"The free for the free, the slave for the slave, and the woman for the woman"
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Peace all,
Please compare the following translations/understandings
2178 O you who acknowledge, equivalent execution has been decreed for you in the cases of killings the free for the free, the slave for the slave, and the female for the female... (QRT)
Edip-Layth - End Note 47 (217
"...The death penalty is not applicable to every murder case. For instance, if a woman kills a man or vice versa, the murderer cannot be sentenced to death; instead, the convict will be punished by society with a lighter punishment. If the murderer is not deemed a danger to society, monetary compensation or mandatory work might be more useful, productive, and rehabilitative than a prison sentence..."
AND
2178 O you who believe, equivalence is the law decreed for you when dealing with murder - the free for the free, the slave for the slave, the female for the female... (Rashad Khalifa)
Rashad Khalifa - End Note 31 (217
"The Quran clearly discourages capital punishment. Every kind of excuse is provided to spare lives, including the life of the murderer. Thevictim's kin may find it better, under certain circumstances, to spare thelife of the murderer in exchange for an equitable compensation. Also capitalpunishment is not applicable if, for example, a woman kills a man, or viceversa."
VS
2178 (Security of life is the cornerstone of a civilized society.) O You who have chosen to be graced with belief! The law of Just Recompense (Qisaas) has been prescribed for you in dealing with murder. If a free person has committed murder, that free person will face the law. If a servant has committed murder, that servant will face the law. And if a woman has committed murder, that woman will face the law... (QXP/Shabbir Ahmed)
AND
Muhammad Asad - End Note 147 (217
"...Read in conjunction with the term "just retribution" which introduces this passage, it is clear that the stipulation "the free for the free, the slave for the slave, the woman for the woman" cannot - and has not been intended to - be taken in its literal, restrictive sense for this would preclude its application to many cases of homicide, e.g., the killing of a free man by a slave, or of a woman by a man, or vice-versa. Thus, the above stipulation must be regarded as an example of the elliptical mode of expression (ijaz) so frequently employed in the Qur'an, and can have but one meaning, namely "if a free man has committed the crime, the free man must be punished; if a slave has committed the crime. ..", etc.-in other words, whatever the status of the guilty person, he or she (and he or she alone) is to be punished in a manner appropriate to the crime."
So is the law of equivalence (1) about treating everybody fairly no matter what status, gender, etc. that person may have, or is it(2) about only using capital punishment for a woman who has killed a woman, a man who has killed a man, and not for a woman who has killed a man, etc.?
I personally think that option 2 makes more sense.
What do you think?
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EDIT (typo in my first post) I meant that option 1 makes most sense.
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Peace Progressive,
I don't know. In a way, I agree with the second option. It seems like a secondary take on the Jewish law of equivalence, except their law was based on all cases of grief or distress (i.e. eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, etc.). The Qur'aanic one, however, explains that it is ONLY in the case of murder, which is why it begins by saying, "retaliation (or equivalence) is prescribed for you in the matter of the slain..." If someone murders someone, then the murderer should be put to death, since this is equivalence. A substitute for this capital punishment is a fine (money) paid to the deceased person's family. In this case, the Qur'aan allows capital punishment, even though it doesn't necessarily encourage it... That's just my take on it, though...
Peace,
Ahmad
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Shabbir Ahmed in his QXP, which is not a literal translation, offers this explanation
2178
O You who have chosen to be graced with belief! The Law of Just Recompense (Qisaas) has been prescribed for you in dealing with murder. If a free person has committed murder, that free person will face the Law. If a servant has committed murder, that servant will face the Law. And if a woman has committed murder, that woman will face the Law. If the victim?s kin pardons the guilty, the murderer must be appreciative and pay an equitable compensation to the kin in handsome gratitude. This pardon is a concession and Mercy from your Lord. Whoever, after this, trespasses this Law will have an awful doom in the Court of God. -
Shabbir Ahmed in his QXP, which is not a literal translation, offers this explanation
2178
O You who have chosen to be graced with belief! The Law of Just Recompense (Qisaas) has been prescribed for you in dealing with murder. If a free person has committed murder, that free person will face the Law. If a servant has committed murder, that servant will face the Law. And if a woman has committed murder, that woman will face the Law. If the victim?s kin pardons the guilty, the murderer must be appreciative and pay an equitable compensation to the kin in handsome gratitude. This pardon is a concession and Mercy from your Lord. Whoever, after this, trespasses this Law will have an awful doom in the Court of God.I have that in my opening post..
