Al-Furqaan (The Criterion)
Verse 68
Table of Contents
68. “And those who do not call with Allah any other god, and do not slay the soul which Allah has forbidden except for just cause, nor commit fornication, and whosoever does this shall find a requital of the sin.”
In this verse, polytheism, murder, and adultery, which are of the greatest sins in narrations, are mentioned.1
Homicide is of the greater sins, but the holy phrase:
‘’Illa Bilhaqq’ (‘except for just cause’)
says that sometimes murder is necessary and right, including:
1. Retaliation of homicide
2. Incest
3. Adultery of a pagan with a Muslim woman
4. The adultery of the one who has spouse
5. One who claims prophethood
6. Vilifying and insulting the Prophet (S) and the immaculate Imams (as)
7. The adulterer who forces woman to do fornication
8. Muslim sorcerer
9. Corrupter and combatant who uses weapon for frightening people
10. Apostate
11. One who stands against and fights with just Imam of time
12. Polytheist
Anyway, the sixth attribute of the true servants of the Beneficent (Allah), that is mentioned in the verse under discussion, is sincere monotheism which is free from any polytheism and multi-worshipping.
It says:
“And those who do not call with Allah any other god...”
The light of monotheism has illuminated all of their heart and their personal social life, and the darkness and gloom of polytheism is no longer in the thought and soul of theirs.
Their seventh attribute is that they do not murder any innocent.
It says:
“...and do not slay the soul which Allah has forbidden except for just cause...”
It is understood from this noble verse that all humans are basically honorable and respected. It is forbidden to murder them, unless a phenomenon occurs that overshadows this natural respect and provides permission of murder.
The 8th attribute of theirs is that their realm of chastity never gets polluted.
The verse says about them:
“...nor commit fornication...”
They choose faith when they face dilemma of faith and paganism, they choose security when they face dilemma of security and insecurity, they select purity when they face dilemma of purity and defilement, and they struggle to make an environment which is free from polytheism, insecurity, immodesty, and impurity.
In the end of the verse, to show more emphasis, it adds:
“...and whosoever does this shall find a requital of the sin.”
The Arabic words /’im/ and /’aam/ originally means deeds that prevent man from achieving reward, then they have been applied to any sin, but here it means the punishment of wrong action. Some say that the word ‘’Ithm’ means sin and the word ‘’Atham’ means the chastisement of sin.2
If we see that some of commentators say that it means ‘desert’ or ‘mountain’ or ‘a deep well in the Hell’, these are, in fact, to state the kind of its extensions. In Surah ’Isra’, No. 17, verse 33, we talked about the philosophy of prohibition of adultery in detail.
It is interesting that the above holy verse first talks about polytheism, then about homicide, and finally about adultery. It is understood from some narrations that the importance of these three sins is as they are mentioned sequentially in the verse.
Ibn Mas‘ūd asked the Prophet (S):
“Which sin is greater than other sins?”
The Prophet (S) said:
“To consider a match for Allah while it is He Who has created you.”
Then he asked the Prophet (S):
“Which sin comes next?”
He said:
“To kill your child for fearing that he may eat food with you.”
Again he asked him (S):
“Which sin comes next?”
He said:
“To betray the spouse of your neighbour, and Allah sent down its confirmation in this verse by saying: “And those who do not call with Allah any other god, and do not slay the soul which Allah has forbidden except for just cause, nor commit fornication, and whosoever does this shall find a requital of the sin.”3
Though this narration speaks about a special kind of fornication and murder, with regard to generality of the concept of the verse, this ordinance is about all kinds of them, and this narration is a clear extension of it.
Anyway, the command of the holy Qur’an about avoiding polytheism, adultery, and homicide is not only a sermon, it is a rule that if it is disobeyed, severe chastisement will be its compensation. Divine chastisements do not have any exception; anyone who commits wrong action will be punished.