Claiming that the Quran requires capital punishment is a misunderstanding, since capital punishment is only set as a maximum and preference is given to compensation.1, 2, 3
Compensation is the Islamic law throughout, so someone who causes damage must pay it back, for example from a percentage of salary until paid.1, 2, 3
Compensation is wiser than execution because a wrongly convicted person who is later proven innocent is still alive, while an executed wrong man cannot be helped.1, 2, 3
In Islam the judge is always the victim or the victim's kin, who decide whether the murderer is killed or spared and pays compensation to the family.1, 2, 3
The Quran favors sparing life and taking compensation, which is leniency from God, as shown by the next verse calling this a life-saving law.1, 2, 3, 4
The Quranic law of equivalence in murder sets a maximum punishment of one soul for one soul, which ends revenge killings where many people die for one.1, 2, 3
The terms free for free, slave for slave, and woman for woman give an excuse to spare lives, so a man who kills a woman is not killed, nor a woman who kills a man, and compensation is sought instead.1, 2, 3, 4
The victim may take any compensation up to the set maximum, such as the cost of restoring a damaged car, or may forgive and take nothing.1, 2
The Quran is the statute book of laws, giving details such as the law of equivalence.1, 2
The word used for the thief's hand is the same as for the women who cut their hands in Joseph's story, and differs from the word used for those who commit gross crimes and fight God.1, 2, 3, 4
The Quran's law of equivalence goes beyond the Torah, restricts capital punishment, and favors compensation over execution.1, 2, 3, 4