Surah 17 Al-Israa — Ayah 33
وَلَا تَقْتُلُوا۟ ٱلنَّفْسَ ٱلَّتِى حَرَّمَ ٱللَّهُ إِلَّا بِٱلْحَقِّ ۗ وَمَن قُتِلَ مَظْلُومًۭا فَقَدْ جَعَلْنَا لِوَلِيِّهِۦ سُلْطَٰنًۭا فَلَا يُسْرِف فِّى ٱلْقَتْلِ ۖ إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ مَنصُورًۭا
Dood nimmer de ziel, welke God u heeft verboden te dooden, tenzij het voor eene rechtvaardige zaak mocht zijn; en wij hebben den naastbestaande van hem, die onrechtvaardig gedood wordt, de macht gegeven, voldoening te vragen; maar laat hem de grenzen der gematigdheid niet te buiten gaan, door den moordenaar op eene te gruwelijke wijze te dooden, of door het bloed van zijn vriend op een ander te wreken dan op den persoon, die den moord heeft begaan, naardien hij door deze wet wordt ondersteund.
walā taqtulū l-nafsa allatī ḥarrama l-lahu illā bil-ḥaqi waman qutila maẓlūman faqad jaʿalnā liwaliyyihi sul'ṭānan falā yus'rif fī l-qatli innahu kāna manṣūran
Word by word
- وَلَا walā And (do) not
- تَقْتُلُوا۟ taqtulū kill
- ٱلنَّفْسَ l-nafsa the soul
- ٱلَّتِى allatī which
- حَرَّمَ ḥarrama Allah has forbidden
- ٱللَّهُ l-lahu Allah has forbidden
- إِلَّا illā except
- بِٱلْحَقِّ ۗ bil-ḥaqi by right
- وَمَن waman And whoever
- قُتِلَ qutila (is) killed
- مَظْلُومًۭا maẓlūman wrongfully
- فَقَدْ faqad verily
- جَعَلْنَا jaʿalnā We have made
- لِوَلِيِّهِۦ liwaliyyihi for his heir
- سُلْطَـٰنًۭا sul'ṭānan an authority
- فَلَا falā but not
- يُسْرِف yus'rif he should exceed
- فِّى fī in
- ٱلْقَتْلِ ۖ l-qatli the killing
- إِنَّهُۥ innahu Indeed, he
- كَانَ kāna is
- مَنصُورًۭا manṣūran helped
Tafsir · Ibn Kathir (Abridged)
Prohibition of Unlawful Killing Allah forbids killing with no legitimate reason
It was reported in the Two Sahihs that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
«لَا يَحِلُّ دَمُ امْرِىءٍ مُسْلِمٍ يَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَأَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَسُولُ اللهِ، إِلَّا بِإِحْدَى ثَلَاثٍ: النَّفْسُ بِالنَّفْسِ، وَالزَّانِي الْمُحْصَنُ، وَالتَّارِكُ لِدِينِهِ الْمُفَارِقُ لِلْجَمَاعَة»
(The blood of a Muslim who bears witness to La ilaha illallah and that Muhammad ﷺ is the Messenger of Allah, is not permissible (to be shed) except in three cases: a soul for a soul (i.e., in the case of murder), an adulterer who is married, and a person who leaves his religion and deserts the Jama'ah.) The following is recorded in the books of the Sunan:
«لَزَوَالُ الدُّنْيَا عِنْدَ اللهِ أَهْوَنُ مِنْ قَتْلِ مُسْلِم»
(If the world were to be destroyed, it would be of less importance to Allah than the killing of a Muslim.)
وَمَن قُتِلَ مَظْلُومًا فَقَدْ جَعَلْنَا لِوَلِيِّهِ سُلْطَـناً
(And whoever is killed wrongfully, We have given his heir the authority.) The authority is over the killer. The heir has the choice; if he wishes, he may have him killed in retaliation, or he may forgive him in return for the payment of the Diyah (blood money), or he may forgive him with no payment, as is reported in the Sunnah. The great scholar and Imam Ibn `Abbas understood from the general meaning of this Ayah that Mu`awiyah should take power, because he was the heir of `Uthman, who had been killed wrongfully, may Allah be pleased with him, and Mu`awiyah did event- ually take power, as Ibn `Abbas said on the basis of this Ayah. This is one of the stranger of matters.
فَلاَ يُسْرِف فِّى الْقَتْلِ
(But let him not exceed limits in the matter of taking life.) They said: this means the heir should not go to extremes in killing the killer, such as mutilating the body or taking revenge on persons other than the killer.
إِنَّهُ كَانَ مَنْصُورًا
(Verily, he is helped.) means, the heir is helped against the killer by the Shari`ah and by divine decree.