[Buddha-l] Subject: the poignancy of Donald Lopez

[Dan Lusthaus]

Richard yesterday provided some passages from the book of Joshua --  
apparently in response to Obama. That would have to be placed within the 
context of its times and the remainder of the Bible, which includes, as one 
of its 10 commandments, "Thou shalt not kill" (repeated twice: in Exodus and 
Deuteronomy), Isaiah's pacificistic utopia, etc., and clearly modified 2000 
years ago by the Rabbinic tradition which canceled capital punishments and 
most of the other cruelties owing to their being were considered archaic and 
obsolete in Jewish law already then.

1600 years or so after the book of Joshua [or ca. 1000-1100 years if you 
consider Joshua post-exilic], another scripture, the Quran, weighed in. It 
has no ten commandments, and does not forbid killing outright (how could 
it -- Mohammed and the early Muslim community were fighting major battles 
throughout its writing -- the fourth sura, on women, one of the longest in 
the Quran, basically addresses the complaints of the women in the community, 
many of whom had become widowed by the fighting and demanded property 
rights, etc. -- Allah is merciful). A couple of times there are specific 
injunctions (once explicitly applied to women) to not kill one's own 
children [should be read allowed at Hamas and PA meetings] since that would 
negatively impact one's prosperity, and the only verse in the entire Quran 
that actually prohibits killing (aside from the two "don't kill your 
children" verses and Sura 6:151 which combines the gist of this verse with 
the "don't kill your children" verse) does so with a major caveat. Here is 
something you will not find in Buddhist scriptures:

Sura 17 - Al-Isra (MAKKA) : Verse 33
وَلَا تَقْتُلُوا۟ ٱلنَّفْسَ ٱلَّتِى حَرَّمَ ٱللَّهُ إِلَّا بِٱلْحَقِّ ۗ 
وَمَن قُتِلَ مَظْلُومًۭا فَقَدْ جَعَلْنَا لِوَلِيِّهِۦ سُلْطَٰنًۭا فَلَا 
يُسْرِف فِّى ٱلْقَتْلِ ۖ إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ مَنصُورًۭا
﴾٣٣﴿
(33) Wala taqtuloo alnnafsa allatee harrama Allahu illa bialhaqqi waman 
qutila mathlooman faqad jaAAalna liwaliyyihi sultanan fala yusrif fee 
alqatli innahu kana mansooran
[cf. Sura 6:151]

There is a shade of ambiguity to the verse, so exegetes have read it in 
several different ways. Here is a sampling:

(33) And do not kill anyone whose killing Allâh has forbidden, except for a 
just cause. And whoever is killed wrongfully (Mazluman intentionally with 
hostility and oppression and not by mistake), We have given his heir the 
authority [(to demand Qisâs, Law of Equality in punishment— or to forgive, 
or to take Diya (blood - money)]. But let him not exceed limits in the 
matter of taking life (i.e he should not kill except the killer). Verily, he 
is helped (by the Islâmic law)[]
Translation : Eng-Dr. Mohsin

(33) And do not kill any one whom Allah has forbidden, except for a just 
cause, and whoever is slain unjustly, We have indeed given to his heir 
authority, so let him not exceed the just limits in slaying; surely he is 
aided.
Eng-Shakir

(33) And do not take a life, which God has forbidden, except in a just 
cause. We have given the right (of redress) to the heir of the person who is 
killed, but he should not exceed the limits (of justice) by slaying (the 
killer), for he will be judged (by the same law).
Eng-Ahmed Ali

(33) And slay not the soul that God has forbidden you, except for just 
cause; for he who is slain unjustly we have given his next of kin authority; 
yet let him not exceed in slaying; verily, he is ever helped.
Eng-Palmer

(33) And slay not the soul that Allah has forbidden you (or made sacred), 
except for just cause; for he who is slain unjustly We have given authority 
to his heirs (or kin), yet let him not commit excess in slaying; verily, he 
will be helped.
Eng-Hamid Aziz

(33) And slay not the life which Allah hath forbidden save with right. Whoso 
is slain wrongfully, We have given power unto his heir, but let him not 
commit excess in slaying. Lo! he will be helped.
Eng-Pickthal

(33) Do not kill the soul whom Allah has forbidden except by right. If he is 
slain unjustly, We have given his heir authority. But let him not exceed the 
limit in slaying, for he will be helped.
Eng-Hasan al-Fatih Qaribullah

(33) And slay not the soul God has forbidden, except by right. Whosoever is 
slain unjustly, We have appointed to his next-of-kin authority; but let him 
not exceed in slaying; he shall be helped.
Eng-Arthur Arberry

(33) You shall not kill any person - for GOD has made life sacred - except 
in the course of justice. If one is killed unjustly, then we give his heir 
authority to enforce justice. Thus, he shall not exceed the limits in 
avenging the murder; he will be helped.
Eng-Rashad Kalifah

(33) Do not take life, which God has made sacred, except by right: if anyone 
is killed wrongfully, We have given authority to the defender of his rights, 
but he should not be excessive in taking life, for he is already aided [by 
God].
Eng-Abdel Haleem

(33) Nor take life - which Allah has made sacred - except for just cause. 
And if anyone is slain wrongfully, we have given his heir authority (to 
demand qisas or to forgive): but let him not exceed bounds in the matter of 
taking life; for he is helped (by the Law).
Eng-Yusuf Ali

(33) And do not kill, for God has made this forbidden, except in the course 
of justice. And whoever is killed unjustly, then We have given his heir 
authority, so let him not transgress in the taking of a life, for He will be 
given victory.
Eng-Progressive Muslim

Tafsir al-Jalalayn (a prominent 15th c. comm.) parses it thus:
And do not slay the soul [whose life] God has made inviolable, except with 
due cause. Whoever is slain wrongfully, We have certainly given his heir, 
the one inheriting from him, a warrant, a sanction [to retaliate] against 
the slayer; but let him not commit excess, [let him not] overstep the 
bounds, in slaying, by slaying other than the killer [of the one slain], or 
by other than that [instrument] with which he [the slain] was killed; for he 
is supported [by the Law].

I suspect most members of this list would find the "Progressive Muslim" 
reading the least off-putting (maybe not?), but that is not the general 
sense detected by others. All condone revenge killing -- in fact, virtually 
demand it -- but the major variance is who/what is doing the "helping," God 
or the Law. Should come as no surprise the jurisprudential reading (i.e. in 
concert with sharia) opts for the "law". The theo-moralists opt for God. All 
of them wrap this caveat in the cloak of justice. And who, pray tell, has 
God forbidden to be killed? Why, other Muslims of course (unless they 
deserve it) (Sura 4:29).

Go to http://al-quran.info for additional translations of this verse into a 
variety of languages (and many additional English versions). Do a search for 
"not kill" and see what comes up.

God bless the internet.

Dan