If Anyone Slays a Person (Qur'an 5:32): Difference between revisions
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==Introduction== | ==Introduction== | ||
Many websites<ref>Jacob Bender, [http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/print/jewish_muslim_dialogue_and_the_value_of_peace/ "Jewish-Muslim Dialogue and the Value of Peace]", The American Muslim, July 19, 2007</ref><ref>Arsalan Iftikhar, [http://edition.cnn.com/2009/OPINION/11/09/iftikhar.fort.hood/index.html "Murder has no religion"], CNN, November 9, 2009 (refutation to Arsalan Iftikhar's piece: | Many websites<ref>Jacob Bender, [http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/print/jewish_muslim_dialogue_and_the_value_of_peace/ "Jewish-Muslim Dialogue and the Value of Peace]", The American Muslim, July 19, 2007</ref><ref>Arsalan Iftikhar, [http://edition.cnn.com/2009/OPINION/11/09/iftikhar.fort.hood/index.html "Murder has no religion"], CNN, November 9, 2009 (refutation to Arsalan Iftikhar's piece: Murder Has A Religion)</ref> and public figures<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/06/04/transcript-remarks-president-obama-cairo/ "TRANSCRIPT: Remarks of President Obama in Cairo"], Fox News, June 4, 2009</ref> have claimed that the following verse appears in the Qur'an, and that it denounces killing and equates the slaying of one human life to that of genocide against the entirety of mankind. | ||
{{Quote|Qur'an|“If anyone slays a person, it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people.”}} | {{Quote|Qur'an|“If anyone slays a person, it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people.”}} | ||
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===Its Context=== | ===Its Context=== | ||
The preceding verses 5:27-31 talk about the biblical story of Cain and Abel. Abel offered animal sacrifice to Allah and Abel offered crops. Allah liked the animal sacrifice, but he rejected the crops, so Cain got angry and killed Abel <ref>[http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=5&tAyahNo=27&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2 Tafsir Al-Jalalayn 5:27]</ref>. Then comes the verse 5:32, beginning with "for that reason" or "on that account" (مِنْ أَجْلِ ذَٰلِكَ, ''min ajli dhaalika''), meaning "for the reason Cain killed Abel" <ref>"Because of that which Cain did We decreed for the Children of Israel that whoever slays a soul..." - [http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=5&tAyahNo=32&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2 Tafsir Al-Jalalayn 5:32]</ref>. Then the verse describes a decree given to "the Children of Israel" i.e. the Jews who, according to Islam, received an [[Taurat|earlier set]] of scriptures. Incidentally, the Qur'an here is mistakenly referencing a human [[ | The preceding verses 5:27-31 talk about the biblical story of Cain and Abel. Abel offered animal sacrifice to Allah and Abel offered crops. Allah liked the animal sacrifice, but he rejected the crops, so Cain got angry and killed Abel <ref>[http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=5&tAyahNo=27&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2 Tafsir Al-Jalalayn 5:27]</ref>. Then comes the verse 5:32, beginning with "for that reason" or "on that account" (مِنْ أَجْلِ ذَٰلِكَ, ''min ajli dhaalika''), meaning "for the reason Cain killed Abel" <ref>"Because of that which Cain did We decreed for the Children of Israel that whoever slays a soul..." - [http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=5&tAyahNo=32&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2 Tafsir Al-Jalalayn 5:32]</ref>. Then the verse describes a decree given to "the Children of Israel" i.e. the Jews who, according to Islam, received an [[Taurat|earlier set]] of scriptures. Incidentally, the Qur'an here is mistakenly referencing a human [[Parallels Between the Qur'an and Late Antique Judeo-Christian Literature|rabbinical commentary found in the Talmud]]<ref>[http://www.come-and-hear.com/sanhedrin/sanhedrin_37.html Talmud Sanhedrin 37a]- "For this reason was man created alone, to teach thee that whosoever destroys a single soul of Israel, scripture imputes [guilt] to him as though he had destroyed a complete world; and whosoever preserves a single soul of Israel, scripture ascribes [merit] to him as though he had preserved a complete world." - It explains why Man was created only 1 (Adam), while animals were created in masses. [http://www.askmoses.com/en/article/192,2230417/From-where-does-the-saying-Save-a-life-save-a-whole-world-originate.html]</ref> as if it had been a decree in the words of Allah. | ||
The next two verses explain how the principle should be applied by Muslims, particularly regarding the caveat about those who cause mischief ('fasadin', which appears both in verse 32 and verse 33 and was an Arabic word defined in dictionaries as corruption, unrighteousness, disorder, disturbance <ref>فَسَادٍ fasadin - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume6/00000180.pdf Lane's Lexicon] Book I page 2396</ref>). What is often presented as being a purely peaceful message, at the same time includes a warning: | The next two verses explain how the principle should be applied by Muslims, particularly regarding the caveat about those who cause mischief ('fasadin', which appears both in verse 32 and verse 33 and was an Arabic word defined in dictionaries as corruption, unrighteousness, disorder, disturbance <ref>فَسَادٍ fasadin - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume6/00000180.pdf Lane's Lexicon] Book I page 2396</ref>). What is often presented as being a purely peaceful message, at the same time includes a warning: | ||
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==See Also== | ==See Also== | ||
*[[ | *[[Parallels Between the Qur'an and Late Antique Judeo-Christian Literature]] | ||
*[[Misrepresentations of Islamic Scripture]] | *[[Misrepresentations of Islamic Scripture]] | ||