Between Bible and Byzantium: “Corruption on Earth” (fasād fī l-arḍ) and the Qur’an’s Penal Code (Q 5:33-34.38-39)

This two-partite article begins with a summary account of the Qur’an’s legal culture, and then examines the qur’anic concept of “causing corruption,” afsada , particularly “causing corruption on earth” ( fasād fī l-arḍ ). First, it situates this concept within the Qur’an’s semantic and linguistic framework, and second, it analyzes the related qur’anic penal legislation for “causing corruption” (Q 5:33–34) in its biblical, rabbinic, and Byzantine contexts. The article posits that the Qur’an’s penal code is intrinsically linked to its creation theory, which designates the entire earth a Holy Land in which no crime is permissible. The Qur’an’s categorization of actions that cause corruption, moreover, both resonate with and further develop Genesis 6, which warns against the “corruption of earth,” i. e. of God’s creation, and, more concretely, Leviticus 19–26, which more narrowly focuses on the Land of Israel as God’s Holy Land. In accordance with its biblical precedent, the Qur’an also draws upon biblical, Jewish, and notably Christian paradigms when articulating punishments for those who “wage war against God and his messengers” in Q 5:33–34. It equates such an attack – likely alluding to a recent raid on the qur’anic community in Medina – with “trying to cause corruption on earth” thereby posing a threat to God’s order of creation. When stipulating the appropriate penalty for such corruption, the Qur’an’s phrasing closely mirrors the Aramaic rendition of punishments detailed in 2 Samuel 4:12, where David executes two of his officers for slaying a disabled enemy in his sleep: either exile, crucifixion, or the amputation of hands and feet. A similar list of punishments in Justinian’s criminal law, Novel 134 (promulgated in 556 CE), omits crucifixion but offers an extended parallel to the Qur’an by limiting hand amputation for thieves, contrasting with the sequel of the Qur’an’s penal code in Q 5:38–39. In both cases – the concept of “corruption on earth” and the corresponding punishments – it is challenging to ascertain the extent to which the Quran directly engages with the Hebrew Bible versus its interpretation through Jewish and Christian lenses. Nevertheless, the broad parallels amidst nuanced differences underscore that the prophet’s Hejazi community actively engaged with prevailing legal practices and discourses among Jews and Christians in the Byzantine Empire’s eastern provinces.