Some Thoughts on S 5:33

The recompense of those who war against Allah and his messenger and chase corruption in the land is only that they be massacred or crucified or have their hands and their feet cut off on opposite sides or be exiled from the land. That for them is disgrace in the dunya and theirs in the hereafter is great torture.

Are Allah and its 'messenger' allies in a war? As the latter is in his grave, are Allah and its boss still fighting together? If Allah alone is fighting, how might it be? As the penalties listed are partly against those who wage war on Allah and its ally, shouldn't Muslims reject these penalties for that offence now that Allah's ally is in his grave?

The verse says that the recompense of those who wage war on them and pursue 'corruption' is that they be massacred OR crucified OR mutilated OR exiled from the land. Four options appear to be listed. If quran is clear then there are. They may be

1) massacred

2) crucified

3) mutilated or

4) exiled from the land.

Most readers will probably understand that point 1 may follow or point 4 but will connect points 2 and 3 together. If quran is clear then one might be crucified** OR mutilated. There's no indication that they are to be taken together. So a man, going on the premiss that quran is clear, might be kept alive but have a hand and foot on opposite sides chopped off. What about his being exiled from the land? What land might this be? As quran was written in the Arabian Peninsula, supposedly in Mecca and Medina, does this mean exile from the area of the founder of Islam's sway? It does not say lands. The same verse speaks of those who pursue corruption in the land. Is this the Arabian Peninsula? Again, it doesn't say lands.

**As the verse speaks of both massacring and crucifixion, one might infer from the clear text that this crucifying, although historically a form of execution, is not a form of execution. So much for clarity.

Crucifixion in the Quran

Neither Killed Nor Crucified

Clarified and Detailed Verses