Alsiraj Official Website
Answering lies about Islam and Prophet Muhammad
The alleged Verses of Violence in the Holy Quran
Chapter 3: Violence Verses
Verse (5:33)
The Verse says:
" Indeed, the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive upon earth [to cause] corruption is none but that they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides or that they be exiled from the land. That is for them a disgrace in this world; and for them in the Hereafter is a great punishment" (5:33)
First of all let's put the verse in its right context by mentioning the verse right after it. The Holy Quarn says:" Indeed, the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive upon earth [to cause] corruption is none but that they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides or that they be exiled from the land. That is for them a disgrace in this world; and for them in the Hereafter is a great punishment" (5:33)
Except for those who return [repenting] before you apprehend them. And know that Allah is Forgiving and Merciful."(5:34)
The verse here mentions Gods ruling on those who 'to wage war against Allah and His Messenger' denotes war against the righteous order established by the Islamic state. It is God's purpose, and it is for this very purpose that God sent His Messengers, that a righteous order of life be established on earth; an order that would provide peace and security to everything found on earth; an order under whose benign shadow humanity would be able to attain its perfection; an order under which the resources of the earth would be exploited in a manner conducive to man's progress and prosperity rather than to his ruin and destruction. If anyone tried to disrupt such an order, whether on a limited scale by committing murder and destruction and robbery and brigandry or on a large scale by attempting to overthrow that order and establish some unrighteous order instead. The rulings here are merely to serve as guidelines to either judges or rulers so they may punish each criminal in accordance with the nature of his crime.
The next verse explains the situation if someone repents and they have indeed become peace-loving, law-abiding citizens of good character, provided this happens before they are actually arrested (meaning they gave themselves up to authorities) they need not be subjected to the punishments mentioned here even if any of their former crimes against the state should come to light. If their crime involves violation of the rights of other men they may not be absolved from their guilt. If, for instance, they have either killed a person, seized someone's property or committed any other crime against human life or property they will be tried according to the criminal law of Islam. They will not, however, be accused of either rebellion and high treason or of waging war against God and His Messenger.