Surah Al-Hajj (22) — Ayah 60

(Ayah 60) ➊ The word {ذٰلِكَ وَ مَنْ عَاقَبَ …: ’’ ذٰلِكَ ‘‘} is used for a pause between two statements, meaning, "This has been said, now listen to the next point," that whoever takes retribution equal to the harm done to him, then he is wronged again, Allah will surely help him. This encourages jihad and repeats the theme of {’’ اُذِنَ لِلَّذِيْنَ يُقٰتَلُوْنَ بِاَنَّهُمْ ظُلِمُوْا ‘‘} and {’’ وَ لَيَنْصُرَنَّ اللّٰهُ مَنْ يَّنْصُرُهٗ ‘‘}. Its conjunction is with {’’ وَ الَّذِيْنَ هَاجَرُوْا فِيْ سَبِيْلِ اللّٰهِ …‘‘}, in which those oppressed people were mentioned who could not take retribution; now those oppressed are mentioned who use force against the one taking retributions. They are instructed to take only as much retribution as the harm done to them; if after taking equal retribution they are wronged again, then Allah will surely help them. The polytheists of Makkah inflicted countless harms on the Muslims, continuously subjected them to torment to make them apostatize from their religion, which was even more painful than killing. They expelled them from their homes, and even after that, kept coming to fight them. For retribution equal to their harm, Allah said: «وَ قَاتِلُوْا فِيْ سَبِيْلِ اللّٰهِ الَّذِيْنَ يُقَاتِلُوْنَكُمْ وَ لَا تَعْتَدُوْا اِنَّ اللّٰهَ لَا يُحِبُّ الْمُعْتَدِيْنَ (190) وَ اقْتُلُوْهُمْ حَيْثُ ثَقِفْتُمُوْهُمْ۠ وَ اَخْرِجُوْهُمْ مِّنْ حَيْثُ اَخْرَجُوْكُمْ وَ الْفِتْنَةُ اَشَدُّ مِنَ الْقَتْلِ وَ لَا تُقٰتِلُوْهُمْ عِنْدَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ حَتّٰى يُقٰتِلُوْكُمْ فِيْهِ فَاِنْ قٰتَلُوْكُمْ فَاقْتُلُوْهُمْ كَذٰلِكَ جَزَآءُ الْكٰفِرِيْنَ » [ البقرۃ : ۱۹۰، ۱۹۱ ] "And fight in the way of Allah those who fight you, but do not transgress. Indeed, Allah does not love the transgressors. And kill them wherever you overtake them and expel them from wherever they have expelled you, and fitnah is worse than killing. And do not fight them at al-Masjid al-Haram unless they fight you there. But if they fight you, then kill them. Such is the recompense of the disbelievers." Similarly, He commanded: «وَ اِنْ نَّكَثُوْۤا اَيْمَانَهُمْ مِّنْۢ بَعْدِ عَهْدِهِمْ وَ طَعَنُوْا فِيْ دِيْنِكُمْ فَقَاتِلُوْۤا اَىِٕمَّةَ الْكُفْرِ اِنَّهُمْ لَاۤ اَيْمَانَ لَهُمْ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَنْتَهُوْنَ (12) اَلَا تُقَاتِلُوْنَ قَوْمًا نَّكَثُوْۤا اَيْمَانَهُمْ وَ هَمُّوْا بِاِخْرَاجِ الرَّسُوْلِ وَ هُمْ بَدَءُوْكُمْ اَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ اَتَخْشَوْنَهُمْ فَاللّٰهُ اَحَقُّ اَنْ تَخْشَوْهُ اِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُّؤْمِنِيْنَ » [ التوبۃ : ۱۲، ۱۳ ] "And if they break their oaths after their covenant and defame your religion, then fight the leaders of disbelief, for indeed, they have no oaths—so that they might desist. Will you not fight a people who broke their oaths and determined to expel the Messenger, and they had begun against you the first time? Do you fear them? But Allah has more right that you should fear Him, if you are believers."

➋ The mention of these attributes in { اِنَّ اللّٰهَ لَعَفُوٌّ غَفُوْرٌ :} does not mean to forgive the disbelievers, because regarding them the command is: «قَاتِلُوْهُمْ يُعَذِّبْهُمُ اللّٰهُ بِاَيْدِيْكُمْ وَ يُخْزِهِمْ وَ يَنْصُرْكُمْ عَلَيْهِمْ وَ يَشْفِ صُدُوْرَ قَوْمٍ مُؤْمِنِيْنَ » [ التوبۃ : ۱۴ ] "Fight them; Allah will punish them by your hands and will disgrace them and give you victory over them and heal the breasts of a believing people." Forgiveness and forbearance are for mutual dealings among Muslims, not with the disbelievers. He said: « وَ الَّذِيْنَ مَعَهٗۤ اَشِدَّآءُ عَلَى الْكُفَّارِ رُحَمَآءُ بَيْنَهُمْ » [ الفتح : ۲۹ ] "And those who are with him are severe against the disbelievers, merciful among themselves." The relevance of these attributes here is that Allah has only allowed retribution equal to the harm done, and this is due to His forgiveness and mercy, that He has not permitted exceeding the limits even against the disbelievers, lest they become the oppressed, because helping the oppressed is what Allah has taken upon Himself, whether he is a Muslim or a disbeliever. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ اِتَّقِ دَعْوَةَ الْمَظْلُوْمِ فَإِنَّهَا لَيْسَ بَيْنَهَا وَبَيْنَ اللّٰهِ حِجَابٌ ] [ بخاري، المظالم، باب الاتقاء و الحذر من دعوۃ المظلوم : ۲۴۴۸، عن ابن عباس رضی اللہ عنھما ] "Beware of the supplication of the oppressed, for there is no barrier between it and Allah." The second relevance is that it is not possible for a human to achieve one hundred percent equality in retribution, so He said that if there is some excess or shortcoming, Allah is Pardoning and Forgiving.

60. 1 That is, the promise We have made to the Muhajirin, especially regarding martyrdom or natural death, will certainly be fulfilled.

60. 2 If someone has wronged another, then the one who has been wronged has the right to take retribution equal to the wrong done. But if, after taking retribution—when both the one taking retribution and the oppressed have become equal—the one taking retribution again commits excess against the oppressed, then Allah will surely help that oppressed person. That is, there should be no doubt that the oppressed did something wrong by taking retribution instead of forgiving; no, rather, this permission is also given by Allah, so he will continue to deserve Allah’s help in the future as well.

60. 3 Here again, encouragement is given to forgive, as Allah is forgiving. You too should act with forgiveness. Another meaning could be that in taking retribution, the one taking retribution will be considered as much of an oppressor as the extent of the wrongdoing. Since the permission for as much retribution as the wrongdoing is from Allah, there will be no accountability for it; rather, it is forgiven. In fact, it is called oppression and evil only rhetorically, otherwise, revenge or retribution is not oppression or evil at all.

60. That is so. And whoever retaliates with the like of what he has suffered, and then is wronged again, Allah will surely help him [88]. Indeed, Allah is Pardoning [89] and Forgiving.

[88]
The Command to Beware of the Supplication of the Oppressed, Regardless of Their Nation:

In the previous two verses, there was mention of those emigrant Muslims who, compelled by the oppression and violence of the disbelievers, were forced to leave their homes and could not take revenge for the injustice done to them. Now, mention is made of those who have the power to take revenge. They are being instructed that if they wish to take revenge, they should only take as much as the injustice done to them. And if they exceed in taking revenge, then they themselves will be considered oppressors. In this case, Allah will help the one who is oppressed, because Allah always helps the oppressed. When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent Hazrat Mu'adh bin Jabal ؓ as the governor of Yemen, among many other pieces of advice, the very last and especially emphasized advice was this:
«وَاتَّقِ دَعْوَةَ الْمَظْلُوْمِ فَاِنَّهُ لَيْسَ بَيْنهَا وَبَيْنَ اللّٰهِ حِجَابٌ» [مسلم۔ كتاب الايمان۔ باب الدعاء الي الشهادتين و شرائع الاسلام]
That is, beware of the supplication of the oppressed, for there is no barrier between the cry of the oppressed and Allah. The same theme has been beautifully expressed by Sheikh Saadi, may Allah have mercy on him, as follows:
Bataras az aah-e-mazloomaan keh hangam-e-dua kardan, ijabat az dar-e-Haq baraye istiqbal mi aayad
That is, always fear the cry of the oppressed, for the acceptance of that cry comes forth from the court of Allah itself to receive it.

[89]
The Permission or Concession to Retaliate Equally for Excess:

In this verse, only the permission to retaliate equally for the excess has been given, and if a stone is thrown in response to a brick, Allah absolutely does not like this and it will be considered oppression. Despite this permission, if revenge is not taken, then this is what Allah likes, because He Himself is forgiving and pardoning. Therefore, the servants should also adopt the habit of forgiveness and forbearance in their personal and social matters and should not always be intent on taking revenge.