A comparative study of revenge in the Qur'an from the point of view of commentators:(Allameh Tabatabai "Ra" and Seyyed Qutb)

Retaliation is innately present in human beings and instinctively in some animals. Retaliation has various types including divine and non-divine retribution. In this paper, a comparative study of this topic has been conducted in the commentaries of al-Mīzān and Fī Ẓilāl al-Qurʾan and the common and different points between them have been extracted. This study has provided some conclusions that are as follows: 1) Both exegetes consider retaliation as part of divine customs and believe it to be divided into two categories, individual and social. 2) Social retaliation is considered part of the rights of society. 3) Forgiveness and pardon in instances of personal retaliation are good; however, it has been censured regarding social rights. 4) God takes retribution from guilty and sinful human beings when they have been reminded of divine signs and manifestations and proof has been completed over them. 5) Allamah Tabatabai considers qiṣāṣ (equal retribution) as a type of retaliation; however, Syed Qutb does not. 6) Neither of the two exegetes has indicated who the retaliator is when it has a social aspect and is among social rights. 7) Syed Qutb’s discussions regarding retaliation overlap and are sometimes inconsistent; whereas it is not so in the discussions of Allamah Tabatabai.