Tafseer of The Table · Al-Maaida · 5:45
And We ordained for them therein a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a nose for a nose, an ear for an ear, a tooth for a tooth, and for wounds is legal retribution. But whoever gives [up his right as] charity, it is an expiation for him. And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed - then it is those who are the wrongdoers.
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.
The discourse on the explanation of His statement, exalted is His remembrance: And We prescribed for them therein that a soul stands for a soul, and the eye for the eye, and the nose for the nose, and the ear for the ear, and the tooth for the tooth, and that wounds are subject to retaliation (qiṣāṣ).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: And We prescribed for these Jews, who take you as judge, O Muḥammad (the Prophet ﷺ), while they possess the Torah in which the judgment of Allah is found.
By His statement "We prescribed" He means: and We obligated upon them therein that in the case of a soul they should judge, when it has killed another soul without right — "for a soul," that is to say: that the killing soul be killed for the killed soul — "and the eye for the eye," He says: and We obligated upon them therein that they put out the eye of him whose owner has put out the like thereof of another person, for the eye that was put out — and the nose be cut off for the nose — and the ear be cut off for the ear — and the tooth be pulled out for the tooth — and that retaliation (qiṣāṣ) be carried out upon him who unlawfully wounds another, in favor of the wounded.
This is a notification from Allah, exalted is His remembrance, to His prophet Muḥammad ﷺ concerning the Jews — and a consolation from Him to him concerning the unbelief of those of them who became unbelieving toward him after they had acknowledged his prophethood, and turned away from him after they had turned toward him — and an instruction from Him to him regarding their insolence, of old and in the present, toward their Lord and toward the messengers of their Lord, and their presumption toward the Book of Allah with falsification and alteration.
The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says to him: And how would these Jews, O Muḥammad, be content with your judgment, when they come to take you as judge while they possess the Torah, which they acknowledge is My Book and My revelation to My messenger Moses ﷺ, in which is My judgment of stoning (rajm) for married persons who commit fornication (zinā), and My decision among them that whoever kills a soul unlawfully is punished for it with retaliation (qawad), and whoever puts out an eye without right has his eye put out for it in retaliation (qiṣāṣ), and whoever cuts off a nose has his nose cut off for it, and whoever pulls out a tooth has his tooth pulled out for it, and whoever inflicts a wound upon another has the like inflicted upon him of the wound that he inflicted? Then they turn away — despite the judgment that they possess in the Torah of My prescriptions — from it, and they refrain from acting upon it. He says: They are therefore, by abandoning your judgment and by their turning away from your ruling among them, more inclined and more disposed to that.
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And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the scholars of exegesis have spoken.
Mention of who said that:
12064 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: When [the tribe of] Qurayẓa saw that the Prophet ﷺ had judged with stoning (rajm) — and they had concealed that in their book — Qurayẓa stood up and said: O Muḥammad, judge between us and our brethren, the Banū al-Naḍīr — and there was between them a blood-debt from before the coming of the Prophet ﷺ, and the Naḍīr exalted themselves above the Banū Qurayẓa, and their blood-money (diya) amounted to half the blood-money of the Naḍīr; the blood-money consisted of loads of dates: one hundred and forty wasq for the Banū al-Naḍīr, and seventy wasq for the Banū Qurayẓa. He said: The blood of the man of Qurayẓa is a full counter-value for the blood of the man of Naḍīr! Then the Banū al-Naḍīr became angry and said: We will not obey you in the stoning, but we hold fast to our limits to which we were accustomed! Then it was revealed: Is it then the judgment of the time of ignorance (jāhiliyya) that they desire? [Surah Al-Māʾidah: 50], and there was revealed: "And We prescribed for them therein that a soul stands for a soul," the verse.
12065 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "And We prescribed for them therein that a soul stands for a soul, and the eye for the eye, and the nose for the nose, and the ear for the ear, and the tooth for the tooth, and that wounds are retaliation (qiṣāṣ)," he said: What then is the matter with them that they act in contradiction, killing two souls for one soul, and putting out two eyes for one eye?
12066 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Khallād al-Kūfī related to us, saying: al-Thawrī related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of Abū Mālik, who said: Between two tribes of the Anṣār there was fighting (qitāl), and among them were slain men, and one of the two tribes had a preponderance over the other. Then the Prophet ﷺ came and began to set the free man for the free man, the slave (ʿabd) for the slave, and the woman for the woman. Then it was revealed: The free man for the free man and the slave for the slave [Surah Al-Baqarah: 178]. Sufyān said: And it has reached me on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās that he said: This [verse] was abrogated (nasakha) by: "a soul for a soul."
12067 — 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 Mujāhid: "And We prescribed for them therein that a soul stands for a soul" — therein, in the Torah — "and the eye for the eye," up to: "and wounds are retaliation (qiṣāṣ)." Mujāhid said, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: The Children of Israel knew retaliation (qiṣāṣ) in the case of the slain; there existed among them no blood-money (diya) for a soul nor for a wound. He said: And that is the statement of Allah, the Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted: "And We prescribed for them therein" — in the Torah. Then Allah made it easy for the community of Muḥammad ﷺ and imposed upon them the blood-money (diya) for the soul and the wounds, and that is an alleviation from your Lord and a mercy — Whoever then donates it as charity, for him it is an expiation.
12068 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement: "And We prescribed for them therein that a soul stands for a soul, and the eye for the eye, and the nose for the nose, and the ear for the ear, and the tooth for the tooth, and that wounds are retaliation (qiṣāṣ)," he said: Indeed, for the Children of Israel no blood-money (diya) was fixed in what Allah wrote down for Moses in the Torah, for a slain soul, or a wound, or a tooth, or an eye, or a nose. It was exclusively retaliation (qiṣāṣ), or pardon.
12069 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: "And We prescribed for them therein," that is to say: in the Torah — "that a soul stands for a soul."
12070 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement: "And We prescribed for them therein," that is to say: in the Torah, that a soul stands for a soul.
12071 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement: "And We prescribed for them therein that a soul stands for a soul," until he reached "and wounds are retaliation (qiṣāṣ)" — the one for the other.
12072 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement: "that a soul stands for a soul," he said that it means: the soul is killed for the soul, and the eye is put out for the eye, and the nose is cut off for the nose, and the tooth is pulled out for the tooth, and the wounds are punished with retaliation (qiṣāṣ) for the wounds.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: In this the free Muslims are equal among themselves, their men and their women, whether it concerns the soul or what is below the soul. And in this the slaves are equal among themselves, their men and their women, when it is intentional, whether it concerns the soul or what is below the soul.
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The discourse on the explanation of His statement, exalted is His remembrance: Whoever then donates it as charity, for him it is an expiation.
Abū Jaʿfar said: The scholars of exegesis differed concerning what is intended by: "Whoever then donates it as charity, for him it is an expiation."
Some of them said: By this is intended the wounded one and the avenger of the slain.
Mention of who said that:
12073 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Qays ibn Muslim, on the authority of Ṭāriq ibn Shihāb, on the authority of al-Haytham ibn al-Aswad, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr: "Whoever then donates it as charity, for him it is an expiation," he said: There is taken away for him — namely for the wounded one — the like thereof of his sins.
12074 — Sufyān related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Qays ibn Muslim, on the authority of Ṭāriq ibn Shihāb, on the authority of al-Haytham ibn al-Aswad, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr, with the like thereof.
12075 — Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Qays ibn Muslim, on the authority of Ṭāriq ibn Shihāb, on the authority of al-Haytham ibn al-Aswad Abū al-ʿUryān, who said: I saw Muʿāwiya seated upon the throne, and at his side a ruddy man, as though he were a freedman (mawlā) — and that was ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr — and he said concerning this verse: "Whoever then donates it as charity, for him it is an expiation," he said: There is taken away for him of his sins the like of what he donated as charity.
12076 — Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: Mughīra informed us, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, concerning His statement: "Whoever then donates it as charity, for him it is an expiation," he said: For the wounded one.
12077 — Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ibn ʿAbd al-Wārith related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of ʿUmāra ibn Abī Ḥafṣa, on the authority of Abū ʿUqba, on the authority of Jābir ibn Zayd: "Whoever then donates it as charity, for him it is an expiation," he said: For the wounded one.
12078 — Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Ḥaramī ibn ʿUmāra related to me, saying: Shuʿba related to us, saying: ʿUmāra informed me, on the authority of a man — Ḥaramī said: I have forgotten his name — on the authority of Jābir ibn Zayd, with the like thereof.
12079 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ḥammād, on the authority of Ibrāhīm: "Whoever then donates it as charity, for him it is an expiation," he said: For the wounded one.
12080 — Zakariyyā ibn Yaḥyā ibn Abī Zāʾida related to us, saying: Ibn Fuḍayl related to us, on the authority of Yūnus ibn Abī Isḥāq, on the authority of Abū al-Safar, who said: A man of the Quraysh shoved a man of the Anṣār, whereby his incisor was broken. The man of the Anṣār brought him before Muʿāwiya. When the man pressed [his claim] upon him, Muʿāwiya said: Settle it yourself with your adversary! He said: And Abū al-Dardāʾ was with Muʿāwiya, and Abū al-Dardāʾ said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: There is no Muslim who is struck in anything of his body and then donates it [as charity], but that Allah raises him thereby a degree and removes thereby a misdeed from him. Then the man of the Anṣār said to him: Did you hear it from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ? He said: My two ears heard it and my heart retained it! Then he released the man of the Quraysh. Muʿāwiya said: Grant him a sum of money.
12081 — Maḥmūd ibn Khidāsh related to us, saying: Hushaym ibn Bashīr related to us, saying: Mughīra informed us, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, who said: Ibn al-Ṣāmit said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: Whoever is inflicted a wound in his body and then donates it [as charity], for him his sins are expiated to the extent of what he donated as charity.
12082 — Sufyān ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Hārūn related to us, on the authority of Sufyān ibn Ḥusayn, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His statement: "Whoever then donates it as charity, for him it is an expiation," he said: An expiation for the wounded one.
12083 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Zakariyyā, who said: I heard ʿĀmir say: An expiation for whoever donates it as charity.
12084 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: "Whoever then donates it as charity, for him it is an expiation," he says: For the avenger of the slain who has granted pardon.
12085 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Shabīb ibn Saʿīd informed me, on the authority of Shuʿba ibn al-Ḥajjāj, on the authority of Qays ibn Muslim, on the authority of al-Haytham Abū al-ʿUryān, who said: I was in Syria, and there was a man with Muʿāwiya who sat upon the throne, as though he were a freedman (mawlā). He said [concerning]: "Whoever then donates it as charity, for him it is an expiation," he said: Whoever donates it as charity, for him Allah takes away the like thereof of his sins — and that turned out to be ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr.
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And others said: By this is intended the inflicter of the wound. They said: The meaning of the verse is: Whoever, of what is owed to him in retaliation (qawad) or retribution (qiṣāṣ), forgoes it toward the one against whom that is owed to him, and pardons him, his pardon toward the perpetrator is an expiation for the sin of the criminal perpetrator, just as the retaliation (qiṣāṣ) upon him is an expiation for him. They said: As for the reward of the pardoning donor, that rests with Allah.
Mention of who said that:
12086 — Sufyān ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Ādam related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "Whoever then donates it as charity, for him it is an expiation," he said: An expiation for the inflicter of the wound, and the reward of the one who was struck rests with Allah.
12087 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, saying: Yūnus related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, who said: I heard Mujāhid say to Abū Isḥāq: "Whoever then donates it as charity, for him it is an expiation" — O Abū Isḥāq, [for whom]? Abū Isḥāq said: For the donor of charity. Then Mujāhid said: For the sinner, the inflicter of the wound.
12088 — Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: Mughīra said: Mujāhid said: For the inflicter of the wound.
12089 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Mujāhid, the like thereof.
12090 — Hannād and Sufyān ibn Wakīʿ both related to us, they said: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Ibrāhīm and Mujāhid: "Whoever then donates it as charity, for him it is an expiation," they both said: For the one to whom it was donated as charity, and the reward of the one who was struck rests with Allah. Hannād said in his narration: they both said: An expiation for the one to whom it was donated as charity.
12091 — Hannād related to us, saying: ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, with the like thereof.
12092 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Bishr related to us, on the authority of Zakariyyā, on the authority of ʿĀmir, who said: An expiation for the one to whom it was donated as charity.
12093 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid and Ibrāhīm, they both said: An expiation for the inflicter of the wound, and the reward of the one who was struck rests with Allah.
12094 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, who said: I heard Zayd ibn Aslam say: If he pardons him, or carries out retaliation (qiṣāṣ) upon him, or accepts the blood-money (diya) from him, then it is an expiation for him.
12095 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: An expiation for the inflicter of the wound, and a reward for the one who pardons, on account of His statement: Whoever then pardons and brings about reconciliation, his reward rests with Allah [Surah Al-Shūrā: 40].
12096 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement: "Whoever then donates it as charity, for him it is an expiation," he said: An expiation for the one to whom it was donated as charity.
12097 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Muʿallā ibn Asad related to us, saying: Khālid related to us, saying: Ḥuṣayn related to us, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "Whoever then donates it as charity, for him it is an expiation," he said: It is an expiation for the inflicter of the wound.
12098 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: "Whoever then donates it as charity, for him it is an expiation," he said: The expiation is for the inflicter of the wound, and the reward of the donor of charity rests with Allah.
12099 — Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Kathīr, on the authority of Mujāhid, that he used to say: "Whoever then donates it as charity, for him it is an expiation," he says: For the killer, and a reward for the one who pardons.
12100 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿImrān ibn Ẓabyān related to us, on the authority of ʿAdī ibn Thābit, who said: In the time of Muʿāwiya a man's front teeth were knocked out. He was offered one blood-money (diya), but he did not accept it; then he was offered twice the blood-money, but he did not accept it; then he was offered three times, but he did not accept it. Then a man of the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ related that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Whoever, as charity, forgoes blood or what is below it, that is for him an expiation, from the day he donates it as charity back to the day he was born." He said: Then the man donated it as charity.
12101 — 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 statement: "and wounds are retaliation (qiṣāṣ); whoever then donates it as charity, for him it is an expiation," he says: Whoever is wounded and then donates as charity to the inflicter of the wound that with which he was wounded, against that inflicter there is then no legal recourse, neither retaliation (qawad) nor blood-money (ʿaql), and upon him rests no liability, because the one who was wounded has donated it to him as charity; and that is for him an expiation of the wrong that he committed.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct of the two views concerning this is, in my opinion, the view of him who said: by this is intended — "whoever then donates it as charity, for him it is an expiation" — the wounded one. For that the "hā" in His statement "for him" refers back to "whoever" is more fitting than that it refers back to the mention of someone for whom no mention has preceded except by implication and not explicitly, and it is more probable, since the charity is that which expiates the sin of its giver and not that of the one to whom it is given, in all charities apart from this; it is therefore obligatory that the manner of this charity be the same as that of the other charities.
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And if someone were to suppose that the retaliation (qiṣāṣ) — since it expiates the sin of the one upon whom it is carried out, who committed it by killing whomever he killed unlawfully, on account of the statement of the Prophet ﷺ when he took the pledge of allegiance from his Companions: "that you not kill, not commit fornication (zinā), and not steal," after which he said: "and whoever does any of that and then has the prescribed penalty (ḥadd) carried out upon him, for him that is his expiation" — [were to suppose] that it is therefore obligatory that the pardon of the one who was wronged and pardons, or of the avenger of the slain, be equivalent to it, in the sense that this is for him an expiation. But if that were so, it would be obligatory that the pardon of the one who was falsely accused of fornication (the one harmed by qadhf) toward his accuser, and his refraining from imposing upon him the prescribed penalty (ḥadd) owed to him — while his accuser accused him though he is a chaste, married Muslim (muḥṣan) — be an expiation for the accuser of the sin that he committed and the disobedience that he perpetrated. And that is something which we do not know any scholar to assert.
Since, then, it is not permissible that the refraining of the one falsely accused — whose case we have described — from imposing upon his accuser the prescribed penalty (ḥadd) owed to him be an expiation for the accuser of the sin that he committed, likewise it is not permissible that the refraining of the wounded one from imposing upon the inflicter of the wound his right of retaliation (qiṣāṣ) be an expiation for the inflicter of the wound of the sin that he committed.
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And if someone were to say: Is it not, according to you, [permitted] for the wounded one to take from the inflicter of his wound the blood-money (diya) of his wound in place of retaliation (qiṣāṣ)?
Then it is said to him: Indeed yes!
And if he were to say: What is your opinion if he chose the blood-money (diya) and then remitted it; does there then rest upon him toward the other a liability in the hereafter?
Then it is said to him: This, according to us, is incoherent. For he, according to us, is not one who opts for the blood-money unless he also takes it into his possession. As for the pardon, that is exclusively pardon for the blood — and we have demonstrated its correctness elsewhere, with what dispenses us from repeating it in this place — unless by it is intended the donating of it [as charity] to the one from whom it was taken, after taking it into possession. Moreover, even were his remission of the blood-money after his choosing of it valid, there would be in the validity of that nothing that makes it obligatory that the one to whom it was remitted be free of the punishment for his sin with Allah; for Allah, exalted is His remembrance, has threatened the killer of the believer with that with which He threatened him if he does not repent of his sin, while the blood-money (diya) is taken from him, whether he wills it or detests it. And the repentance of the repentant is only repentance when he chooses it, wills it, and prefers it over persistence [in the sin].
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And if someone were to suppose that that, even were it so, must nonetheless be obligatory that it be for him an expiation, just as the retaliation (qiṣāṣ) was for him an expiation — then [we say]: we made the retaliation (qiṣāṣ) an expiation for him only — together with his repentance and his offering himself up so that the right be carried out upon him — as an absolving of himself of his sin, on the basis of the narration of the Prophet ﷺ. As for the blood-money (diya), however, when the wounded one chose it and then remitted it, no prescribed penalty has been carried out upon him for his sin, so that he does not belong among those who fall under the ruling of the Prophet ﷺ and his statement: "and whoever has the prescribed penalty (ḥadd) carried out upon him, for him it is his expiation." Furthermore, of what confirms the correctness of what we have said concerning this are the narrations that we have mentioned from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, with his statement: "Whoever, as charity, forgoes blood," and what resembles it of the narrations that we mentioned earlier.
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And it is possible that those who said that by this is intended the inflicter of the wound intended the meaning that is narrated from ʿUrwa ibn al-Zubayr, namely what:-
12102 — al-Ḥārith ibn Muḥammad related to me, saying: al-Qāsim ibn Sallām related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Kathīr informed me, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: When a man strikes a [another] man and the one struck does not know who struck him, and the striker then confesses it to him, then that is an expiation for the striker. He said: And Mujāhid used to say at this [point]: ʿUrwa ibn al-Zubayr struck the eye of a person at the Corner [of the Kaʿba], during what they touch [in the ṭawāf]; and he said to him: O you, I am ʿUrwa ibn al-Zubayr; if there is injury to your eye, then I am [liable] for it!
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And when the matter on the part of the inflicter of the wound is in the manner that was the case with ʿUrwa, namely an error of an act without intent, and he then confesses to the one he struck what he inflicted upon him, and the one struck remits that to him as regards his right against him, then there rests upon him at that moment no liability toward the striker, neither in this world nor in the hereafter. For that which was owed to him toward him was money (māl) and not retaliation (qiṣāṣ), and he has remitted it to him: his remission of it is therefore an expiation for the one who was remitted his right that he had to take of it, so that there is for him on account of that no claim toward him, neither in this world nor in the hereafter, and no punishment that befalls him on that account for what proceeded from him toward the one he struck, because he did not intentionally strike him with what he inflicted upon him, so that he would be sinful through his act and thereby deserve the punishment of his Lord. For Allah, mighty and exalted, has lifted the blame from His servants in that wherein they erred and did not intend of their acts, and He said in His Book: And there is no blame upon you in that wherein you have erred, but [there is] in what your hearts have intentionally performed [Surah Al-Aḥzāb: 5].
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And "donating it as charity" means in this place, concerning the blood, the pardon of it.
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The discourse on the explanation of His statement, exalted is His remembrance: And whoever does not judge by what Allah has sent down, those — they are the wrongdoers (45).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: And whoever does not judge by what Allah has sent down in the Torah — namely the retaliation (qawad) of the killing soul as retribution (qiṣāṣ) for the soul killed unlawfully, and does not put out the eye of the one who put out [another's] for the unlawfully put-out eye, in retaliation (qiṣāṣ), as Allah commanded him in His Book, but rather took retaliation from some and not from some, or in some cases killed two for one — indeed, whoever does that belongs to "the wrongdoers (al-ẓālimīn)" — that is to say: to those who deviate from the judgment of Allah, and place his act, that which he has done thereof, in a place other than the place that Allah has assigned to it.
