The benefits of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “And the recompense for an evil is an evil like it, but whoever forgives and reforms, his reward is with Allah. Indeed, He does not like wrongdoers.”

Among the benefits of this noble verse is that the retaliation must be carried out with justice, so that the recompense for an evil is an evil like it. It is not permissible to transgress in retaliation, whether in words or in actions. Let us consider: if a man insulted you with two descriptions and you insulted him with three descriptions, do we say it is permissible or not permissible? ... Because Allah said: . Now, if a man cut off a person's hand and the victim demanded retaliation, and the perpetrator said, "I want to have my hand numbed so I do not feel the pain," and the victim said, "No," the victim's word is accepted. This is because the perpetrator committed two harms: causing pain and the loss of the limb. The retaliation is not complete unless these two things occur for the perpetrator. Now, if a thief is sentenced to have his hand cut off and he requests that his hand be numbed, is this permissible or not? It is permissible, because the objective regarding the thief is the removal of the transgressing hand, and that is achieved. There is no retaliation in the sense that we would say it must be like for like.
And among the benefits of this noble verse is the emphasis on retaliation with justice, as He said: . He emphasized this by saying: . If the victim wants to take only part of his right, is it permissible or not permissible? It is permissible. The verse says "like it," which means that if we want justice, this is it. And if a person forgives his own right, there is nothing wrong with it. Likewise, if he forgives absolutely, there is no blame on him.
And among the benefits of the saying of Allah the Exalted: to the end, is the encouragement to forgive if it leads to reform. If it does not lead to reform, then taking a firm stance is better. The evidence for this is that Allah said: .
A significant issue branches from this: if the perpetrator is known for evil and corruption and he transgresses against a person, do we say it is better to forgive him? The answer is: No, we do not say that. Rather, we stipulate that it must lead to reform. If this evil man, known for evil, commits a crime against a person, do we tell the victim, "Forgive him, and your reward is with Allah"? No, we do not say this. Because if we forgive this evil man in this specific case, he will do the same or something worse afterwards, because he took it for granted that he would be forgiven, so he would expect to be forgiven for every action. If the perpetrator is an evil man known for corruption and he commits a crime against a person, do we say it is better to forgive him or to take your right? We mentioned that the better course in this situation is to take your right, because this evil man, inclined to evil, if you forgive him now, will go and do something worse.
... Second: We must know that the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He: . This absolute verse is restricted by this verse. In fact, every text that encourages forgiveness is restricted by this verse. Therefore, forgiveness must be for the sake of reform. Forgiveness must be for the sake of reform. Pay attention to this.
Now, if someone hits a person while driving a car and he dies, is it better for the heirs of the deceased to forgive the blood money or to take the blood money? There is a detail: If this man is known for recklessness and indifference, and as some fools say, "The blood money is in the drum," then he should not be forgiven. But if he is a man of honor and we know that this happened to him as the common people say, "a moment of negligence," then it is better to forgive him. And this verse is the standard for praiseworthy and non-praiseworthy forgiveness.
Among the benefits of this noble verse is the favor of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, upon His servants, where He obligated upon Himself the reward for the one who forgives. This is taken from: . Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, guaranteed this reward for the one who forgives, but on the condition that it leads to reform.