Читать книгу Towards Understanding the Qur'an - Sayyid Abul A'la Mawdudi - Страница 231

Al-Nisa’ 4: 92

And if the slain belonged to a (non-Muslim) people with whom you have a covenant, then the atonement is to pay the blood-money to his heirs, and to set free from bondage a believing person.66 But he who cannot (free a slave) should fast for two consecutive months.67 This is the penance ordained by Allah.68 Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise. ▶

66 The legal injunctions embodied in this verse are as follows:

(1) If the victim was a resident of the Domain of Islam (Dar al-Islam), the assassin is not only required to pay blood-money but also to emancipate a slave by way of expiation.

(2) If the victim was a resident of the Domain of War (Dar al-Harb), the assassin is only required to emancipate a slave.

(3) If the victim was a resident of a non-Muslim country which had treaty relations with an Islamic state, the assassin is required to emancipate a slave and also to pay blood-money. The amount of blood-money, however, depends on the terms stipulated in the treaty between the Muslims and the territory to which the victim belonged.

67 This means that he should observe uninterrupted fasting for the entire period. If a man breaks his fast for just one day without a legally valid reason, he will be required to resume fasting afresh.

68 This shows that what has been prescribed is an act of repentance and expiation rather than a penalty inflicted on a criminal. Penalization is essentially devoid of the spirit of repentance and of the urge to self-reform. A penalty is suffered under duress, usually with resentment, and leaves behind repugnance and bitterness. On the contrary, what God wants is that the believer who has committed a sin should wash away its stain from his soul by supererogatory worship, by acts of charity, and by a meticulous fulfilment of the duties incumbent upon him. Such a person is required to turn to God in remorse and repentance so that his sin may be forgiven and his soul secured against the recurrence of similar errors.

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