The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 2) — Page 336
CH. 5 AL-MA'IDAH PT. 6 إِنَّمَا جَزَوا الَّذِينَ يُحَارِبُونَ اللهَ وَرَسُولَهُ The reward of those who. 34 وَيَسْعَوْنَ فِي الْأَرْضِ فَسَادًا أَنْ يُقَتَّلُوا أَوْ wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive to create يُصَلَّبُوا أَوْ تُقَطَّعَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَأَرْجُلُهُمْ disorder in the land is only this مِنْ خِلَافٍ أَوْ يُنْفَوْا مِنَ الْأَرْضِ ذَلِكَ that they be slain or crucified or their hands and their feet be cut لَهُمْ خِزْيٌ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَلَهُمْ فِي الْآخِرَةِ off on alternate sides, or they be expelled from the land. That shall be a disgrace for them in this world, and in the Hereafter they shall have a great punishment;669 عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ إِلَّا الَّذِيْنَ تَابُوا مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ تَقْدِرُوا Except those who repent. 35 before you have them in your عَلَيْهِمْ فَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيم power. So know that Allah is "9:107. b4:18. The advent of this Prophet was foretold in the Bible (Deut. 18:18- 22), and therein it was also announced that God would demand requital of those who did not hearken to this Prophet. 669. Commentary: The verse has two applications. Figuratively it applies to the People of the Book who, by rejecting the Prophet from among their brethren (see the preceding verse), were, as it were, waging war against God. The punishment which the verse prescribes for them finds a fitting illustration in their history. Taken in its apparent sense, the verse lays down the different forms of punishment that may be meted out to those who wage war against innocent 776 Muslims, killing and slaying them and creating disorder in the land. The object underlying the injunction embodied in the words, their hands and their feet be cut off on alternate sides, is, on the one hand, to disable the culprit from carrying on a war of aggression, and on the other, to leave him fit enough to earn his living by doing some work. The cutting off of the hand and the foot on the same side would leave the victim utterly helpless. The verse also shows that Islam does not hesitate to take extreme measures to uproot an evil when the interests of society or the State demand it. Islam is not a religion of false sentiments but of sound judgement and true reason. See also the next verse.