Real Revolution — Page 178
-378 of the organisation of the Movement itself. . Matters which fall in the scope of the duties of the government are, for instance, the Islamic law that the hands of a thief should be cut off, or that it is not necessary that a man guilty of murder should be executed, it being permisable for the victim's kith and kin either to insist on. Punishment or to forgive him. These things pertain to the functions of a government, so that we are not in a position to put such laws into force. . Or there is the Islamic principle that a person guilty of culpable homicide should be handed over to the next of kin of the victim, whereas according to the law of the land the government does not hand over the murderer and reserves the right of execution to itself. The defect of this law lies in the fact that even after the culprit has been condemned and executed, a rancour remains smouldering in the mind of relations of the victim, who keep on the look out for chances of further vengeance by killing someone connected with him; and as this bloody score mounts, it develops into a dangerous feud harmful to the peace and well being of society. Under the Islamic law, the guilty person is handed over to the kin of the victim, to be executed by them in the presence and supervision of government officials, . . e. لا يصرف فى القتل subject to the condition of there should be no transgression of the limits in