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Reciprocity is a jurisprudential rule according to which, if an individual or a group is subjected to oppression or negligence, they have the right to retaliate in self-defense to the extent of the harm incurred. This rule has been examined in fiqh, especially in the chapter of retaliation and in the interpretation of the "Verse of Aggression" (Ayat al-I'tida'), from which various topics have been deduced.

Most Shi'a jurists consider the right of reciprocity in financial and non-financial matters to be legitimate, although they hold differing views on the method of its implementation. Many jurists have accepted the indication of the "Verse of Aggression" for the principle of reciprocity. Sayyid Ja'far Murtada al-'Amili considers this principle to be innate (fitrī) and rational, whereas 'Abbas-'Ali 'Amid Zanjani considers it to be based on custom.

Furthermore, by accepting limitations for the principle of reciprocity, most jurists have prohibited the use of immoral and oppressive methods and introduced this principle as a right that can be waived since the educational effects of patience and forgiveness are better than revenge.

Concept and Status

Reciprocity is a rule[1] based on which an individual or group who has been oppressed or neglected has the right to retaliate in self-defense to the same extent as the oppression suffered.[2] In fiqh, this principle is expressed with terms such as taqass, muqassa,[3] iʿtidaʾ bi-l-mithl, and radd al-kayl bi-l-kayl.[4]

The principle of reciprocity is considered to be primary principle when taking disciplinary action against criminals in Islam[5] which moderates the spirit of revenge and prevents violence and aggression by individuals and governments.[6] This principle is discussed in Islamic Jurisprudence in chapters such as retaliation (qisas),[7] the interpretation of the Verse of Aggression, and also in criminal and international law.[8] Jurists have extracted various rulings from this principle in subjects such as usurpation (ghasb), theft, Jihad, legal punishments, and retaliation such as the permissibility of taqass from the property of a usurper, the permissibility of retaliation in kind and the permissibility of fighting the enemy in the Sacred Months if they initiate the war.[9]

Based on Quranic evidence, the principle of reciprocity applies in private law (such as taqass) and criminal law (such as retaliation with life and limb).[10] Most jurists, in their argumentation based on the verses, believe that using immoral and oppressive methods is prohibited even under conditions of reciprocity, such as committing mutilation[11] or killing civilians.[12] Shi'a exegetes also consider reciprocity as an individual's right but recommend that it is better to waive this right and prefer patience and forgiveness over revenge.[13] In this way, reciprocity in war is recognized as a human and ethical principle.[14]

The majority of Shi'a jurists consider the right of reciprocity in financial and non-financial matters to be legitimate, although they have different opinions regarding its implementation.[15]

Evidences for the Validity of the Rule

The Verse of Aggression is considered the most important indicator for the rule of reciprocity as discussed in exegesis and jurisprudence.[16] Shi'a scholars such as al-Shaykh al-Tusi and Allamah Tabataba'i, and Sunni scholars such as al-Zamakhshari and al-Qurtubi, have accepted this indication.[17] Nasir Makarim Shirazi also believes that according to this verse, if someone commits an unjust aggression, the opposing party can reciprocate in self-defense, which includes financial and non-financial rights.[18]

Sayyid Ja'far Murtada al-'Amili in the book al-Islam wa mabda' al-muqabala bi-l-mithl confirmed the legitimacy of the principle of reciprocity with enemies by citing hadiths[19] and considers it an innate and rational matter, since the preservation of Islam and the lives of Muslims depends on its implementation. He presents the Quranic and traditional reasons as guidance toward this rational and innate ruling.[20] Abbas-'Ali 'Amid Zanjani also considered this rule to be conventional and views its role in international relations as deeper than internal social relations.[21] Imam Ali (a) in the final days of his life willed that after him, Muslims should not shed blood or take revenge for his killing. He emphasized that if he died from the blow of his assassin, they should strike him with only one blow and not mutilate him.[22]

Comparative Examples

Based on Qur'an 2:191 which was revealed in Medina, Muqaddas al-Ardabili considered the expulsion of disbelievers from Mecca to be obligatory for Muslims, placing this command as a reciprocal act against their former expulsion from Mecca.[23] In the Battle of Uhud, after the mutilation of the body of Hamza b. Abd al-Muttalib, the Prophet's uncle, the Muslims decided to retaliate,[24] but after the revelation of Qur'an 16:126 which invited to patience, the Prophet asked God for patience.[25]

Taking prisoners as slaves during wars was practiced based on the customary law of war and the rule of reciprocity, but no direct command from the Qur'an has come in this regard.[26] The Islamic Republic of Iran, under the guidance of Imam Khomeini, considering the limitations of reciprocity, refrained from reciprocating Iraq's use of chemical weapons during the Iran-Iraq War.[27] Iran's first reciprocal act in the "War of the Cities" occurred on February 12, 1984.[28] After the assassination of Qasem Soleimani in 2020, Iran had the right of equal revenge against his killers based on the rule of reciprocity.[29]

Notes

  1. ↑ Jaʿfarpīshah & Fayyāḍ, "Mafhūm wa mabānī-yi fiqh-i bashardūstānih", p. 20.
  2. ↑ See: Khūʾī, Mawsūʿat al-Imām al-Khūʾī, 1418 AH, vol. 31, p. 101; Āyatī & Shādrūān, "Muqābala bi-al-mithl...", p. 65.
  3. ↑ "Barrasī-yi fiqhī-yi taqāṣṣ dar sabb", Website of Ayatollah Alidoost.
  4. ↑ Āyatī & Shādrūān, "Muqābala bi-al-mithl...", p. 65.
  5. ↑ Imāmī, "Qiṣāṣ dar ḍarb", p. 97.
  6. ↑ Ṣaḥrāʾī Ardakānī, Fakhrī, & Zāhidī Mīl Safīd, "Mabānī wa bunyānhā-yi fiqhī-ḥuqūqī-yi muqābala bi-al-mithl...", p. 287.
  7. ↑ For example, see: Marʿashī Najafī, al-Qiṣāṣ ʿalā ḍawʾ al-Qurʾān wa al-Sunna, vol. 1, p. 19.
  8. ↑ For example, see: Āyatī & Shādrūān, "Muqābala bi-al-mithl...", pp. 67-68; Yazdī, Fiqh al-Qurʾān, 1415 AH, vol. 2, p. 322.
  9. ↑ Muʾassasat Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif al-Fiqh al-Islāmī, Farhang-i fiqh mutābiq-i madhhab-i Ahl-i Bayt (a), vol. 1, p. 164.
  10. ↑ Hūshmand Fīrūzābādī, "Qāʿida-yi muqābala bi-al-mithl dar Qurʾān", p. 162.
  11. ↑ Jaʿfarpīshah & Fayyāḍ, "Mafhūm wa mabānī-yi fiqh-i bashardūstānih", p. 21.
  12. ↑ Āyatī & Shādrūān, "Muqābala bi-al-mithl...", p. 71.
  13. ↑ Jaʿfarpīshah & Fayyāḍ, "Mafhūm wa mabānī-yi fiqh-i bashardūstānih", p. 21.
  14. ↑ Muḥammadī, "Uṣūl-i insānī wa akhlāqī-yi jang wa jihād dar Qurʾān", p. 83.
  15. ↑ "Barrasī-yi fiqhī-yi taqāṣṣ dar sabb", Website of Ayatollah Alidoost.
  16. ↑ Āyatī & Shādrūān, "Muqābala bi-al-mithl...", p. 68.
  17. ↑ ʿĀmilī, al-Islām wa mabdaʾ al-muqābala bi-al-mithl, p. 21; Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Tafsīr al-Mīzān, vol. 2, p. 63.
  18. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i namūnih, 1374 Sh, vol. 2, p. 33.
  19. ↑ ʿĀmilī, al-Islām wa mabdaʾ al-muqābala bi-al-mithl, p. 34-35.
  20. ↑ ʿĀmilī, al-Islām wa mabdaʾ al-muqābala bi-al-mithl, p. 18.
  21. ↑ ʿAmīd Zanjānī, Fiqh-i siyāsī, 1421 AH, vol. 3, p. 484.
  22. ↑ Nahj al-balāgha, Letter 47, p. 422; Āyatī & Shādrūān, "Muqābala bi-al-mithl...", p. 70.
  23. ↑ Ardabilī, Muqaddas al-. Zubdat al-bayān fī aḥkām al-Qurʾān, p. 308.
  24. ↑ Ṭūsī, al-. al-Tibyān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, vol. 6, p. 440.
  25. ↑ Muḥammadī, "Uṣūl-i insānī wa akhlāqī-yi jang wa jihād dar Qurʾān", p. 84.
  26. ↑ ʿArab Abū Zaydābādī, "Bardigān az jāhiliyyat tā Islām...", p. 6.
  27. ↑ "Jang-i shīmiyāʾī-yi ʿIrāq wa ʿadam-i muqābala bi-al-mithl-i Jumhūrī-yi Islāmī-yi Īrān...", Fars News Agency.
  28. ↑ "ʿAmaliyyāt-i Taḥrīr al-Quds"; "Avvalīn muqābala bi-al-mithl dar jang-i shahrhā"; "Nigāhī bih jang-i shahrhā dar sāl-hā-yi difāʿ-i muqaddas".
  29. ↑ Ṣaḥrāʾī Ardakānī, Fakhrī, & Zāhidī Mīl Safīd, "Mabānī wa bunyānhā-yi fiqhī-ḥuqūqī-yi muqābala bi-al-mithl...", p. 295.

References

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