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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Al-mizan an Exegesis of the Qur'an (volume Two) Volume 2: Surah Baqarah, Verses 178-179 0 You who believe!

retaliation is prescribed for you in the matter of the slain; the free for the free, and the slave for the slave, and the female for the female; but if any remission is made to any one by his (aggrieved) brother, then (the demand for the blood wit) should be made according to usage, and payment should be made to him in a good man­ner; this is an alleviation from your Lord and a mercy; so whoever exceeds the limit after this, he shall have a painful chastisement (178).

And there is life for you in the retali­ation, 0 men of understanding, that you may guard your­selves (against evil) (179). **COMMENTARY ** QUR'AN: 0 you who believe! Retaliation is prescribed for you in the matter of the slain; the free for the free...: The verse is addressed to the believers. It means that the law promulgated herein applies to the Muslims only. As regards the non-Muslims - whether under protection of an Islamic State or not - the verse is silent about them.

Some people think that this verse has abrogated the verse 5:45 (life is for life); because it does not allow killing of a free person for a slave, or of a man for a woman. But actually there is no room for this supposition. The position of this verse vis-à-vis the verse 5:45 is like that of an explanation vis-à-vis its text. al- Qisas (= retaliation) is the masdar of qassa yuqassu (he followed, he follows); an Arab says: qassa atharahu (= he followed someone's tracks).

Another derivative is al-qassas (= story-teller) - it is as though he follows the tracks of the past generations. Retaliation is called al-qisas because it follows the footsteps of the offender, giving him a punishment similar to that which he had inflicted upon his victim. QUR'AN: but if any remission is made to any one by his (ag­grieved) brother: Its literal translation is: then whoever is remitted any thing by his brother.

"Whoever" refers to the murderer; the heir/s of the murdered person may waive his/their right of retali­ation. Therefore, "any thing" refers to that right; it is used here as a common noun, in order that the rule may cover all possibil­ities, whether there was a full remission or partial. Let us say, for example, that there are many heirs and only some of them waive their right; then there shall be no retaliation; instead the blood money will be imposed.