sanitised Qur'an quotation

Submitted by Lactantius Jr. (United Kingdom), Oct 15, 2006 at 05:24

Bruce partially quotes a verse from the Qur'an, beloved by mendacious and duplicitous Muslims, just listen up now, and see how many times you hear it selectiverly quoted in its sanitised form.

But the full and unexpurgated version (Abdullah Yusuf Ali) of Surah 5:32&33 states:-

"On that account: We ordained for the Children of Israel that if any one slew a person - unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land - it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people. Then although there came to them Our apostles with clear signs, yet, even after that, many of them continued to commit excesses in the land. The punishment of those who wage war against God and His Apostle, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter;"

Aya 33 lists a selection of savage punishments for those who fight the Muslims and create "mischief" (or in some translations "corruption") in the land, punishments which include execution, crucifixion and amputation. What kind of "mischief in the land" could merit such a reaction? Could it be interpreted as secularism, democracy and other non-Islamic values in a land? Could the "murder" be the killing of Muslims in Iraq or Afghanistan? Just as importantly, why do the Muslims who keep quoting the sanitised form of this verse, impose such deception on their listeners?

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".