Al-Ma'idah 33

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This verse is repeated in Shahrur because, in his view, it represents the apex of the rulings on corruption and highway robbery. He therefore always links it to the act of general corruption, not to simple individual error or to theft in the abstract.

The verse as quoted

The only requital of those who wage war against God and His Messenger and strive in the land to spread corruption is that they be killed

Brief reading

Shahrur understands it as referring to those who wage war against God and His Messenger and strive in the land to spread corruption, that is, to a state of general aggression against society and the order. Hence he distinguishes it from ordinary theft, and makes the punishment tied to the nature of the act and its limits.

Axes

  • Legislative
  • Political and social
  • Corruption: 4
  • Highway robbery: 3

Its place in the conceptual network

It falls within the network of corruption, highway robbery, and severe punishment, and for him it defines the dividing line between individual action and armed or general corruption. For that reason, it remains one of the verses most closely connected to defining punishments in his project.

The verse’s role in the argument

  • Support: 3
  • Example: 1
  • Distinction: 1

Summary of its presence in the atlas

  • The apex of the rulings on corruption and highway robbery
  • Linked to general aggression
  • Clearly distinguished from ordinary theft

Places of use

  • Islam and Faith, p. 77: He uses it to affirm that corruption on earth warrants a severe punishment as an assault on society and the public order.
    • Concept: corruption
    • Function of the verse here: support
    • Textual evidence: «{The only requital of those who wage war against God and His Messenger and strive in the land to spread corruption…} (al-Ma’idah 33).»
  • Islam and Faith, p. 77: He makes it the legislative apex in the punishment of corruption and warfare, as a limit tied to general corruption.
    • Concept: corruption
    • Function of the verse here: support
    • Textual evidence: «- {The only requital of those who wage war against God and His Messenger and strive in the land to spread corruption is that they be killed…} (al-Ma’idah 33).»
  • The Qur’an in Contemporary Thought, p. 32: He uses it to determine the cases in which armed theft may rise to execution as highway robbery rather than ordinary theft.
    • Concept: highway robbery
    • Function of the verse here: support
    • Textual evidence: «Because He, exalted be He, said: {The only requital of those who wage war against God and His Messenger …} (al-Ma’idah 33)»
  • The Book and the Qur’an, p. 122: He cites it to clarify that corruption is the practical violation of the earth and society, and that it warrants a punishment tied to the act, not to bare intention.
    • Concept: corruption
    • Function of the verse here: example
    • Textual evidence: «{The only requital of those who wage war against God and His Messenger and strive in the land to spread corruption…} (al-Ma’idah 33).»
  • Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence, pp. 114-118: He distinguishes it from theft, and understands the cutting off of hands and feet in it as amputation, because the options are separated by “or” in the context of armed highway robbery.
    • Concept: highway robbery
    • Function of the verse here: distinction
    • Textual evidence: «{The only requital of those who wage war against God and His Messenger … is that they be killed or crucified or that their hands be cut off …} (al-Ma’idah 33).»

This page is presented within the general method of building the atlas.

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Muhammad Shahrur Atlas