AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): The scholarly session "Retaliation, Blood Vengeance, and Revenge Against the Killers of the Martyred Leader from Jurisprudential, Political, and International Perspectives" was held on the afternoon of Monday, July 20, by the AhlulBayt (a.s.) International News Agency (ABNA).
Hojat al-Islam Dr. Rahdar, director of the Fotuhe Andisheh Think Tank and a faculty member of Baqir al-Ulum University (a.s.), at this session, referring to the challenges of using the term "revenge" in jurisprudential literature, stated, "Although the term 'revenge' has not been discussed independently in our jurisprudential heritage, it is a Quranic and narrative term, and jurisprudential concepts are not necessarily limited to specific textual definitions."
Explaining the distinction between revenge and concepts such as retaliation (qisas), self-defense, and reciprocity, he stated, "Retaliation is often individual, but revenge can be trans-individual and collective. Furthermore, unlike self-defense, revenge is not bound by time and place, and unlike reciprocity, it is not bound by the condition of equivalence."
The faculty member of Baqir al-Ulum University (a.s.), referring to the concept of "collective religious duty" in the discussion of revenge, added, "Revenge is a collective religious duty, and forgiveness and pardon at this scale require the satisfaction of all claimants to be accounted for."
Hojat al-Islam Ostovar Meimandi, the head of the Office for Social and Political Affairs of the Seminaries, also at this session, referring to the various dimensions of the revenge issue, emphasized, "The crime of assassinating the martyred leader has been unprecedented since the event of Ashura, and for this reason, it cannot be easily overlooked."
Explaining the conceptualization of revenge, he stated, "We have two types of revenge: personal revenge, which is the same as retaliation (qisas) and the punishment of the commanders and perpetrators, which has been discussed in detail in jurisprudence; and strategic and civilizational revenge, which goes back to the roots of the formation of the crime."
Ostovar Meimandi, referring to religious teachings, said, "The slogan of blood vengeance is rooted in the Ziyarat Ashura and narrations related to Imam Mahdi (a.s.), and the blood vengeance for the martyred leader is an extension of the blood vengeance for the Master of the Martyrs, and the Islamic Revolution is moving on the path of strategic revenge for the blood of Imam Hussain (a.s.)."
He also, referring to the false dichotomies raised in the discussion of revenge, stated, "Dichotomies such as revenge and livelihood or revenge and security are false dichotomies, and contrary to claims, blood vengeance and its pursuit are dignity-creating and ensure sustainable livelihood."
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