse of the Glorious Qur'aan, I try first to thoroughly understand some of the preceding and following verses as well.  I've often observed that trying to understand certain verses by picking them at random and separating them from their historical and social context can convey a far-fetched or inaccurate meaning.

Verse 5:33 has actually been on my table for discussion since the last one week.  Presently I am trying to help out a revert brother who's having problems with understanding certain matters about our Faith. This brother recently became very upset after learning about the apostasy incident in Afghanistan.  He quoted verse 5:33 to me, thinking that it referred to the punishment of people who left Islam to embrace another faith.  Of course, I explained to him that this was totally incorrect.

Br. Shabir's explanation of verse 5:33 is again different as he associated it with punishment for highway robbery in accordance with Fiqh.

However, I personally think that for interpreting verse 5:33, it's important to start reading from 5:27 onward.  Allah (Subhan Wa'tala) starts by narrating about the two sons of Adam, how one of them killed the other through hostility and then repented.  It basically conveys the concepts of burying the dead body, the awfulness of manslaughter and the moral goodness of saving a life.  All this is upto verse 5:32.  The last line of verse 5:32 says : "Our messengers came unto them of old with clear proofs (of Allah's Sovereignity), but afterwards lo! many of them became prodigals in the earth."   Then comes verse 5:33 which is our focus of discussion and it says: "The only reward of those who make war upon Allah and His messenger and strive after corruption in the land will be that they will be killed or crucified, or have their hands and feet on alternate sides cut off, or will be expelled out of the land. Such will be their degradation in the world, and in the Hereafter theirs will be an awful doom;"

Frankly, I don't see any direct (or even indirect) link between this verse and highway robbery or treason.  There's is nothing that suggests that this in a punishment for such crimes.  To my understanding (and only Allah knows best), the above verse seems to be simply a verbal admonishment (or an abstract summary) and a warning to the Israelites, mentioning that their unjust aggression and violations of the dictates of Allah would lead to serious consequences as Divine Justice never falters.  Besides, it is also a fact that this form of punishment was never implemented at any period throughout the history of Islam (that is, to crucify or the hands and feet be cut on alternate sides).  According to the reference in the Qur'aan, this form of punishment was practiced during the days of Pharoah when he had threatened to inflict the same punishment on the wizards who believed in the Message of Moses (pbuh). 

As for desertion from army or treason, I am quite sure that the Qur'aan does not mention the death penalty for it anywhere. 

And Allah knows best.

[N. Truth Seeker]

MaashAllah, this seems to be one fruitful discussion.  i can see your perception.  may Allah reward u for the depth of your wise thoughts sister, ameen. 

brother shabir should have responded.  i would take his silence as an acceptance of your interpretation perhaps in preference to his sourcebooks.  and Allah knows best.

[AceOfHearts]

Thanks for your views sister.

Peace.

[Ruhi_Rose]

  and thanks for your informative opinion, sis.  this verse is very often misunderstood by non-Muslims and also by various shallow minded Muslims.

[Heba E. Husseyn]

Salams all.   Tonight I was studying Verse 5:33.  For further points on explanation I decided to check MV and came across this excellent post which I found thoroughly helpful. 

I would like to add another possibility regarding its explanation.  The Verse actually says "killed or crucified, ......."  This means the punishment for all such mischief-mongers will be either death by whatever method is practiced according to the law of the land if they are captured (i.e. either death by hanging or electric chair or firing squad or gas chamber etc.) or death by being crucified which was practiced in pre-Islamic days.

The crimes of murder, robbery and brigandry can definitely be included in the Quranic expression of this Verse that states "strive after corruption in the land ....."

The al-Qaeda terrorists who are presently invading Syria are exactly the type of persons referred to in this verse as those who make war against Allah and spread corruption through fitnah.   

According to Maududi's commentary, it can also be taken as treason if done by the people of the land.  I quote him briefly:  "These penalties are mentioned here in brief merely to serve as guidelines to either judges or rulers so they may punish each criminal in accordance with the nature of his crime. The real purpose is to indicate that for any of those who live in the Islamic realm to attempt to overthrow the Islamic order is the worst kind of crime, for which any of the highly severe punishments may be imposed."

[N. Truth Seeker]

That's a valid point you've put forth sister Heba.  It means "killed" and "crucified" could be two different categories, right?  Makes sense because the punishment of crucifixion definitely belonged to the pre-Islamic era and throughout Islamic history there's no evidence of this form of punishment being meted out to criminals. 

[Heba E. Husseyn]

Yeah brother.  Two different categories of punishments pertaining to two different eras - pre and post Islamic.  You're right, crucifixion isn't heard of in the post Islamic period within the Muslim community.

[Zainab_M]

JazekAllah Khair.  Thank you very much for this addition sister Heba.  Well perceived.  Yes, it didn't occur to me the possibility of the expression "killed or crucified" portraying two separate periods of time.  The term "killed" might refer to any death punishment according to law of the land awarded to those guilty for  murder or any sort of serious destruction on the land prohibited by Allah including armed robbery, highway robbery, persecuting believers, disrupting peace by aggressive attacks on anyone, terrorizing public by killings, destruction of properties & farmlands, treason etc. etc.  The expression "crucified, or have their hands and feet on alternate sides cut off," refers to similar crimes with punishments as stated which happened in the past prior to Islam contained in history as examples of punishments for the guilty. 

[Heba E. Husseyn]

You understood it perfectly sis.  That's precisely what I meant