Peace to you, my friend. I am having difficulty with the following passage from the Quran. Can you please explain the context?
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,
Peace to you too, Thunderian.
5:33 Indeed, the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive upon earth [to cause]
corruption (mischief) 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,
5:34 Except for those who return [repenting] before you apprehend them. And know that Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.
Historical Context For 5:33
We are told that from a number of reports that go back to when Prophet Muhammed (p) was alive, that this particular verse (5:33) was revealed in connection with some people who came from Ukil (or Urayna) to Madinah, and asked the Prophet for some food and drink. The prophet told them to go with his shepherd nearby and they will be fed.
The sources further say, once they were fed and rested properly, they killed the shepherd and robbed all the camels. Upon news reaching the Prophet (p), he despatched his companions to capture these criminals. Sahih al-Bukhari:
“A group of eight men from the tribe of ‘Ukil came to the Prophet and then they found the climate of Medina unsuitable for them. So, they said, “O Allah’s Messenger! Provide us with some milk.” Allah’s Apostle said, “I recommend that you should join the herd of camels.” So they went and drank the urine and the milk of the camels (as a medicine) till they became healthy and fat. Then
they killed the shepherd and drove away the camels, and they became unbelievers after whey were Muslims. When the Prophet was informed by a shouter for help, he sent some men in their pursuit, and before the sun rose high, they were brought, and he had their hands and feet cut off. … (Abu Qilaba, a sub-narrator said, “They committed murder and theft and fought against Allah and His Apostle, and spread evil in the land.”) (Sahih al-Bukhari volume 4, Book 52, Hadith 261)
Sahih Muslim:
“Eight men of the tribe of ‘Ukl came to Allah’s Messenger and swore allegiance to him on Islam, but found the climate of that land uncogenial to their health and thus they became sick, and they made complaint of that to Allah’s Messenger, and he said: Why don’t you go to (the fold) of our camels along with our shepherd, and make use of their milk… They said: Yes. They set out and drank their (camels’) milk … and regained their health.
They killed the shepherd and drove away the camels. This (news) reached Allah’s Messenger and he sent them on their track and they were caught and brought to him (the Holy Prophet). He commanded about them, and (thus) their hands and feet were cut…” (Sahih Muslim Book 16, Hadith 4131)
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Some of the details in regards to this event might be hard to stomach for a modern reader, how these criminals were killed. But one has to keep in mind, the punishment meted out was exactly what they did to the victims and worse. The following historical reports give us further details surrounding this incident, which was not mentioned in the previous citations, on what these criminals did to the victims.
Tabari:
“Abd al-Malik Ibn Marwan wrote a letter to Anas Ibn Malik, was asking him about this verse (i.e., Quran 5:33). Then Anas responded with a letter to him informing him that this verse was revealed concerning those group of Uraniyyun (or Ukil) from Bajilah. Anas said: ‘They apostatized from Islam,
KILLED THE SHEPHERD, herded off the camels,
SPREAD TERROR ON THE HIGHWAY, AND RAPED WOMEN. Anas said, ‘The Messenger of God asked Jibril [Angel Gabriel] about the ruling concerning those who brigandage. He (Gabriel) said, ‘Whosoever steals and spreads terror on the highway, cut off his hand for his thievery and his leg for spreading terror. And whosoever kills, kill him. And whosoever kills, spreads terror on the highway, and rapes, crucify him.’”
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Al-Waqidi:
“THE EXPEDITION OF THE COMMANDER KURZ B. JABIR
The expedition took place when the milch camels of the Prophet were raided in shawwal of the year six, in Dhul-Jadr, which lies eight miles from Medina.
… A group of eight from Urayna came before the Messenger of God and converted. They deemed Medina unhealthy, and the Prophet commanded them to be moved to his milch camels that were in Dhul-Jar. The cattle of the Muslims were there in Dhul-Jadr until they became healthy and put on weight. They asked permission of the Prophet to drink the camel’s milk and urine. He permitted them, and in the morning they left with the camels. The Mawla of the Prophet overtook them, but there was a group with them that fought him.
They captured him and they cut his hand and leg, and pierced his tongue and eyes with a fork until he died. Then they left with the camels.
A woman from the Banu Amr b. Awf approached on a donkey of hers until she passed Yasar under a tree. When she saw him and what to him, he was dead. She returned to her people and informed them. They set out towards Yasar until they brought him to Quba, dead. The Messenger of God sent twenty riders in the tracks of those from Urayna. He appointed Kurz b. Jabir al-Fihri over them.
They set out in search of them until they reached them at night. They spent the night in the district and rose in the morning, but did not know where to go. All of a sudden, they found themselves with a woman carrying the shoulder of a camel. They took her captive, and said, ‘What do you have with you?’ She said, ‘I passed by a people who had slaughtered a camel and they gave it to me.’ They said, ‘where are they?’ She replied, ‘They are in that wasteland of the district. When you are before them you will see their smoke.’
So they left until they came to the men from Urayna when they had finished their food. They surrounded them and asked them to surrender. All of them were captured; not a man escaped. They tied them and seated them behind them on their horses until they arrived with them in Medina. They found the Messenger of God in al-Ghaba and they set out to meet him. … I set out walking in their tracks with some youths. When the Prophet met them in al-Zaghaba where the waters meet, he commanded that their hands and legs be cut. Their eyes were scooped out and they were crucified there. … When the Prophet cut the hands of the Companions of the milch camels, and their legs, and gouged out their eyes, these verses were revealed: ‘Punishment of those who wage war against God and His Apostle and strive corruption in the land, is execution or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides… (Q. 5:33) to the end of the verse. … Ibn Bilal related to me from Ja’far b. Muhammad from his father from his grandfather, who said: ‘
The Messenger of God did not cut a tongue ever. Nor did he gouge out an eye. Indeed he did not go beyond cutting hands and feet ever. …”
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https://discover-the-truth.com/2016/03/18/those-who-wage-war-and-make-mischief-quran-533/
