إِنَّمَا جَزَٰٓؤُا۟ ٱلَّذِينَ يُحَارِبُونَ ٱللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُۥ وَيَسْعَوْنَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ فَسَادًا
Innamā jazāʾu'lladhīna yuḥāribūna'llāha wa rasūlahū wa yasʿawna fi'l-arḍi fasādan an yuqattalū aw yuṣallabū aw tuqaṭṭaʿa aydīhim wa arjuluhum min khilāfin aw yunfaw mina'l-arḍ
"The recompense of those who make war on God and His messenger and hasten about the land to corrupt it is only this: that they be killed, or crucified, or that their hands and feet be cut off on opposite sides, or that they be banished from the land. That is a disgrace for them in this world; and in the hereafter there is a great punishment for them."
The preceding verse counted the taking of one life as equal to the taking of all humanity (5/32). This verse regulates the other end of the same subject: organised violence aimed at life and at the safety of the roads.
I record this as an observation about the word order, and it is not binding: immediately after the sentence proclaiming the sanctity of life, the text lays down the recompense for the one who violates that sanctity. The two verses complete one another.
| Qualification | Expression | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| The verb | Yuḥāribūna'llāha wa rasūlah | Form III — reciprocal warfare; not a one-sided thought but an act |
| The second verb | Wa yasʿawna fi'l-arḍi fasādā | Hastening about — continuous and widespread |
| The scope | Innamā | A particle of restriction: the recompense is this much |
| The exception | Illa'lladhīna tābū min qabli an taqdirū ʿalayhim (34) | Those who turn back before being caught are outside it |
The root ح-ر-ب: war; and also ḥarb — a place plundered and emptied. Muḥāraba (Form III) conveys reciprocity.
I record this as my own reading, and its ground is the form itself: the verse describes not a state of belief but a state of armed and reciprocal conflict.
| Matter | Views |
|---|---|
| The particle aw | (a) Choice — the head of state selects whichever of the four recompenses is fitting; (b) Distribution/sequence — each recompense belongs to a particular act (if he has killed, killing; if he has taken property, cutting; if he has only spread fear, banishment) |
| Yunfaw mina'l-arḍ | Explained as banishment, as imprisonment, or as being pursued and not left in place |
| Scope | It has been debated whether the verse is a ruling on highway robbery and brigandage or a more general ruling on a state of war |
No preference is adopted in this commentary and no legal ruling is issued. That the application belongs to state authority and to the courts, and is not left to individuals, is the common position of the classical sources.
I record this as an observation: having set out the heaviest of recompenses, the verse does not close the door — and it puts the condition in terms of time: before being caught. And the sentence, following a verse of punishment, ends with ghafūrun raḥīm.
The same sequence will be repeated in the next penalty as well (5/38-39): the ruling, then repentance, then ghafūrun raḥīm. This repetition can be verified from the text.