Will you explain the following order mentioned in verse 33 of the chapter of al-Isra: "Nor take life - which Allah has made sacred - except for just cause..."?

"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)." (al-Isra, 17/33) Will you explain this verse?

Dear Brother / Sister,

"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)." (al-Isra, 17/33)

That is one of the laws of our Lord. Do not kill anyone that Allah forbad to kill except for just cause and except for those who deserve to be killed religiously. Those who deserve to be killed in the Islamic community justly are certain in hadiths: A man and woman who commit adultery though they are married, a person who exits Islam after becoming a Muslim, a person who kills a Muslim that does not deserve to be killed, a person who exits the Islamic congregation and tries to break it up, a person who fights against Muslims. A person cannot punish such a person on his own; it will be carried out by the leader of the Islamic state.

That is, it is the biggest sin in the world to kill a person who does not deserve to be killed. The guardian of the person who is killed unjustly is given an authority (right). However, he should not exceed bounds in the matter of taking life because he is helped by Allah.   

The world "sultan" translated as "authority" is explained as the right to choose given to the guardian of the person who has been killed between demanding the execution of the legal penalty of forgiving. In case of executing the legal penalty, the verse wants the guardian not to exceed bounds in the matter of killing; this excess is explained in two ways:  

a) Only the death penalty must be applied; he must not be tortured or harmed by cutting his organs.

b) Nobody except the killer must be harmed. According to what is mentioned in resources, in the Arabs of Jahiliyya, the relatives of the person who was killed would not find it enough for the killer to be killed; they believed justice would not be ensured unless a more honorable person than him or two people in return for one person were killed. The verse forbids this unjust practice.  

Razi explains the statement "but let him not exceed bounds in the matter of taking life" as "it is more appropriate to consider the options of accepting blood money or forgiving" instead of choosing death penalty at once.

Acting upon the phrase ‘if anyone is slain wrongfully’, Razi holds the following view: "If the person who is killed does not have the attribute of being killed as an oppressed person fully, the issue is not included in the decree of this verse; that is, death penalty is not applied in such an incident."

What is meant by help at the end of the verse is Allah’s help to the guardian of the person who has been killed by decreeing the penalty for the killer. In that case, the guardian should regard the execution of the penalty determined for the killer enough and he should not exceed bounds.

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