SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE
Protection of mankind
According to the Quran Surah Al-Maida Verse 32:
Whoever killed a human being except as a punishment for
murder or for spreading corruption in the land shall be
regarded as having killed all mankind, and that whoever
saved a human life shall be regarded as
having saved all mankind.
THE QURAN 5: 32
WHEN a person commits such a crime as is mentioned in this verse, in reality he breaks the inviolable ethic of the sanctity of human life. The sanctity of human life is a kind of value system that is a barrier to anyone taking another’s life. In any society, when this value system and sanctity is violated, then this barrier is demolished. A person who commits such a crime gives licence to others in society to indulge in similar or lesser such crimes. The murder of one human being opens the door to the killing of mankind.
The sanctity of human life is a kind of value system that is a barrier to anyone taking another’s life.
Adam’s two sons Habil and Qabil had a conflict on some issue that escalated further until Qabil murdered Habil. In this way Qabil became the first person in history to breach the ethic of the sanctity of human life. He was the first to use the method of violence in order to resolve conflict and hence began a new convention. In reality therefore, Qabil’s actions was not just the killing of his brother, but it was the beginning in history of a new convention of killing another human. After this murder, this wrong convention has continued relentlessly throughout human history.
To better comprehend this issue consider the example of the medieval Muslim state known as Al-Andalus or Muslim Spain (711-1492 AD). The Muslim rulers of Spain in the later periods had become weak due to their internecine differences and conflicts. Initially the kingdom was fragmented into a number of smaller states and fiefdoms and then gradually, one by one, these small states started to disintegrate and their rulers were deposed. Eventually the only Muslim territory that was left was the Sultanate of Granada under the Nasrid dynasty established in 1238 AD, by Sultan Mohammed I ibn Nasr who was better known as Mohammed ibn al-Ahmar. This was the name given to him as he was the one who built the famous Alhambra palace of Granada.
Muhammed II al-Faqih was the son and heir of Mohammed ibn alAhmar and the second Nasrid ruler of the Granada Sultanate. In 1302 AD, his son Mohammed III had him poisoned and ascended the Sultan’s throne. This murder broke the tradition of sanctity of life in the royal palace. Following this there was a series of murders in the royal family.
The safety of mankind lies in upholding the ethic of the sanctity of human life.
In 1310 AD, Sultan Mohammad III was blinded and killed on the command of his brother Abul Juyush Nasr so that there would be no other heirs to the Sultanate. Abul Juyush Nasr then reigned as Nasr, Sultan of Granada until 1314 AD, when he was overthrown by his nephew Ismail I. Sultan Ismail I himself was assassinated by his cousin Muhammed in 1325 AD. Sultan Muhammed IV then took the throne but like his father Ismail I, he was also assassinated by his relatives in 1333 AD. The throne fell into the hands of Sultan Yusuf I.
In 1354 AD, whilst praying he was killed by a dagger. His son Muhammed V succeeded him but was overthrown by his half-brother Ismail II in 1359 AD. Less than a year later Sultan Ismail II and his brother were murdered by the sultan’s brother-in-law Abu Said who ruled as Muhammed VI. Similarly, one after another the Sultans and princes were murdered until the end of the Granada sultanate in 1492 AD. The safety of mankind lies in upholding the ethic of the sanctity of human life; and the breaking of this ethic is the destruction of mankind.