Surah 17. Al-Israa, Ayah 33

I.e., in the execution of a legal sentence or in a just war (see {2: 190} and the corresponding note [167]), or in individual, legitimate self-defence.

Thus, the defender of the victim's rights (in this case, a court of justice) is not only not entitled to impose a capital sentence on any but the actual murderer or murderers, but may also, if the case warrants it, concede mitigating circumstances and refrain from capital punishment altogether.

This refers to the legal punishment for homicide, termed qisas ("just retribution") and explained in {2: 178} and the corresponding notes. In the present context, the term wali ("protector" or "defender of [one's] rights") is usually taken to mean the heir or next of kin of the victim. Zamakhshari, however, observes that it may also apply to the government (as-sultan): an interpretation which is obviously based on the concept of the government as the "protector" or "defender of the rights" of all its citizens. As regards the expression qutila mazluman ("slain wrongfully"), it is obvious that it refers only to cases of willful homicide, since the concept of zulm applies in the Qur'an exclusively to intentional and never to accidental wrongdoing.

I.e., he is avenged in this world by the retribution exacted from his murderer, and in the life to come, blessed by the special grace which God bestows on all who have been slain without any legal or moral justification (Razi). Some of the commentators, however, relate the pronoun "he" to the defender of the victim's rights, respectively, to the latter's heir or next of kin, and explain the above phrase as meaning "he is sufficiently helped by the law of just retribution (qisas) and should not, therefore, demand any punishment in excess of what is equitable".

 For example, in retaliation for intentional killing through legal channels.

 Here the word wali, “heir,” actually means awliyâ' or “heirs,” which includes the closest relatives, both men and women.

 By killing anyone other than the killer, or killing others with the killer.

On the subject of Qisas see ii. 178 and the notes thereto. Under the strict limitations there laid down, a Iife may be taken for a life. The heir is given the right to demand the life; but he must not exceed due bounds, because he is helped by the Law. Some Commentators understand "he" in "he is helped (by the Law)" to refer to the heir of the person against whom Qisas is sought. He too will be helped by the Law, if the heir of the first slain exceeds the bounds of Law.