Al-Baqarah 178

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This axis brings together 4 instances of the use of this verse in Muhammad Shahrur’s books, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.

The text of the verse as cited

O you who believe, retribution has been prescribed for you in cases of killing

Reader’s answer

Question

How does Shahrur read the verse on retribution in al-Baqarah 178, and what does he rely on in understanding it?

In the available passage, Shahrur reads the verse as addressing the reality of clan and tribal fighting within society, with the aim of ending the laws of blood vengeance. He connects it to preventing excess in killing: punishment must not extend to the killer’s family, nor may another member of his family be killed in his place. The text itself also mentions the possibility of pardon and the payment and kindness that follow it, but this passage does not provide a complete account of the penal system or the conditions for its contemporary application.

Question: What function does Shahrur assign to the verse of retribution? Answer: He presents it as a verse whose conditions of application are connected to clan-tribal fighting within a single society, and he sees its function as ending the laws of blood vengeance.

Evidence and location

the Book and the Qur’an — p. 399.

Limits of the reading

  • The evidence in Islam and Faith, p. 44, establishes only that the verse is included among examples of “prescribed for you,” with a general reference to the subject of retribution having been treated in detail; it therefore does not by itself support a detailed claim about the function of retribution.
  • The proposed opening formulation concerning “protecting society” is broader than the wording of the evidence; more precisely, the evidence supports speaking of ending blood vengeance and preventing punishment from being exceeded.
  • The accompanying evidence does not address conditions of judicial proof, trial procedures, or the details of pardon and blood money.

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Brief reading

For Shahrur, the verse establishes the framework of retribution as a ruling that regulates the protection of society while retaining pardon and mitigation within the structure of punishment.

Axes

  • Legal
  • Political and social
  • Human and ethical
  • Retribution: 3
  • Retribution in cases of killing: 2
  • Pardon: 2

Its place in the network of concepts

It is connected to the network of limits and punishments, and to the idea that a ruling is inseparable from the possibility of pardon.

The verse’s role in the argument

  • Support: 3
  • Distinction: 1

Instances of use

  • Islam and Faith, p. 44: He cites it as an example under the heading “prescribed for you” in relation to limits and punishments that regulate the preservation of society.
    • Concept: Retribution
    • Function of the verse here: Support
    • Textual evidence: “{O you who believe, retribution has been prescribed for you in cases of killing…} (al-Baqarah 178).”
  • The Messengerly Sunna and the Prophetic Sunna, p. 52: He compares the bequest to retribution in order to show that it is a fixed obligatory ruling that, in his view, is not nullified by abrogation.
    • Concept: Retribution
    • Function of the verse here: Support
    • Textual evidence: “The bequest is a binding obligatory duty … like the prescribed rulings, such as retribution (al-Baqarah 178).”
  • the Book and the Qur’an, p. 399: He distinguishes it from individual homicide and confines it to a collective tribal conflict, rather than the killing of an ordinary individual.
    • Concept: Retribution in cases of killing
    • Function of the verse here: Distinction
    • Textual evidence: “The verse of retribution: {O you who believe, retribution has been prescribed for you in cases of killing …} (al-Baqarah 178), is a specific verse with its own objective circumstances.”
    • Corresponding traditional reading: Qur’anic exegetes and jurists
  • the Book and the Qur’an, p. 413: He uses it to affirm that the framework of pardon and mitigation is part of the penal system, rather than retribution becoming unrestricted vengeance.
    • Concept: Pardon
    • Function of the verse here: Support
    • Textual evidence: “{O you who believe, retribution has been prescribed for you in cases of killing…} (al-Baqarah 178). Here, He set out the maximum punishment for unlawful killing, which is execution.”
    • Corresponding traditional reading: Retribution understood as blood vengeance

This page is presented within the general atlas-building methodology.

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Muhammad Shahrur Atlas