His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And those who, when they are wronged, defend themselves." "And the recompense of an evil deed is an evil deed like it. But whoever pardons and makes reconciliation, his reward is with Allah. Indeed, He does not like the wrongdoers." "And whoever defends himself after having been wronged, for them there is no blame."

Allah, the Exalted, praised in this verse a people for defending themselves against oppression. This has been favored by a group of scholars. They said: Defending oneself is a duty to change an evil, and whoever does not defend himself when he is able to do so has abandoned changing the evil.

People have differed regarding the intended meaning of the verse after agreeing that whoever has been wronged and oppressed is permitted to defend himself with the truth and the judgment of the Muslims. Muqatil said: The verse is about the wounded person who seeks retribution from the one who harmed him through legal retaliation.

A group said: It was revealed regarding the oppression of the polytheists against the believers. Allah, the Exalted, has permitted him to defend himself against them without transgression. Pardon and reconciliation have been coupled with a reward. Then this was abrogated by the verse of the sword. This group, which is the majority, said: If a believer oppresses another believer, it is not permissible for the latter to take retribution by himself and to retaliate for the wrong done to him. An example of this is if a person betrays another, then the latter is able to betray the first. Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, holds that he should not do so, and this is the view of a great group with him. They did not see this verse in this meaning and they argued with the saying of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: "Return the trust to whom you entrusted it, and do not betray the one who betrayed you." This saying is more exalted and closer to Allah, blessed and exalted is He.

And a group of scholars said: This verse is general for both polytheists and believers. Whoever has been wronged and oppressed is permitted to defend himself and to betray the one who betrayed him in wealth until he takes retribution from him. They said that the hadith: "And do not betray the one who betrayed you" is indeed about a man who asked the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him: "Is it permissible for a man to commit adultery with the wife of one who committed adultery with his wife?" The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said to him: "That is what he intends by adultery."

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: Likewise, the hadith has come in the meaning of adultery, as mentioned by the narrators. However, its generality applies to everything.

And His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And the recompense of an evil deed is an evil deed like it," Al-Zajjaj said: He named the punishment by the name of the sin.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And this is if we take the evil in the right of Allah, the Most High, to mean disobedience. This is because the recompense from Allah, the Most High, is not an evil except if it is named by its cause. As for if we take the evil to mean affliction in the right of humans, that is: this one is harmed by this, and the other is harmed by it, then we do not need to say: 'He named the punishment by the name of the sin.' Rather, the first and last action is an evil. Ibn Abi Najih and Al-Suddi said: The meaning of the verse is that when a man is insulted with an insult, he has the right to respond to it in kind without exceeding. Al-Hasan ibn Abi Al-Hasan said: As long as it is not a limit or a very severe offense. And the 'lam' in His saying: 'And whoever defends' is the lam of the encounter of the oath. And His saying, the Most High: 'from a way': means: from a way of hardship and there is no way of judgment. And this is a declaration in the permissibility of defending and disputing about it. Is it between the believer and the polytheist, or between the believers as previously mentioned?