Questioner: If somebody is murdered, what are the Islamic teachings concerning forgiveness ?
Huzoor (rh): The question is that if somebody is murdered, what is the Islamic teachings about it, in reference to the possibility of forgiveness? The questioner has asked, if the near relatives do not agree to forgiveness, then what is the Quranic teaching about it? The Holy Quran does not give the right to forgive a murderer to the state, but it gives that right to those who have been wronged at his hands. The one person who is murdered, he is no longer here, he doesn’t belong to this earth. But the closest of relatives, who would have inherited him, they have the right to decide if the murderer is to be forgiven or not.
In case of forgiveness, um.. ransom money…. No, ransom money is different, that is for the prisoners. Blood money is agreed upon and then it is permitted. Why did this question come to your mind?
Questioner: Huzoor my question isn’t complete.
Huzoor (rh): So make it complete, please.
Questioner: If relatives don’t want to forgive, If, I don’t want to forgive from my heart, butI don’t have access to the law..
Huzoor (rh): Then there is no question. You can’t take law into your own hands, if that is what you mean. You can’t.
Questioner: But in the Holy Quran, it is written that Allah makes it obligatory for a believer to take revenge. Huzoor (rh): No, it is not like that anywhere. In the Holy Quran, what you are referring to, it is not written like that.
In different situations, this subject has been discussed.What is mentioned is Qisas. QIsas is a different thing. It is not an individual murder at all. At times, there are nations which are at war with each other. Or, even if not at war, they have certain agreements, and somebody from one nation kills another person. And there is an agreement, that in such a case, the offender nation would be responsible. And will have to produce either the murderer, or the blood money for that. That is called Qisas. So, Allah says that it is a must for Momineen, that in this case, that you must take Qisas.
وَلَکُمۡ فِی الۡقِصَاصِ حَیٰوۃٌ یّٰۤاُولِی الۡاَلۡبَابِ
And there is life for you in the law of retaliation, O men of understanding,(2:180)
There is life that is the national life. That is do not forgive, because then it will teach irresponsibility to other nations. They must be held responsible for such crimes of transgression against their border nations. So, it does not apply to the individual murder at all. It is not mentioned.
Questioner: Huzoor that means that you are forced to forgive
Huzoor (rh): The Holy Quran says it in so many words. But the word forgiveness does not apply to the situation which you have in mind. So, you are not forced to forgive at all. You are helpless. Helpless man can’t do a thing. What does helplessness mean? You can’t do a thing. The Holy Quran also presents another picture of helplessness. The Holy Quran tells us that if a fly takes away something from your food or from your body or something, just a little bit, tiny little bit, you are so helpless you can’t take it back. So, what could you do there? to get that back from the fly. The only thing is that you should pray to Allah and ask Him for vengeance or retribution if you are in such a mood as you cannot forgive and you cannot rest in peace.
This is what you mean. Still you are not permitted to take the law in your hand. And there are also possibilities that somebody, even if he wanted to, he could not take the law in his own hands. There are despots, nations, there are despot kings and usurpers of power who are cruel in wide scale and sometimes they commit murders in large numbers, sometimes they imprison people in large numbers and the people of that country live in a stage of agony and they can’t do a thing. So what would you suggest they should do? The point is there are situations where somebody is found to be helpless and if he believes in God, the only recourse open to him is to seek refuge in prayer.
Questioner: If we are talking about taking law in our hands that applies where law prevails…
Huzoor (rh): Why then do you ask questions about legality of a thing when there is no law? You are asking me a question about the legality of a situation.
Where there is no law, there is no legality to be asked about. When you say that there is no law, then why are you bothering about the legal aspects of a situation where there is no law?
Questioner : By no law,I mean practically it’s not prevailing.
Huzoor (rh): So by no legality, I mean practically no legality
Questioner : After reading the verse my mind went to the conclusion that one can take revenge by himself but Huzoor clarified it.
Huzoor (rh): That’s also the nation which decides, not an individual. That is a national issue. Where individual murders are mentioned, individual transgression is mentioned, the Holy Quran says it in so many words and this verse is applicable to all such situations.
فَمَنْ عَفَا وَاَصْلَحَ فَاَجْرُهٗ عَلَى اللّٰهِ
That if somebody decides to forgive, provided that his forgiveness would not encourage evil, but would cause reformation, in that case his reward will be with his Lord, Allah. Islam promotes forgiveness everywhere except in certain situations, where some of them are mentioned in this verse itself.
If you tend to forgive while you know that your forgiveness is going to cause greater trouble and the culprit will be encouraged rather than discouraged by the act of forgiveness, then Allah does not permit you to forgive. There is a condition, man afaa wa aslaha, it’s bracketed. If somebody forgives, causing thereby to be a reformation, in the ways of the guilty, that is the meaning. Then Allah would be very happy with you and would reward you. Otherwise you just take your revenge and just that much, as you have been wronged before.
