Tafseer of The Table · Al-Maaida · 5:33
Indeed, the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive upon earth [to cause] corruption is none but that they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides or that they be exiled from the land. That is for them a disgrace in this world; and for them in the Hereafter is a great punishment,
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
Indeed, the recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger
The statement concerning the interpretation of His saying, exalted: إنما جزاء الذين يحاربون الله ورسوله ("Indeed, the recompense of those who wage war (yuḥāribūn) against Allah and His Messenger"). This is an exposition by Allah, mighty is His mention, of the ruling concerning corruption on the earth which He mentioned in His saying: من أجل ذلك كتبنا على بني إسرائيل أنه من قتل نفسا بغير نفس أو فساد في الأرض ("For that reason We prescribed to the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul, other than for a soul, or [for] corruption on the earth..."). He made His servants acquainted with the punishment and the deterrent chastisement that the corrupter on the earth deserves, and so He, blessed and exalted, said: there is for him in this worldly life no recompense except execution (qatl), crucifixion (ṣalb), the cutting off of the hand and the foot from opposite sides, or banishment from the land, as a disgrace (khizy) for them; and as for the Hereafter, if he does not repent in this life, a tremendous chastisement (ʿadhāb).
Then the interpreters differed concerning about whom this āyah was revealed.
Some of them said: it was revealed concerning a people of the People of the Book (ahl al-kitāb), who had a covenant of truce with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and who broke the covenant and spread corruption on the earth; then Allah instructed His Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, concerning the ruling about them.
Mention of who said that:
9214 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying: إنما جزاء الذين يحاربون الله ورسوله ويسعون في الأرض فسادا ("Indeed, the recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive for corruption on the earth"), he said: there was a people of the People of the Book between whom and the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, there was a covenant and a treaty, and they broke the covenant and spread corruption on the earth; then Allah gave His Messenger the choice: if he wished he could kill, and if he wished he could cut off their hands and their feet from opposite sides.
9215 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn ʿAwn related to us, saying: Hushaym informed us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, he said: there was a people between whom and the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, there was a treaty, and they broke the covenant, blocked the road, and spread corruption on the earth; then Allah, mighty and exalted, gave His Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, the choice concerning them: if he wished he could kill, if he wished he could crucify, and if he wished he could cut off their hands and their feet from opposite sides. * - It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh, he said: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān related to me, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say something similar.
And others said: it was revealed concerning a people of the polytheists (mushrikīn).
Mention of who said that:
9216 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn ibn Wāqid related to us, on the authority of Yazīd, on the authority of ʿIkrima and al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, both said: إنما جزاء الذين يحاربون الله ورسوله ("Indeed, the recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger") up to: إن الله غفور رحيم ("indeed, Allah is Forgiving, Merciful") - this āyah was revealed concerning the polytheists, and whoever of them repents before you gain power over him, there is no way against him; but this āyah does not protect the Muslim man from the prescribed punishment (ḥadd) if he kills or spreads corruption on the earth or wages war against Allah and His Messenger and then joins the disbelievers before power is gained over him; that does not prevent the prescribed punishment from being carried out against him for what he has committed.
9217 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Ashʿath, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: إنما جزاء الذين يحاربون الله ورسوله ("Indeed, the recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger"), he said: it was revealed concerning the people of polytheism (shirk).
And others said: it was rather revealed concerning a people of ʿUrayna and ʿUkl who apostatized from Islam (ridda) and waged war against Allah and His Messenger.
Mention of who said that:
9218 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Rawḥ ibn ʿUbāda related to us, saying: Saʿīd ibn Abī ʿArūba related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Anas: that a group of ʿUkl and ʿUrayna came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and they said: O Messenger of Allah, we are people of livestock and not of cultivation, and the air of Medina did not agree with us. Thereupon the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, ordered that a herd of camels and a herdsman be given to them, and he ordered them to go out and drink from its milk and its urine. But they killed the herdsman of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, drove off the herd, and became disbelievers after their Islam. Then they were brought to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and he cut off their hands and feet, gouged out their eyes, and left them in the al-Ḥarra (volcanic plain) until they died. And it has been mentioned to us that this āyah was revealed concerning them: إنما جزاء الذين يحاربون الله ورسوله ("Indeed, the recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger"). * - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Rawḥ related to us, saying: Hishām ibn Abī ʿAbd Allāh related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Anas ibn Mālik, on the authority of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, with the same narrative.
9219 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Shaqīq related to us, saying: I heard my father say: Abū Ḥamza informed us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Karīm - and he was asked about the urine of camels, and he said: Saʿīd ibn Jubayr related to me about the warriors (al-muḥāribīn), and he said: there were people who came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and said: we pledge allegiance to you upon Islam! So they pledged allegiance to him while they were liars and did not want Islam. Then they said: the air of Medina does not agree with us. Thereupon the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "These milch-camels go out among you morning and evening; so drink of their urine and their milk." He said: while they were thus occupied, there came the call for help, and people cried out loudly to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and said: they have killed the herdsman and driven off the livestock! Then the Prophet of Allah ordered that it be proclaimed among the people: "O cavalry of Allah, mount up!" He said: and they mounted without one rider waiting for another. He said: and the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, rode in their track, and they kept pursuing them until they drove them into their safe place of refuge. Then the companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, returned, and they had taken some of them captive, and they brought them to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. Then Allah revealed: إنما جزاء الذين يحاربون الله ورسوله ("Indeed, the recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger"), the āyah. He said: their banishment was that they banished them, until they drove them into their safe place of refuge and their land, and they banished them from the land of the Muslims, and the Prophet of Allah killed some of them, crucified, cut off, and gouged out the eyes. He said: and the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, did that neither before it nor after it. He said: "He forbade mutilation (muthla) and said: and do not mutilate anything." He said: and Anas ibn Mālik used to say that, except that he said: he burned them with fire after he had killed them. He said: and some of them say: they were people of Banū Sulaym, and among them were some of ʿUrayna and people of Bajīla.
Mention of who said that:
9220 - Muḥammad ibn Khalaf related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan ibn Hannād related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Hāshim, on the authority of Mūsā ibn ʿUbayd, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm, on the authority of Jarīr, he said: there came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, a people of ʿUrayna, barefoot and wounded. Then the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, gave a command concerning them, and when they became healthy and strong, they killed the herdsmen of the milch-camels, and then they set out with the milch-camels, heading for the land of their people. Jarīr said: then the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, sent me out with a group of Muslims, until we caught up with them after they had come within sight of the territory of their people, and we brought them to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and he cut off their hands and feet from opposite sides, and gouged out their eyes; and they began to cry out: water! while the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "The Fire!" until they perished. He said: and Allah disapproved of the gouging out of the eyes, and revealed this āyah: إنما جزاء الذين يحاربون الله ورسوله ("Indeed, the recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger") to the end of the āyah.
9221 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Lahīʿa informed me, on the authority of Abū al-Aswad Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, on the authority of ʿUrwa ibn al-Zubayr. And Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sālim, and Saʿīd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, and Ibn Samʿān informed me, on the authority of Hishām ibn ʿUrwa, on the authority of his father, he said: people of ʿUrayna made a raid on the milch-camels of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and drove them off and killed a boy of his who was with them. Then he sent in pursuit of them, and they were seized, and he cut off their hands and feet and gouged out their eyes.
9222 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: ʿAmr ibn al-Ḥārith informed me, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Abī Hilāl, on the authority of Abū al-Zinād, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd Allāh, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar - or ʿAmr, Yūnus is in doubt - on the authority of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, with that, and concerning them the āyah of warfare (āyat al-muḥāraba) was revealed.
9223 - ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to us, saying: al-Walīd ibn Muslim related to us, saying: al-Awzāʿī related to us, on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn Abī Kathīr, on the authority of Abū Qilāba, on the authority of Anas, he said: eight men of ʿUkl came to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and embraced Islam, and then the air of Medina did not agree with them. Then the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, ordered them to go to the camels of the zakāh and drink of their urine and their milk, and they did that, and they killed the herdsmen of them and drove off the camels. Then the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, sent trackers after them, and they were brought, and he cut off their hands and feet and left them without cauterizing their wounds, until they died.
9224 - ʿAlī related to us, saying: al-Walīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to me, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Anas, he said: they were four men of ʿUrayna and three of ʿUkl, and when they were brought, he cut off their hands and feet and gouged out their eyes, and he did not cauterize their wounds, and he left them while they put the stones in the al-Ḥarra in their mouths from thirst. Then Allah, mighty and exalted, revealed concerning that: إنما جزاء الذين يحاربون الله ورسوله ("Indeed, the recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger"), the āyah.
9225 - ʿAlī related to me, saying: al-Walīd related to us, on the authority of Ibn Lahīʿa, on the authority of Yazīd ibn Abī Ḥabīb, that ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān wrote to Anas and asked him about this āyah, and Anas wrote back to him and informed him that this āyah was revealed concerning those men of ʿUrayna, and they were of Bajīla. Anas said: they apostatized from Islam, killed the herdsman, drove off the camels, made the road unsafe, and committed forbidden sexual intercourse (al-farj al-ḥarām).
9226 - Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: إنما جزاء الذين يحاربون الله ورسوله ويسعون في الأرض فسادا ("Indeed, the recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive for corruption on the earth"), he said: it was revealed concerning the black men of ʿUrayna. He said: they came to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, while they had the yellow dropsy, and they complained about that to him, and he gave them a command, and they went out to the camels of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, which were of the zakāh, and he said: "Drink of their milk and their urine." And they drank of their milk and their urine until they became healthy and cured, and then they killed the herdsmen and drove off the camels.
And the most fitting statement concerning this, in my view, is that one says: Allah revealed this āyah to His Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, to make known His ruling concerning whoever wages war against Allah and His Messenger and strives for corruption on the earth, after what had occurred of the action of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, with the ʿUraynites as he did. And we have called that only the most fitting of the statements in truth, because the narratives that Allah, mighty and exalted, relates before this āyah and after it belong to the narratives of the Children of Israel and their reports; that this should then be something interposed among them, by which the ruling concerning them and concerning their like is made known, is more fitting and more correct. And we have said: its revelation was after what had occurred of the action of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, with the ʿUraynites as he did, because of the abundance of reports about that from the companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.
And since that is the most fitting for the āyah, for the reason we have described, its interpretation is: for that reason We prescribed to the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul, other than for a soul, or strives for corruption on the earth, it is as though he had killed all of mankind, and whoever keeps it alive, it is as though he had kept all of mankind alive; and indeed Our messengers came to them with the clear proofs, and then many of them, after that, transgressed all bounds on the earth. He says: they strive for corruption on the earth, and kill souls other than for a soul and without there being any striving for corruption on the earth, as war against Allah and His Messenger. Whoever of them does that, O Muḥammad, indeed his recompense is that they be killed, or crucified, or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides, or that they be banished from the land.
If someone says to us: and how is it permissible that the āyah was revealed in the condition you have mentioned, namely the condition of a disbeliever of the Children of Israel breaking his covenant, while you claim that the ruling of this āyah is a ruling of Allah concerning the people of Islam and not the people of war among the polytheists? It is said to him: it is permissible that it be so, because the ruling concerning whoever wages war against Allah and His Messenger and strives for corruption on the earth, whether of our dhimmīs (people under dhimma-status) or of our community, is one and the same, and those who were intended by the āyah were people of a covenant and dhimma-status, even if under its ruling falls every dhimmī and member of the faith-community. And the fact that under the ruling of the āyah others among the people also fall does not invalidate that its revelation is authentic concerning those about whom it was revealed.
And the people of knowledge differed concerning the abrogation (naskh) of the ruling of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, concerning the ʿUraynites.
Some of them said: that is an abrogated ruling, abrogated by his prohibition of mutilation by means of this āyah - I mean by His saying: إنما جزاء الذين يحاربون الله ورسوله ويسعون في الأرض فسادا ("Indeed, the recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive for corruption on the earth"), the āyah. And they said: this āyah was revealed as a rebuke to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, for what he did with the ʿUraynites.
And others said: no, the action of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, with the ʿUraynites is an established ruling concerning their like forever, not abrogated and not replaced. And His saying: إنما جزاء الذين يحاربون الله ورسوله ("Indeed, the recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger"), the āyah, is a ruling of Allah concerning whoever wages war and strives for corruption on the earth by means of armed robbery (ḥirāba). They said: and the ʿUraynites apostatized, killed, stole, and waged war against Allah and His Messenger, and so their ruling is other than the ruling of the warrior who strives for corruption on the earth among the people of Islam and the dhimma.
And others said: the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, did not gouge out the eyes of the ʿUraynites, but he had intended to gouge [them] out, and then Allah, mighty and exalted, revealed this āyah to His Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, to make known to him the ruling concerning them and to forbid him from gouging out their eyes.
Mention of those who say what we have described:
9227 - ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to me, saying: al-Walīd ibn Muslim related to us, saying: I discussed with al-Layth ibn Saʿd what had occurred of the gouging out by the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, of their eyes and his omitting to cauterize their wounds until they died, and he said: I heard Muḥammad ibn ʿAjlān say: this āyah was revealed to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, as a rebuke concerning that, and it instructed him about the chastisement of their like by cutting off, killing, and banishment, and he did not gouge out the eyes of any other after them. He said: and this statement was mentioned to Abū ʿAmr, and he denied that it was revealed as a rebuke, and said: no, it was the chastisement of those men themselves, and then this āyah was revealed concerning the chastisement of others than them who waged war after them, and the gouging out of the eyes was lifted for them.
9228 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to me, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, he said: then the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, sent [men] out, and they were brought - that is, the ʿUraynites - and he wished to gouge out their eyes, but Allah forbade him that, and ordered him to carry out the prescribed punishments (ḥudūd) concerning them as Allah had revealed them to him.
And the people of knowledge differed concerning who deserves the name "warrior against Allah and His Messenger" (al-muḥārib li-llāhi wa-rasūlihi), to whom the ruling of this [āyah] applies.
Some of them said: it is the thief who blocks the road (qāṭiʿ al-ṭarīq, the highway robber).
Mention of who said that:
9229 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ al-Khurāsānī, concerning His saying: إنما جزاء الذين يحاربون الله ورسوله ويسعون في الأرض فسادا ("Indeed, the recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive for corruption on the earth"), the āyah, both said: this is the thief who blocks the road; he is a warrior.
And others said: it is the thief who steals openly, the violent oppressor in the city and elsewhere. And among those who said that was al-Awzāʿī.
9230 - Al-ʿAbbās related that to us on the authority of his father, on his authority, and on the authority of Mālik and al-Layth ibn Saʿd and Ibn Lahīʿa.
9231 - ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to me, saying: al-Walīd ibn Muslim related to us, saying: I said to Mālik ibn Anas: can there be warfare (muḥāraba) in the city? He said: yes, and the warrior with us is the one who takes up arms against the Muslims in a city or in the open country, while that of his did not arise from a dispute that existed between them, nor rancor, nor enmity, [who] blocks the road and the ways and the dwellings, terrorizing them with his weapons; if he kills one of them, the imam kills him as he kills the warrior; the closest relative (walī) of the slain has therein no right of pardon nor of retaliation (qawad).
9232 - ʿAlī related to me, saying: al-Walīd related to us, saying: I asked about that of al-Layth ibn Saʿd and Ibn Lahīʿa, I said: can there be warfare in the houses of the city, the towns, and the villages? And they both said: yes, if they break in upon them with swords openly, or by night with fire. I said: and if they kill or take the money but do not kill? And he said: yes, they are the warriors; if they kill, they are killed, and if they do not kill but take the money, they are cut off from opposite sides as soon as they have left the house with it; the one who fights the Muslims in the open country and on the road is not worse than the warfare of one who fights them in their protected area and their houses.
9233 - ʿAlī related to me, saying: al-Walīd related to us, saying: Abū ʿAmr said: and there can be warfare in the city by a man raising his weapon against its inhabitants by night or by day. ʿAlī said: al-Walīd said: and Mālik informed me that killing by treacherous stealth (qatl al-ghīla) is with him at the level of warfare. I said: and what is killing by treacherous stealth? He said: it is the man who deceives the man and the child, leads him into a house or secludes himself with him and kills him and takes his money; the imam has authority over the execution of this one, and the closest relative of the blood and the wound has no right of retaliation (qawad) nor of legal retribution (qiṣāṣ). And this is the statement of al-Shāfiʿī. Al-Rabīʿ related that to us on his authority.
And others said: the warrior is the highway robber; but as for the violent oppressor in the cities, he is not the warrior who has the ruling of the warriors. And among those who said that were Abū Ḥanīfa and his companions.
9234 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Bishr ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, on the authority of Dāwūd ibn Abī Hind, he said: we discussed the warrior while we were with Ibn Hubayra, among people of the inhabitants of Basra, and their opinion agreed that the warrior is the one who is outside the city.
And Mujāhid said with regard to [the following]:
9235 - Al-Qāsim related to me, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying: إنما جزاء الذين يحاربون الله ورسوله ويسعون في الأرض فسادا ("Indeed, the recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive for corruption on the earth"), he said: fornication (al-zinā), theft, killing people, and destroying crops and offspring. * - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAnbasa, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Abī Bazza, on the authority of Mujāhid: ويسعون في الأرض فسادا ("and strive for corruption on the earth"), he said: corruption is: killing, fornication, and theft.
And the most fitting of these statements in truth, in my view, is the statement of the one who says: the warrior against Allah and His Messenger is the one who wages war on the thoroughfares of the Muslims and their dhimmīs, and the one who falls upon them in their cities and their villages as armed robbery (ḥirāba). And we have called that only the most fitting of the statements in truth, because there is no disagreement among the learned authority that whoever sets out to war against the Muslims out of wrongdoing toward them is a warrior against them, and concerning that there is no disagreement. Now, the one whose description we have described, there is no doubt that he declares war upon them unjustly. And since that is so, it makes no difference whether he declares war upon them in their city and their villages or on their thoroughfares and their roads, as regards the fact that he is a warrior against Allah and His Messenger by his war against those whom Allah and His Messenger have forbidden him to fight.
And strive for corruption on the earth
The statement concerning the interpretation of His saying, exalted: ويسعون في الأرض فسادا ("and strive for corruption on the earth"). He means by it: they act in the land of Allah with sins, by terrorizing the roads of His believing servants, or the roads of His dhimmīs, and blocking their roads, and taking their possessions through injustice and aggression, and violating their protected [women and goods] (ḥuram) in dissoluteness and depravity.
That they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides or that they be banished from the land
The statement concerning the interpretation of His saying, exalted: أن يقتلوا أو يصلبوا أو تقطع أيديهم وأرجلهم من خلاف أو ينفوا من الأرض ("that they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides or that they be banished from the land"). He, exalted is His mention, says: there is for the one who wages war against Allah and His Messenger and strives for corruption on the earth, belonging to the people of the community of Islam or their dhimma, nothing except some of these punishments which He, exalted is His praise, has mentioned.
Then the interpreters differed concerning these punishments: do they befall the warrior on the basis of deserving the name "warfare," or does there befall him of them what befalls him according to the measure of his crime, varying according to the variety of his crimes?
Some of them said: there befalls him of them what befalls him according to the measure of his crime, varying according to the variety of his crimes.
Mention of who said that:
9236 - Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying: إنما جزاء الذين يحاربون الله ورسوله ("Indeed, the recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger") up to His saying: أو ينفوا من الأرض ("or that they be banished from the land"), he said: if he wages war and kills, then upon him is execution if he is overpowered before his repentance. And if he wages war and takes the money and kills, then upon him is crucifixion if he is overpowered before his repentance. And if he wages war and takes but does not kill, then upon him is the cutting off of the hand and the foot from opposite sides if he is overpowered before his repentance. And if he wages war and makes the road unsafe, then upon him is only banishment.
9237 - Ibn Wakīʿ and Abū al-Sāʾib related to us, both saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ḥammād, on the authority of Ibrāhīm: إنما جزاء الذين يحاربون الله ورسوله ("Indeed, the recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger"), he said: if he sets out and makes the road unsafe and takes the money, his hand and foot are cut off from opposite sides. And if he makes the road unsafe and does not take the money but kills, he is crucified. * - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ḥammād, on the authority of Ibrāhīm - as I think - concerning the man who sets out as a warrior, he said: if he blocks the road and takes the money, his hand and foot are cut off, and if he takes the money and kills, he is killed, and if he takes the money and kills and mutilates, he is crucified.
9238 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of ʿImrān ibn Ḥudayr, on the authority of Abū Mijlaz: إنما جزاء الذين يحاربون الله ورسوله ("Indeed, the recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger"), the āyah. He said: if he kills and takes the money and makes the road unsafe, he is crucified; and if he kills without it going beyond that, he is killed; if he takes the money without it going beyond that, he is cut off; and if he spreads corruption, he is banished.
9239 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: al-Ḥimmānī related to us, saying: Sharīk related to us, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: إنما جزاء الذين يحاربون الله ورسوله ("Indeed, the recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger") up to His saying: أو ينفوا من الأرض ("or that they be banished from the land"), he said: if he makes the road unsafe and does not kill and does not take the money, he is banished.
9240 - Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAmr ibn ʿAwn related to us, saying: Hushaym informed us, on the authority of Ḥuṣayn, he said: it used to be said: whoever wages war and makes the road unsafe and takes the money but does not kill: his hand and foot are cut off from opposite sides. And if he takes the money and kills: he is crucified.
9241 - Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, that he used to say concerning His saying: إنما جزاء الذين يحاربون الله ورسوله ("Indeed, the recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger") up to His saying: أو ينفوا من الأرض ("or that they be banished from the land"): four prescribed punishments which Allah has revealed. As for the one who strikes both blood and money: he is crucified; and as for the one who strikes blood but abstains from the money: he is killed; and the one who strikes the money but abstains from the blood: he is cut off; and the one who strikes none of all this: he is banished.
9242 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī. He said: Allah forbade His Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, from gouging out the eyes of the ʿUraynites who raided his milch-camels, and ordered him to carry out the prescribed punishments concerning them as Allah had revealed them to him. So he considered the one who took the money but did not kill, and cut off his hand and foot from opposite sides: his right hand and his left foot. And he considered the one who killed but did not take money, and killed him. And he considered the one who took the money and killed, and crucified him. And so it should be with regard to everyone who makes the road of the Muslims unsafe and blocks it, that he be dealt with if he is seized: if he has taken money, his hand is cut off for his taking the money, and his foot for making the road unsafe; and if he kills but does not take money, he is killed; and if he kills and takes the money: he is crucified.
9243 - Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, saying: Fuḍayl ibn Marzūq related to us, saying: I heard al-Suddī ask ʿAṭiyya al-ʿAwfī about a warring man who set out and was seized but struck no money and shed no blood. He said: banishment by the sword; and if he struck money, then his hand is for the money and his foot is for terrorizing the Muslims; and if he killed but did not take money: he is killed; and if he killed and took the money: he is crucified. And to my strongest supposition he said: his hand and foot are cut off.
9244 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ al-Khurāsānī and Qatāda, concerning His saying: إنما جزاء الذين يحاربون الله ورسوله ("Indeed, the recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger"), the āyah, he said: this is the thief who blocks the road; he is a warrior. If he kills and takes money: he is crucified; and if he kills but does not take money: he is killed; and if he takes money but does not kill: his hand and foot are cut off; and if he is seized before he has done any of that: he is banished.
9245 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Qays ibn Saʿd, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, he said: whoever sets out in Islam as a warrior against Allah and His Messenger, and kills and strikes money, indeed he is killed and crucified; and whoever kills but strikes no money, indeed he is killed as he killed; and whoever strikes money but does not kill, indeed he is cut off from opposite sides; and if he makes the road of the Muslims unsafe, he is banished from his land to another, because of the saying of Allah, mighty and exalted: أو ينفوا من الأرض ("or that they be banished from the land").
9246 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning His saying: إنما جزاء الذين يحاربون الله ورسوله ("Indeed, the recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger"), he said: there were people who strove for corruption on the earth and killed and blocked the road, and these were crucified. And others waged war and appropriated the money but did not go beyond that, and their hands and feet were cut off. And others waged war and held aloof and did not go beyond that, and these were banished from the land.
9247 - Hannād related to us, saying: Abū Usāma related to us, on the authority of Abū Hilāl, he said: Qatāda related to us, on the authority of Muwarriq al-ʿIjlī, concerning the warrior, he said: if he set out and killed and took the money: he is crucified; and if he killed but did not take the money: he is killed; and if he took the money but did not kill: he is cut off; and if he set out in rebellion against the Muslims: he is banished.
9248 - Hannād related to us, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of Ḥajjāj, on the authority of ʿAṭiyya al-ʿAwfī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: if the warrior sets out and makes the road unsafe and takes the money: his hand and foot are cut off from opposite sides; and if he sets out and kills and takes the money: his hand and foot are cut off from opposite sides and then he is crucified; and if he sets out and kills but does not take the money: he is killed; and if he makes the road unsafe but does not kill and does not take the money: he is banished.
9249 - Ibn al-Barqī related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Maryam related to us, saying: Nāfiʿ ibn Yazīd informed us, saying: Abū Ṣakhr related to me, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Quraẓī; and on the authority of Abū Muʿāwiya, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr concerning this āyah: إنما جزاء الذين يحاربون الله ورسوله ويسعون في الأرض فسادا ("Indeed, the recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive for corruption on the earth"), both said: if he terrorizes the Muslims and appropriates the money but does not shed blood: he is cut off; and if he sheds blood: he is killed and crucified; and if he brings both together and appropriates money and sheds blood: he is cut off, then killed, then crucified. It is as though the crucifixion is the mutilation, and as though the cutting off [corresponds to] السارق والسارقة فاقطعوا أيديهما ("The thief, male and female, cut off their hands"), and as though the killing [corresponds to] "the life for the life." And if he resists, then it belongs to the right incumbent upon the imam and the Muslims that they track him down until they seize him and carry out the ruling of the Book of Allah against him, or that they banish him from the land, from the land of Islam to the land of disbelief (kufr).
And those who made this statement adduced as ground for this statement that they said: indeed, Allah has made retaliation (qawad) obligatory upon the killer, and cutting off upon the thief; and they said: the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "The blood of a Muslim man is not lawful except for one of three reasons: a man who kills and is therefore killed, a man who commits fornication (zinā) after marriage and is therefore stoned (rajm), and a man who disbelieves after his Islam." They said: so the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, forbade the killing of a Muslim man except for one of these three reasons, so if someone were to be killed for his making the road unsafe without his killing or taking money, then that is a presumption against Allah and His Messenger by going against them both in the ruling. They said: and the meaning of the statement of the one who says: the imam has the choice therein, concerns the case in which he kills and makes the road unsafe and takes the money; there the choice of the imam applies in their statement between execution, or execution and crucifixion, or the cutting off of the hand and the foot from opposite sides. But as for crucifying him under the name of warfare without his having done anything of killing or taking money, no scholar has said that.
And others said: the imam has the choice therein to do whichever of these things that Allah has mentioned in His Book.
Mention of who said that:
9250 - Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: Juwaybir informed us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, and on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Abī Bazza, on the authority of Mujāhid concerning the warrior: that the imam has the choice with regard to him to do whatever he wishes of those [punishments].
9251 - Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of ʿUbayda, on the authority of Ibrāhīm: the imam has the choice with regard to the warrior, to do whatever he wishes: if he wishes he kills, if he wishes he cuts off, if he wishes he banishes, and if he wishes he crucifies.
9252 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of al-Ḥasan concerning His saying: إنما جزاء الذين يحاربون الله ورسوله ("Indeed, the recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger") up to His saying: أو ينفوا من الأرض ("or that they be banished from the land"), he said: the imam takes whichever of the [punishments] he prefers. * - Sufyān related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: إنما جزاء الذين يحاربون الله ورسوله ("Indeed, the recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger"), he said: the imam has the choice therein.
9253 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, the same.
9254 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Qays ibn Saʿd, he said: ʿAṭāʾ said: the imam does therein what he wishes: if he wishes he kills, or cuts off, or banishes, because of the saying of Allah: أن يقتلوا أو يصلبوا أو تقطع أيديهم وأرجلهم من خلاف أو ينفوا من الأرض ("that they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides or that they be banished from the land"); that belongs to the imam, the judge, who does therein what he wishes.
9255 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying: إنما جزاء الذين يحاربون الله ورسوله ("Indeed, the recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger"), the āyah, he said: whoever draws his weapon against the group of Islam and makes the road unsafe, and is then overcome and seized, then the imam of the Muslims has the choice therein: if he wishes he kills him, and if he wishes he crucifies him, and if he wishes he cuts off his hand and foot.
9256 - Hannād related to us, saying: Abū Usāma related to us, saying: Abū Hilāl informed us, saying: Qatāda informed us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, that he said about the warrior: that belongs to the imam; when he seizes him he does with him what he wishes. * - Hannād related to us, saying: Abū Usāma related to us, on the authority of Abū Hilāl, he said: Hārūn related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan concerning the warrior, both said: that belongs to the imam, who does with him what he wishes. * - Hannād related to us, saying: Ḥafṣ ibn Ghiyāth related to us, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: إنما جزاء الذين يحاربون الله ورسوله ("Indeed, the recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger"), he said: that belongs to the imam.
And those who made this statement adduced as ground that they said: we have found the conjunctions joined with "or" (aw) in the Qurʾān in the meaning of choice (takhyīr) in everything that Allah has prescribed thereby as an obligation, such as His saying concerning the expiation for an oath: فكفارته إطعام عشرة مساكين من أوسط ما تطعمون أهليكم أو كسوتهم أو تحرير رقبة ("Its expiation is the feeding of ten needy persons with the average of what you feed your families, or clothing them, or the freeing of a slave (raqaba)"), and such as His saying: فمن كان منكم مريضا أو به أذى من رأسه ففدية من صيام أو صدقة أو نسك ("Whoever of you is ill or has an ailment of his head, then a ransom of fasting or alms or a sacrifice"), and such as His saying: فجزاء مثل ما قتل من النعم يحكم به ذوا عدل منكم هديا بالغ الكعبة أو كفارة طعام مساكين أو عدل ذلك صياما ("then a recompense equal to what he has killed of the cattle, judged by two just persons among you, as an offering brought to the Kaʿba, or as expiation the feeding of the needy, or the equivalent of that in fasting"). They said: since the conjunctions joined with "or" in the Qurʾān, in everything that Allah has prescribed thereby as an obligation in the rest of the Qurʾān, have the meaning of choice, so it is likewise in the āyah of the warriors: the imam has the choice in that by which he deems fitting the ruling concerning the warrior when power is gained over him before the repentance.
And the most fitting of the two interpretations in truth herein, in our view, is the interpretation of the one who imposes upon the warrior the chastisement according to the measure of his deserving, and makes the ruling concerning the warriors vary according to the variety of their deeds, so that he imposes upon the one of them who terrorizes the road, when power is gained over him before the repentance and before the taking of money or the killing, banishment from the land; and when power is gained over him after he has taken the money and killed the soul whose killing is forbidden: crucifixion - for the reason I mentioned earlier for the adherents of this statement.
As for the ground that those adduce who say: the imam has the choice therein, namely that "or" in the conjunction has the meaning of choice in obligation, to that we say: that has no validity; for "or" in the language of the Arabs occurs with various kinds of meanings, which, were it not for aversion to lengthening the book by mentioning them, I would have mentioned, and I have already expounded many of its meanings earlier, and we will treat the rest of them in their places hereafter, if Allah wills. As for this place, indeed its meaning is: succession/distribution (al-taʿqīb). That is like the statement of one who says: indeed the recompense of the believers with Allah on the Day of Resurrection is that He admits them into the Garden (janna), or raises their abodes in the ʿilliyyīn, or makes them dwell together with the prophets and the truthful. It is known that the one who says that does not intend by his statement that the recompense of every believer who believes in Allah and His Messenger is at one and the same rank of these ranks and at one and the same place of these places by his faith; rather, what is understood from him is that its meaning is: that the recompense of the believer with Allah is not devoid of one of these places, so that the moderate one has a place below the place of the foremost in good deeds, and the foremost in good deeds has a higher place than he, and the one who wrongs himself is below them both, while each is in the Garden, as He, exalted is His praise, said: جنات عدن يدخلونها ("Gardens of Eden which they will enter"). So likewise is the meaning of the conjunctions joined with "or" in His saying: إنما جزاء الذين يحاربون الله ورسوله ("Indeed, the recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger"), the āyah; indeed it is succession/distribution. Its interpretation is therefore: indeed the one who wages war against Allah and His Messenger and strives for corruption on the earth will not escape from deserving the recompense by means of one of these four punishments which Allah, mighty is His mention, has mentioned - not that the imam is therein supreme and has the free choice in his affair, however his condition may be, whether his crime be great or small; for if that were so, then the imam would have the authority to kill and crucify the one who draws his weapon and terrorizes the road, even though he has taken no money and killed no one, and he would have the authority to banish the one who has killed and taken money and terrorized the road. And that is a statement which, if someone made it, would be in conflict with what is authentically transmitted in the reports of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, in his saying: "The blood of a Muslim man is not lawful except for one of three reasons: a man who kills a man and is therefore killed, or commits fornication after marriage and is therefore stoned, or apostatizes from his religion," and in conflict with his saying: "The cutting off is for a quarter of a dinar and more," and with what is known of his rulings.
If someone says: but these rulings which you have mentioned from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, concerned others than the warrior, and the warrior has another ruling of his own? It is said to him: and what is the ruling by which the warrior is distinguished in his ordinances (sunan)? If he claims from him, peace and blessings be upon him, a ruling that conflicts with what we have mentioned, then all the people of knowledge will give him the lie; for that is not to be found in any narration, whether of a single individual or of a group. And if he claims that that ruling is what stands in the apparent meaning of the Book, then it is said to him: the best of your conditions is that it be conceded to you that the apparent meaning of the āyah possibly bears what you have said, and [also] what the one who disagrees with you has said; what then is your proof that your interpretation is more fitting for the interpretation of the āyah than his interpretation? Moreover: if the imam has the choice in the ruling concerning the warrior because of the fact that "or" in your view in this place has the meaning of choice - does he then have the right to crucify him alive and leave him crucified upon the wood until he dies without killing him? If he says: that he has, then he goes therein against the community (umma). And if he claims that he does not have that, but that he has only the right to kill him and then crucify him, or to crucify him and then kill him, then he abandons his ground that the imam had only the choice in the ruling concerning the warrior because of the fact that "or" has the meaning of choice, and it is said to him: how then did he have the choice in the killing or the banishment or the cutting off, but did not have the choice in the crucifixion alone, until another chastisement is joined to it? And it is said to him: is there between you and the one who places the choice where you refuse it, and refuses it where you have placed it, a distinction on the basis of a principle or an analogy? He will make no statement about either of the two without the like being imposed upon him in the other.
And there has been transmitted from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, [something] confirming what we have said about that, with something in whose isnād [however] further scrutiny is required. And that is the following:
9257 - ʿAlī ibn Sahl related it to us, saying: al-Walīd ibn Muslim related to us, on the authority of Ibn Lahīʿa, on the authority of Yazīd ibn Abī Ḥabīb: that ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān wrote to Anas ibn Mālik and asked him about this āyah, and Anas wrote back to him and informed him that this āyah was revealed concerning those men of ʿUrayna, and they were of Bajīla. Anas said: they apostatized from Islam, killed the herdsman, drove off the camels, made the road unsafe, and committed forbidden sexual intercourse. Anas said: and the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, asked Jibrīl, peace be upon him, about the ruling concerning whoever wages war, and he said: "Whoever steals and makes the road unsafe, cut off his hand for his theft and his foot for his terrorizing. And whoever kills, kill him. And whoever kills and makes the road unsafe and holds forbidden sexual intercourse to be lawful, crucify him."
As for His saying: أو تقطع أيديهم وأرجلهم من خلاف ("or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides"), He, exalted is His praise, means by it: that their hands be cut off in a manner that differs from the cutting off of their feet, namely that their right hands and their left feet be cut off; that is the difference (al-khilāf) between the two in the cutting off. And if in this place, in place of "min" (from/at), there had stood "ʿalā" or the "bāʾ," so that it would be said: or that their hands and feet be cut off differingly (khilāf) or with difference (bi-khilāf), then those would have expressed the same as what "min" expresses in meaning.
And the interpreters differed concerning the meaning of the banishment (al-nafy) which Allah mentioned in this place.
Some of them said: it is that he be tracked down until power is gained over him, or that he flee from the land of Islam.
Mention of who said that:
9258 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning His saying: أو ينفوا من الأرض ("or that they be banished from the land"), he said: the imam seeks them out with the cavalry and the men until he seizes them and carries out the ruling concerning them, or they are banished from the land of the Muslims.
9259 - Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: his banishment is that he be tracked down.
9260 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: أو ينفوا من الأرض ("or that they be banished from the land"), he says: or that they flee until they depart from the land of Islam to the land of war (dār al-ḥarb).
9261 - ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to me, saying: al-Walīd ibn Muslim related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Lahīʿa informed me, on the authority of Yazīd ibn Abī Ḥabīb, from the letter of Anas ibn Mālik to ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān: that he wrote to him: "And his banishment is that the imam tracks him down until he seizes him, and when he seizes him he carries out against him one of these punishments which Allah, mighty and exalted, has mentioned, according to what he held to be lawful."
9262 - ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to me, saying: al-Walīd related to us, saying: I mentioned that to al-Layth ibn Saʿd, and he said: his banishment is his being tracked down from land to land until he is seized, or that his being tracked down makes him depart from the land of Islam to the land of polytheism and war, if he is a warrior who has apostatized from Islam. Al-Walīd said: and I asked Mālik ibn Anas, and he said something similar.
9263 - ʿAlī related to me, saying: al-Walīd related to us, saying: I said to Mālik ibn Anas and al-Layth ibn Saʿd: and so is the warrior who persists in his Islam tracked down, [so that] he is forced by his being tracked down from land to land until he reaches a frontier post of the frontier posts of the Muslims, or the farthest neighborhood of the Muslims; and if they [further] track him down, he enters the land of polytheism? They both said: a Muslim is not forced to that.
9264 - Hannād ibn al-Sarī related to us, saying: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: أو ينفوا من الأرض ("or that they be banished from the land"), he said: that they track him down until they can no longer [seize] him. * - It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān related to me, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say something similar.
9265 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ḥafṣ ibn Ghiyāth related to us, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: أو ينفوا من الأرض ("or that they be banished from the land"), he said: he is banished until power is not gained over him.
9266 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas concerning His saying: أو ينفوا من الأرض ("or that they be banished from the land"), he said: they are banished from the land wherever they are found, they are banished until they join the land of the enemy.
9267 - Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq related to us, saying: Maʿmar related to us, on the authority of al-Zuhrī concerning His saying: أو ينفوا من الأرض ("or that they be banished from the land"), he said: his banishment is that he be tracked down so that power is not gained over him; whenever he is heard of in a land, he is tracked down [there].
9268 - ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to me, saying: al-Walīd ibn Muslim related to us, saying: Saʿīd informed me, on the authority of Qatāda: أو ينفوا من الأرض ("or that they be banished from the land"), he said: if he does not kill and does not take money, he is tracked down until he can no longer be [seized].
9269 - Ibn al-Barqī related to me, saying: Ibn Abī Maryam related to us, saying: Nāfiʿ ibn Yazīd informed me, saying: Abū Ṣakhr related to me, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Quraẓī, and on the authority of Abū Muʿāwiya, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: أو ينفوا من الأرض ("or that they be banished from the land"), [namely] from the land of Islam to the land of disbelief.
And others said: the meaning of the banishment in this place is: that the imam, when he gains power over him, banishes him from his place of residence to a place other than it.
Mention of who said that:
9270 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Qays ibn Saʿd, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: أو ينفوا من الأرض ("or that they be banished from the land"), he said: whoever makes the road of the Muslims unsafe is banished from his land to another, because of the saying of Allah, mighty and exalted: أو ينفوا من الأرض ("or that they be banished from the land").
9271 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: al-Layth related to me, saying: Yazīd ibn Abī Ḥabīb and others related to me, on the authority of Ḥabbān ibn Shurayḥ, that he wrote to ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz about the robbers, and described to him their robbery and their confinement in the prisons. He said: Allah has said in His Book: إنما جزاء الذين يحاربون الله ورسوله ويسعون في الأرض فسادا أن يقتلوا أو يصلبوا أو تقطع أيديهم وأرجلهم من خلاف ("Indeed, the recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive for corruption on the earth is that they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides"), and he omitted: أو ينفوا من الأرض ("or that they be banished from the land"). Then ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz wrote back to him: to proceed, indeed you have written to me, mentioning the saying of Allah, mighty and exalted: إنما جزاء الذين يحاربون الله ورسوله ويسعون في الأرض فسادا أن يقتلوا أو يصلبوا أو تقطع أيديهم وأرجلهم من خلاف ("Indeed, the recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive for corruption on the earth is that they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides"), but you omitted the saying of Allah: أو ينفوا من الأرض ("or that they be banished from the land"); are you then a prophet, O Ḥabbān ibn Umm Ḥabbān! Do not move things from their places; have you applied yourself to killing and crucifying as though you were a slave of Banū ʿAqīl? - without my likening you thereby. When this letter of mine reaches you, banish them then to Shaghb. * - Yūnus related to us, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: al-Layth related to me, on the authority of Yazīd and others, with a similar narration, except that Yūnus in his narration said: as though you were a slave of Banū Abī ʿIqāl - without my likening you thereby. * - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Lahīʿa informed me, on the authority of Yazīd ibn Abī Ḥabīb, that al-Ṣalt, the scribe of Ḥabbān ibn Shurayḥ, informed them that Ḥabbān wrote to ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz: that against people of the Copts the proof had been established that they had waged war against Allah and His Messenger and striven for corruption on the earth, and that Allah says: إنما جزاء الذين يحاربون الله ورسوله ويسعون في الأرض فسادا أن يقتلوا أو يصلبوا أو تقطع أيديهم وأرجلهم من خلاف ("Indeed, the recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive for corruption on the earth is that they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides"), and he was silent about the banishment, and he wrote to him: if the commander of the believers deems it correct that the ruling of Allah be carried out against them, let him then write concerning that. When ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz read his letter, he said: indeed, Ḥabbān has presumed [too much]. Then he wrote to him: your letter has reached me and I have understood it, and indeed, you have presumed as though you were writing with the letter of Yazīd ibn Abī Muslim or the barbarian (ʿilj), the lord of Iraq - without my likening you to them both - for you wrote the beginning of the āyah and were then silent about the end of it, while Allah says: أو ينفوا من الأرض ("or that they be banished from the land"). So if the proof has been established against them for that about which you have written, then put iron around their necks and then banish them to Shaghb and Badā. Abū Jaʿfar said: Shaghb and Badā: these are two places.
And others said: the meaning of the banishment from the land in this place is: confinement (al-ḥabs); and that is the statement of Abū Ḥanīfa and his companions.
And the most fitting statement concerning this, in my view, is the statement of the one who says: the meaning of the banishment from the land in this place is his banishment from one land to another land and his confinement in the prison in the land to which he is banished, until his repentance over his depravity and his desisting from his disobedience to his Lord come to light. And I have called that only the most fitting of the statements in validity, because the interpreters differed concerning its meaning according to one of the three ways which I have mentioned. And since that is so, and it is known that Allah, exalted is His praise, set the recompense of the warrior - execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of the hand and the foot from opposite sides - only after power is gained over him, and not in the condition of his resistance; so it is known that the banishment likewise is his recompense only after power is gained over him and not before it. And if his fleeing from being tracked down were a banishment of him from the land, then the cutting off of his hand and foot from opposite sides in the condition of his resistance and his war in the manner of combat would [have to count] as the carrying out of the prescribed punishment against him after power is gained over him. And there is agreement among all that that does not take the place of his banishment which Allah, mighty and exalted, set as a prescribed punishment for him after power is gained over him. And since that is so, it is known that there remain only the two other ways, namely banishment from one land to another, or confinement. And since that is so, there is no doubt that when he is banished from one land to another, he is not banished from the [whole] land, but rather is only banished from a [particular] land and not from [another] land. And since that is so, and Allah, exalted is His praise, only commanded to banish him from the land, it is known that there is no way to banish him from the land except by confining him in a spot of it, separated from the rest of it, so that he is then banished from the whole of it, except from that from which it is impossible to banish him.
As for the meaning of banishment in the language of the Arabs: it is driving away (al-ṭard), and to it belongs the saying of Aws ibn Ḥajar:
They drive away from the paths of the noble ones as the whetstone drives away what adjoins the filings.
And from it the bad dirhams and everything else of every matter are called "al-nufāya" (refuse/discard). As for the verbal noun of "nafaytu," it is "al-nafy" and "al-nafāya," and one says: the bucket drives away the water (yanfī al-māʾ). And what of the water splashes out from the bucket is called "al-nafy," and to it belongs the saying of the rajaz-poet:
It is as though its two [flanks] of the splashing [water] are the places where the birds alight upon the [clear] water.
And from it one says: "nafā shaʿruhu" when it falls out; one says: your color has changed and your hair has fallen out.
That is for them a disgrace in this worldly life
The statement concerning the interpretation of His saying, exalted: ذلك لهم خزي في الدنيا ("That is for them a disgrace in this worldly life"). He, exalted is His praise, means by His saying ذلك ("That"): this recompense with which I have recompensed those who waged war against Allah and His Messenger and strove for corruption on the earth in this worldly life, of execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hand and foot from opposite sides, لهم ("is for them") - that is, for these warriors - خزي في الدنيا ("a disgrace in this worldly life"); He says: it is for them evil and ignominy and humiliation, and a deterrent punishment and chastisement in the near worldly life before the Hereafter. One says of that: "akhzaytu fulānan fa-khaziya huwa khizyan" (I have disgraced someone, and he became disgraced, with disgrace).
And for them in the Hereafter is a tremendous chastisement
And His saying: ولهم في الآخرة عذاب عظيم ("And for them in the Hereafter is a tremendous chastisement"). He, mighty is His mention, says: for these who waged war against Allah and His Messenger and strove for corruption on the earth and did not repent of that deed of theirs, until they perished, there is in the Hereafter - besides the disgrace with which I have recompensed them in this worldly life, and the chastisement with which I have punished them therein - a tremendous chastisement, that is to say: the chastisement of Hell (jahannam).
