The Quest of a Curious Muslim — Page 80
WHY ARE ISLAMIC PUNISHMENTS SO STRICT? 80 و َ ﺟ َ ﺰ ٰ ٓ و μ ا ﺳ َ ﻴ ّ ِ ﺌ َ ﺔ ٍ ﺳ َ ﻴ ّ ِ ﺌ َ ﺔ ٌ ﻣ ّ ِ ﺜ ۡ ﻠ ُ ﻬ َ ﺎ ۚ ﻓ َ ﻤ َ ﻦ ۡ ﻋ َ ﻔ َ ﺎ و َ ا َ ﺻ ۡ ﻠ َ ﺢ َ ﻓ َ ﺎ َ ﺟ ۡ ﺮ ُ ﻩ ٗ ﻋ َ ىل َ ا ا Q ّ ٰ ِ ؕ ا ِ ﻧ 7 ﻪ ٗ ﻻ َ حي ُ ِ ﺐ K ا ﻟ ﻈ ّ ٰ ﻠ ِ ﻤ ِ ني ۡ َ ﴿ ٤١ ﴾ “And the recompense of an injury is an injury the like thereof; but whoso forgives and his act brings about reformation, his reward is with Allah. Surely, He loves not the wrongdoers” (42:41). In other words, the punishment of a crime should be equal to it, and if forgiveness of the criminal would lead to rehabilitation, then that is the better way. The door to repentance is wide open, and the path to absolute justice is secured. In fact, this is such a beautiful teaching that it is only found in the Quran and no other religious scripture has such a teaching! Commenting on the above verse, Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood Ahmad ra writes: If there is hope of reforming [the criminal] by forgiveness, he should be forgiven and should not be punished merely out of revenge for the wrong done by him. If on the other hand, punishment would prove more salutary than