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Bismillah alhamdulillah wa sallatuhu sallam ala Rasulillah wa ala a'alihi wa sallhbi

wa minawla wa l-ahmabadi. Today we are going to do Surab-a-Bakara verse 179, another very

powerful phrase that is used commonly in the Arabic language to indicate many things.

This phrase is wada kumfil kisasi hayatun. Imam Zamaqshadi, one of the great scholars in the

Arabic language, he actually has a commentary on this passage in which he mentions that it

is one of the most powerful aphorisms of the Qur'an. Because Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala

mentions opposites in the same verse. The word kisas means the death penalty. And Allah

Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala revealed in the Qur'an that no matter who kills the murderer, al-Hurrib

al-Hurrib al-Abdu bil Abdu bil Abdi wa l-Untha bil-Untha. Whether it's a free person,

whether it's a slave, whether it's male or female, the murderer is going to be executed.

This was a new Islamic revelation. In pre-Islam, if you are a person of standing, a rich

person, a person with noble lineage, then you would not be handed over. And maybe even

the tribes would go to war, but you would not be hurt because you are a rich person. But

if you are a poor person, or lower caste, or somebody who didn't have reputent society,

then they would hand you over to be executed for murder. Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala revealed

it doesn't matter who does the murder. It doesn't matter whether you reach your poor, male

or female, free man or slave, al-Hurrib al-Hurrib al-Hurrib al-Abdu bil Abdu bil-Untha

bil-Untha. Then Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says, In the death penalty, there is your life.

This is the profundity of this verse. That Allah mentions two opposites and He says these

two opposites are linked together. Your life is linked to the death penalty.

What does this verse imply or mean? Many things, first and foremost, as we explained,

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