''Hudud'' (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

: ''Ḥudūd'', also transliterated ''hadud'', ''hudood''; plural of ''hadd'', ) is an

word meaning "borders, boundaries, limits". In the religion of

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

it refers to punishments that under Islamic law (

sharīʿah Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the Five Pillars of Islam, religious precepts of Islam and is based on the Islamic holy books, sacred scriptures o ...

) are mandated and fixed by God as per Islam. These punishments were applied in pre-modern Islam,

Wael Hallaq Wael B. Hallaq is the Avalon Foundation Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University, where he has been teaching ethics, law, and political thought since 2009. He is considered a leading scholar in the field of Islamic legal studies, and has ...

(2009), ''An introduction to Islamic law'', p.173.

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

. . and their use in some modern states has been a source of controversy. Traditional

Islamic jurisprudence ''Fiqh'' (; ar, فقه ) is Islamic jurisprudence. Muhammad-> Companions-> Followers-> Fiqh. The commands and prohibitions chosen by God were revealed through the agency of the Prophet in both the Quran and the Sunnah (words, deeds, and e ...

divides crimes into offenses against God and those against man. The former are seen to violate God's ''hudud'' or "boundaries", and they are associated with punishments specified in the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...

and in some cases inferred from

hadith Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...

. The offenses incurring ''hudud'' punishments are ''

zina ''Zināʾ'' () or ''zinā'' ( or ) is an Islamic legal term referring to unlawful sexual intercourse. According to traditional jurisprudence, ''zina'' can include adultery, fornication, prostitution, rape, sodomy, incest, and bestiality. ...

'' (unlawful sexual intercourse such as fornication), unfounded accusations of ''zina'', drinking alcohol, highway robbery, and some forms of theft. Jurists have differed as to whether

apostasy from Islam Apostasy in Islam ( ar, ردة, or , ) is commonly defined as the abandonment of Islam by a Muslim, in thought, word, or through deed. An apostate from Islam is referred to by using the Arabic and Islamic term ''murtād'' (). It includes no ...

and rebellion against a lawful Islamic ruler are ''hudud'' crimes.Campo, Juan Eduardo (2009). ''Encyclopedia of Islam'', p.174. Infobase Publishing. . ''Hudud'' punishments range from public lashing to publicly stoning to death, amputation of hands and crucifixion. ''Hudud'' crimes cannot be pardoned by the victim or by the state, and the punishments must be carried out in public. These punishments were rarely implemented in practice, however, because the evidentiary standards were often impossibly high. For example, meeting ''hudud'' requirements for ''

'' and theft was virtually impossible without a confession in court, which could be invalidated by a retraction. Based on a hadith, jurists stipulated that ''hudud'' punishments should be averted by the slightest doubts or ambiguities (''shubuhat'', sing. ''shubha''). During the 19th century, Sharia-based criminal laws were replaced by statutes inspired by European models in many parts of the Islamic world, although not in particularly conservative regions such as the

Arabian peninsula The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate ...

. The

Islamic revival Islamic revival ( ar, تجديد'' '', lit., "regeneration, renewal"; also ', "Islamic awakening") refers to a revival of the Islamic religion. The revivers are known in Islam as ''mujaddids''. Within the Islamic tradition, ''tajdid'' has bee ...

of the late 20th century brought along calls by Islamist movements for full implementation of Sharia. Reinstatement of ''hudud'' punishments has had particular symbolic importance for these groups because of their Quranic origin, and their advocates have often disregarded the stringent traditional restrictions on their application. In practice, in the countries where ''hudud'' have been incorporated into the legal code under Islamist pressure, they have often been used sparingly or not at all, and their application has varied depending on local political climate. Their use has been a subject of criticism and debate. ''Hudud'' is not the only form of punishment under ''Sharia''. For offenses against man—the other type of crime in Sharia—that involve inflicting bodily harm Islamic law prescribes a retaliatory punishment analogous to the crime (''

qisas ''Qisas'' or ''Qiṣāṣ'' ( ar, قِصَاص, Qiṣāṣ, lit=accountability, following up after, pursuing or prosecuting) is an Islamic term interpreted to mean "retaliation in kind",Mohamed S. El-Awa (1993), Punishment In Islamic Law, Amer ...

'') or monetary compensation (''

diya Diya may refer to: * ''Diya (film)'', 2018 Tamil- and Telugu-language film * Diya (Islam), Islamic term for monetary compensation for bodily harm or property damage * Diya (lamp), ghee- or oil-based candle often used in South Asian religious ceremo ...

''); and for other crimes the form of punishment is left to the judge's discretion (''

ta'zir In Islamic Law, ''tazir'' (''ta'zeer'' or ''ta'zir'', ar, تعزير) refers to punishment for offenses at the discretion of the judge (Qadi) or ruler of the state.amputation Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indi ...

of limbs, is part of the legal systems of

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Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

, the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

, and

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Scriptural basis

''Hudud'' offenses are mentioned in the

. The punishments for these offenses are drawn from both the

and the

Sunnah In Islam, , also spelled ( ar, سنة), are the traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time evidently saw and followed and passed ...

. The

does not define the offenses precisely: their definitions were elaborated in

fiqh ''Fiqh'' (; ar, فقه ) is Islamic jurisprudence. Muhammad-> Companions-> Followers-> Fiqh. The commands and prohibitions chosen by God were revealed through the agency of the Prophet in both the Quran and the Sunnah (words, deeds, and ...

(Islamic jurisprudence).

Quran

The Qur'an describes several ''hudud'' crimes and in some cases sets out punishments.Silvia Tellenbach (2015), "Islamic Criminal Law", In ''The Oxford Handbook of Criminal Law'' (Ed: Markus D. Dubber and Tatjana Hornle), Oxford University Press, , pp. 251-253 The ''hudud'' crime of theft is referred to in Quran verse 5:38: The crime of "robbery and civil disturbance against Islam" inside a Muslim state is referred to in Quran 5:33: The crime of illicit consensual sex is referred to in several verses, including Quran 24:2: The crime of "accusation of illicit sex against chaste women without four witnesses" and a ''hudud'' punishment is based on Quran 24:4, 24:6, among others Quranic verse.

Hadiths

The crime of drinking alcohol is referred to in Quranic verse 5:90, and ''hudud'' punishment is described in ''hadiths'': The ''

sahih Hadith terminology ( ar, مصطلح الحديث, muṣṭalaḥu l-ḥadīth) is the body of terminology in Islam which specifies the acceptability of the sayings (''hadith'') attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad by other early Islamic fig ...

s'', a compilation of sayings, practices and traditions of

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...

as observed by his companions, are considered by

Sunni Muslims Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

to be the most trusted source of Islamic law after the

. They extensively describe ''hudud'' crimes and punishments. In some cases Islamic scholars have used hadiths to establish ''hudud'' punishments, which are not mentioned in the Quran. Thus, stoning as punishment for

is based on hadiths that narrate episodes where Muhammad and his successors prescribed it. The tendency to use existence of a ''shubha'' (lit. doubt, uncertainty) to avoid ''hudud'' punishments is based on a hadith that states "avert ''hadd'' punishment in case of ''shubha''".

''Hudud'' offences and punishments

The offences subject to ''hudud'' punishment: * Some types of theft (sariqa, السرقة). Punished with amputation of a hand. * Highway robbery (''

hirabah In Islamic law, ''hirabah'' is a legal category that comprises highway robbery (traditionally understood as aggravated robbery or grand larceny, unlike theft, which has a different punishment), rape, and terrorism. Ḥirābah ( ar, حرابة) is ...

'', ''qat' al-tariq''). Punished with death followed by crucifixion, amputation of the right hand and the left foot (the combined right-left double amputation procedure is known as the ancient punishment of "cross-amputation") or banishment. Different punishments are prescribed for different scenarios and there are differences of opinion regarding specifics within and between legal schools. *

Apostasy Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that i ...

(''riddah'', ردة or ''irtidad'', ارتداد), leaving Islam for another religion or for atheism, is regarded as one of ''hudud'' crimes liable to capital punishment in traditional Maliki, Hanbali and Shia jurisprudence, but not in Hanafi and Shafi’i ''fiqh'' as the hudud are a

kaffarah Fidyah ( ar, الفدية) and Kaffara ( ar, links=no, كفارة) are religious donations made in Islam when a fast (notably in Ramadan) is missed or broken. The donations can be of food, or money, and it is used to feed those in need. They are m ...

for the hudud offences, though these schools all regard apostasy as a grave crime and prescribe the death penalty for apostates. * Illicit sexual intercourse (''

'', الزنا). Includes pre-marital sex and extra-marital sex. Classification of homosexual intercourse as zina differs according to legal school. Although stoning for zina is not mentioned in the Quran, all schools of traditional jurisprudence agreed on the basis of

that it is to be punished by stoning if the offender is ''muhsan'' (adult, free, Muslim, and married or previously married).

Lashing Lash or Lashing may refer to: * Eyelash * Whiplash (disambiguation) * Lashing (ropework), a form of connecting solid objects tightly using rope or cord * Flagellation, a form of torture or punishment involving a whip * Backlash (engineering), cle ...

is the penalty for offenders who are not muhsan, i.e. they do not meet all of the above criteria. The offenders must have acted of their own free will. * False accusation of ''zina'' (''qadhf'', القذف). Punished by 80 lashes. * Drinking alcohol (''shurb al-khamr'').M. Cherif Bassiouni (1997)
Crimes and the Criminal Process
, ''Arab Law Quarterly'', Vol. 12, No. 3 (1997), pp. 269–286 Punished by 40 to 80 lashes, depending on the legal school. * Rebellion (''baghi''). Although it is not listed as a hudud offense in most works of

(Islamic jurisprudence), rebellion against a Muslim ruler is considered a ''hadd'' offense by some jurists, based on Quran 49:9. There is juristic consensus that the rebels must be exhorted to lay down their arms through a trusted negotiator before loyal troops have a license to fight and kill them. There are a number of differences in views between the different ''

madhhab A ( ar, مذهب ', , "way to act". pl. مَذَاهِب , ) is a school of thought within ''fiqh'' (Islamic jurisprudence). The major Sunni Mathhab are Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali. They emerged in the ninth and tenth centuries CE an ...

s'' with regard to the punishments appropriate in specific situations and the required process before they are carried out. There are also legal differences (''

ikhtilaf Ikhtilāf ( ar, اختلاف, lit=disagreement, difference) is an Islamic scholarly religious disagreement, and is hence the opposite of ijma. Direction in Quran After Muhammad's death, the Verse of Obedience stipulates that disagreements or Ikh ...

'') over the term limitation of pronouncing the punishment. Hanafite scholars assert that punishment for hadd crimes other than ''qadhf'' (false accusation of illegal sex) have to be implemented within a month; except for witnesses with a valid legal justifications for delayed testimony or in cases of self-confession.

Marja' Marji ( ar, مرجع, transliteration: ''marjiʿ''; plural: ''marājiʿ''), literally meaning "source to follow" or "religious reference", is a title given to the highest level of Twelver Shia authority, a Grand Ayatollah with the authority giv ...

following

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...

jurisprudence generally believe that ''hudud'' punishments can be changed by appropriately qualified jurists. Murder, injury and property damage are not ''hudud'' crimes in

Islamic criminal jurisprudence Islamic criminal law ( ar, فقه العقوبات) is criminal law in accordance with Sharia. Strictly speaking, Islamic law does not have a distinct corpus of "criminal law". It divides crimes into three different categories depending on the ...

, and are subsumed under other categories of Islamic penal law, which are: *

Qisas ''Qisas'' or ''Qiṣāṣ'' ( ar, قِصَاص, Qiṣāṣ, lit=accountability, following up after, pursuing or prosecuting) is an Islamic term interpreted to mean "retaliation in kind",Mohamed S. El-Awa (1993), Punishment In Islamic Law, Amer ...

(meaning retaliation, and following the principle of "

eye for an eye "An eye for an eye" ( hbo, עַיִן תַּחַת עַיִן, ) is a commandment found in the Book of Exodus 21:23–27 expressing the principle of reciprocal justice measure for measure. The principle exists also in Babylonian law. In Roman c ...

"), and

diyah ''Diya'' ( ar, دية; plural ''diyāt'', ar, ديات) in Islamic law, is the financial compensation paid to the victim or heirs of a victim in the cases of murder, bodily harm or property damage by mistake. It is an alternative punishment to ' ...

("blood money", financial compensation paid to the victim or heirs of a victim in the cases of murder, bodily harm or property damage. Diyyah is an alternative to Qisas for the same class of crimes). *

Ta'zeer In Islamic Law, ''tazir'' (''ta'zeer'' or ''ta'zir'', ar, تعزير) refers to punishment for offenses at the discretion of the judge (Qadi) or ruler of the state.discretion of the judge.

History

Because the stringent traditional restrictions on application of ''hudud'' punishments, they were rarely applied historically. Criminals who escaped ''hudud'' punishments could still be sanctioned under the system of ''

tazir In Islamic Law, ''tazir'' (''ta'zeer'' or ''ta'zir'', ar, تعزير) refers to punishment for offenses at the discretion of the judge (Qadi) or ruler of the state.qisas ''Qisas'' or ''Qiṣāṣ'' ( ar, قِصَاص, Qiṣāṣ, lit=accountability, following up after, pursuing or prosecuting) is an Islamic term interpreted to mean "retaliation in kind",Mohamed S. El-Awa (1993), Punishment In Islamic Law, Amer ...

''. In practice, since early on in

Islamic history The history of Islam concerns the political, social, economic, military, and cultural developments of the Islamic civilization. Most historians believe that Islam originated in Mecca and Medina at the start of the 7th century CE. Muslims r ...

, criminal cases were usually handled by ruler-administered courts or local police using procedures that were only loosely related to Sharia. During the 19th century, Sharia-based criminal laws were replaced by statutes inspired by European models nearly everywhere in the Islamic world, except some particularly conservative regions such as the Arabian peninsula. Islam in practice

Under pressure from Islamist movements, recent decades have witnessed re-introduction of ''hudud'' punishments and by 2013 about a dozen of the 50 or so Muslim-majority countries had made ''hudud'' applicable, many countries have disregarded traditional strict requirements. In 1979

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

instituted the Hudood Ordinances. In July 1980

stoned to death four offenders in

Kerman Kerman ( fa, كرمان, Kermân ; also romanization of Persian, romanized as Kermun and Karmana), known in ancient times as the satrapy of Carmania, is the capital city of Kerman Province, Iran. At the 2011 census, its population was 821,394, in ...

. By the late 1980s,

Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...

and

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

had "enacted laws to grant courts the power to hand down hadd penalties". During the 1990s

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, and northern

followed suit. In 1994 the

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

i president

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...

(who had persecuted and executed many Islamists), issued a decree "ordering that robbers and car thieves should lose their hands".

adopted hudud laws in 2014. Enforcement of ''hudud'' punishments has varied from country to country. In Pakistan and

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

, ''hudud'' punishments have not been applied at all because of strict requirements. In Nigeria local courts have passed several stoning sentences for zina, all of which were overturned on appeal and left unenforced because of lack of enough evidence. During the first two years when Sharia was made state law in Sudan (1983 and 1985), a ''hudud'' punishment for theft was inflicted on some criminals, and then discontinued though not repealed. Floggings for moral crimes have been carried out since the codification of Islamic law in Sudan in 1991 and continue. In 2012 a Sudanese court sentenced Intisar Sharif Abdallah, a teenager, to death by stoning in the city of Omdurman under article 146 of Sudan's Criminal Act after charging her with "adultery with a married person". She was held in Omdurman prison with her legs shackled, along with her 5-month-old baby. (She was released on July 3, 2012 after an international outcry.) The ''hudud'' punishment for '' zinā'' in cases of consensual sex and the punishment of rape victims who failed to prove the coercion, which has occurred in some countries, have been the subject of a global human rights debate. In Pakistan many rape victims who have failed to prove accusations have been jailed this has been criticized as leading to "hundreds of incidents where a woman subjected to rape, or gang rape, were eventually accused of ''zināʾ''" and incarcerated. Kennedy states that majority of cases against women jailed on charges of zina in Pakistan are filed by their family members against disobedient daughters and estranged wives as harassment suits. Hundreds of women in Afghanistan jails are victims of rape or domestic violence, accused of zina under tazir.Afghanistan - Moral Crimes
Human Rights Watch (2012); Quote "Some women and girls have been convicted of zina, sex outside of marriage, after being raped or forced into prostitution. Zina is a crime under Afghan law, punishable by up to 15 years in prison." In Pakistan, over 200,000 ''zina'' cases against women under the Hudood laws were under way at various levels in Pakistan's legal system in 2005.Pakistan
Human Rights Watch (2005) In addition to thousands of women in prison awaiting trial for ''zina''-related charges, rape victims in Pakistan have been reluctant to report rape because they feared being charged with ''zina''. The resulting controversy prompted the law to be amended in 2006, though the amended version has been criticized for continuing to blur the legal distinction between rape and consensual sex. Crucifixion in Islam, at least in

, takes the form of displaying beheaded remains of a perpetrator "for a few hours on top of a pole". They are far fewer in number than executions. One case was that of Muhammad Basheer al-Ranally who was executed and crucified on December 7, 2009 for "spreading disorder in the land" by kidnapping, raping and murdering several young boys. ISIS has also reportedly crucified prisoners.

Requirements for conviction

Illegal sex

There are certain standards for proof that must be met in Islamic law for ''zina'' punishment to apply. In the Shafii, Hanbali, and Hanafi law schools

Rajm Rajm ( ar, رجم; meaning stoning)E. Ann Black, Hossein Esmaeili and Nadirsyah Hosen (2014), Modern Perspectives on Islamic Law, , pp. 222-223Rudolph Peters, Crime and Punishment in Islamic Law, Cambridge University Press, , pp. 37 in Islam refe ...

(public stoning) or lashing is imposed for religiously prohibited sex only if the crime is proven, either by four male adults witnessing at first hand the actual sexual intercourse at the same time or by self-confession. For the establishment of adultery, four male Muslim witnesses must have seen the act in its most intimate details. Shia Islam allows substitution of one male Muslim with two female Muslims, but requires that at least one of the witnesses be a male. The Sunni

Maliki The ( ar, مَالِكِي) school is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas in the 8th century. The Maliki school of jurisprudence relies on the Quran and hadiths as primary ...

school of law consider pregnancy in an unmarried woman as sufficient evidence of ''zina'', unless there is evidence of rape or compulsion.Z. Mir-Hosseini (2011), "Criminalizing sexuality: zina laws as violence against women in Muslim contexts," ''SUR-International Journal on Human Rights'', 8(15), pp. 7–33 The punishment can be averted by a number of legal "doubts" (''shubuhat''), however, such as existence of an invalid marriage contract or possibility that the conception predates a divorce. The majority Maliki opinion theoretically allowed for a pregnancy lasting up to seven years, indicating a concern of the jurists to shield women from the charge of ''zina'' and to protect children from the stigma of illegitimacy. These requirements made zina virtually impossible to prove in practice. If a person alleges ''zina'' and fails to provide four consistent Muslim witnesses, or if witnesses provide inconsistent testimonies, they can be sentenced to eighty lashes for unfounded accusation of fornication ('' qadhf''), itself a ''hadd'' crime." Rape was traditionally prosecuted under legal categories requiring less stringent evidentiary rules.A. Quraishi (1999), "Her honour: an Islamic critique of the rape provisions in Pakistan's ordinance on zina," ''Islamic studies'', Vol. 38, No. 3, pp. 403–431 In Pakistan, the Hudood Ordinances of 1979 subsumed prosecution of rape under the category of zina, making rape extremely difficult to prove and exposing the victims to jail sentences for admitting illicit intercourse. The resulting controversy prompted the law to be amended in 2006, though the amended version is still criticized by some for blurring the legal distinction between rape and consensual sex.

Theft

Malik ibn Anas, the originator of the

judicial school of thought, recorded i
The Muwatta
of many detailed circumstances under which the punishment of hand cutting should and should not be carried out. Commenting on the verse in the Quran on theft, Yusuf Ali says that most Islamic jurists believe that "petty thefts are exempt from this punishment" and that "only one hand should be cut off for the first theft." Islamic jurists disagree as to when amputation is mandatory religious punishment. This is a fatwa given by Taqī al-Dīn ʿAlī b. ʿAbd al-Kāfī al-Subkī (d. 756/1356), a senior Shafi scholar and judge from one of the leading scholarly families of Damascus: The Imam and Shaykh said: It has been agreed upon that the ''Hadd'' unishmentis obligatory for one who has committed theft and

or whom the following conditions apply Or or OR may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * "O.R.", a 1974 episode of M*A*S*H * Or (My Treasure), a 2004 movie from Israel (''Or'' means "light" in Hebrew) Music * ''Or'' (album), a 2002 album by Golden Boy with Miss ...

All of this was said by ʿAlī b. Aḥmad b. Saʿīd (probably Ibn Ḥazm, d. 1064). And the Imam and Shaykh added: and it is also on the condition that

he thief's He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

confession not precede the testimony and then after it he retracts is confession For if the thief does that first and then direct evidence (''bayyina'') is provided of his crime and then he retracts his confession, the punishment of amputation is dropped according to the more correct opinion in the Shafi school, because the establishment

f guilt F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''. Hist ...

came by confession not by the direct evidence. So his retraction is accepted.

Efficacy

Amputation

Those arguing in favor of that the hudud punishment of amputation for theft often describe the visceral horror/fear of losing a hand as providing strong deterrence against theft, while at the same time the numerous requirements for its application make it seldom used and thus more humane than other punishments. Supporters include Abdel-Halim Mahmoud, the rector of Azhar from 1973 to 1978, who stated it was not only ordained by God but when implemented by

Ibn Saud Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud ( ar, عبد العزيز بن عبد الرحمن آل سعود, ʿAbd al ʿAzīz bin ʿAbd ar Raḥman Āl Suʿūd; 15 January 1875Ibn Saud's birth year has been a source of debate. It is generally accepted ...

in Saudi Arabia brought law and order to his land — though amputation was carried out only seven times. In his popular book ''Islam the Misunderstood Religion'',

Muhammad Qutb Muhammad Qutb, (; ar, محمد قطب;‎ 1919 – April 4, 2014) was a Muslim author, scholar and teacher who is best known as the younger brother of the Egyptian Muslim thinker Sayyid Qutb. After his brother was executed by the Egyptian gove ...

asserts that amputation punishment for theft "has been executed only six times throughout a period of four hundred years". However, according to historian Jonathan A.C. Brown, at least in the mid-1100s in the Iraqi city of

Mosul Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second large ...

the Muslim jurists found the punishment less than effective. Faced with a crime wave of theft the ulama "begged their new sultan ... to implement harsh punishments" outside of sharia. The hands of arrested thieves were not being cut off because evidentiary standards were so strict, nor were they deterred by the ten lashes (discretionary punishment or

tazir In Islamic Law, ''tazir'' (''ta'zeer'' or ''ta'zir'', ar, تعزير) refers to punishment for offenses at the discretion of the judge (Qadi) or ruler of the state.hadith Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...

Disputes and debates over reform

InterKoneXiones 2012 in Hannover T-Shirt No to patriachy

A number of scholars/reformers

William Montgomery Watt William Montgomery Watt (14 March 1909 – 24 October 2006) was a Scottish Orientalist, historian, academic and Anglican priest. From 1964 to 1979, he was Professor of Arabic and Islamic studies at the University of Edinburgh. Watt was one of ...

quoted in Gerhard Endress, ''Islam: An Introduction to Islam'', Columbia University Press, 1988, p. 31reformers cited by Esposito have suggested that traditional ''hudud'' penalties "may have been suitable for the age in which Muhammad lived" but are no longer, or that "new expression" for "the underlying religious principles and values" of Hudud should be developed.

Tariq Ramadan Tariq Ramadan ( ar, طارق رمضان, ; born 26 August 1962) is a Swiss Muslim academic, philosopher, and writer. He was a professor of contemporary Islamic studies at St Antony's College, Oxford and the Faculty of Theology and Religion, Univ ...

has called for an international moratorium on the punishments of ''hudud'' laws until greater scholarly consensus can be reached. Many contemporary Muslim scholars think that the ''hudud'' punishments are not absolute obligations as it is an act of ''mu'amalah'' (non-worship), thus, they think that ''hudud'' is the maximum punishment. ''Hudud'' punishments have been called incompatible with international norms of human rights and sometimes simple justice. At least one observer (Sadakat Kadri) has complained that the inspiration of faith has not been a guarantee of justice, citing as an example the execution of two dissidents for "waging war against God" (''

Moharebeh In Islamic law, ''hirabah'' is a legal category that comprises highway robbery (traditionally understood as aggravated robbery or grand larceny, unlike theft, which has a different punishment), rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually ...

'') in the Islamic Republic of Iran—the dissidents waging war by organizing unarmed political protests. The Hudood Ordinance in Pakistan led to the jailing of thousands of women on zina-related charges, were used to file "nuisance or harassment suits against disobedient daughters or estranged wives". Kennedy, ''Islamization of Laws and Economy'', 1996: p.64 The sentencing to death of women in Pakistan, Nigeria, Sudan for zina caused international uproar, being perceived as not only as too harsh, but an "odious" punishment of victims not wrongdoers. Among the questions critics have raised about the modern application of hudud, include: why, if the seventh-century practice is divine law eternally valid and not to be reformed, have its proponents instituted modern innovations? These include use of general anesthetic for amputation (in Libya, along with instruction to hold off if amputation might "prove dangerous to he offender'shealth"), selective introduction (leaving out crucifixion in Libya and Pakistan), using gunfire to expedite death during stoning (in Pakistan). Another question is why they have been so infrequently applied both historically and recently. There is only one record of a stoning in the entire history of Ottoman Empire, and none at all in Syria during Muslim rule. Modern states that "have so publicly enshrined them over the past few decades have gone to great lengths to avoid their imposition." There was only one amputation apiece in Northern Nigeria and Libya, no stonings in Nigeria. In Pakistan the "country's medical profession collectively refused to supervise amputations throughout the 1980s", and "more than three decades of official Islamization have so far failed to produce a single actual stoning or amputation." (Saudi Arabia is the exception with four stonings and 45 amputations during the 1980s though they were overturned because of lack of required evidence.) Among two of the leading Islamist movements, the

Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ( ar, جماعة الإخوان المسلمين'' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan ...

has taken "a distinctly ambivalent approach" toward ''hudud'' penalties with "practical plans to put them into effect ... given a very low priority;" and in Pakistan,

Munawar Hasan Syed Munawar Hasan ( ur, سید منور حسن; 5 January 194026 June 2020) was a Pakistani politician who served as the 4th Emir of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, Jamaat-e-Islami from 2009 to 2014. He was a elected as a member of the National Ass ...

, then ''Ameer'' (leader) of the

Jamaat-e-Islami Jamaat-e-Islami ( ur, ) () is an Islamic movement founded in 1941 in British India by the Islamic theologian and socio-political philosopher, Syed Abul Ala Maududi.van der Veer P. and Munshi S. (eds.''Media, War, and Terrorism: Responses fro ...

, has stated that "unless and until we get a just society, the question of punishment is just a footnote." Supporting ''hudud'' punishments are Islamic revivalists such as Abul A'la Maududi who writes that in a number of places the Quran "declares that sodomy is such a heinous sin ... that it is the duty of the Islamic State to eradicate this crime and ... punish those who are guilty of it." According to Richard Terrill, ''hudud'' punishments are considered claims of God, revealed through Muhammad, and as such immutable, unable to be altered or abolished by people, jurists or parliament. Opposition to hudud (or at least minimizing of hudud) within the framework of Islam comes in more than one form. Some (such as elements of the MB and JI mentioned above) support making its application wait for the creation of a "just society" where people are not "driven to steal in order to survive." Another follows the Modernist approach calling for ''hudud'' and other parts of Sharia to be re-interpreted from the classical form and follow broad guidelines rather than exact all-encompassing prescriptions. Others consider hudud punishments "essentially deterrent in nature" to be applied very, very infrequently. Others (particularly

Quranists Quranism ( ar, القرآنية, translit=al-Qurʾāniyya'';'' also known as Quran-only Islam) Brown, ''Rethinking tradition in modern Islamic thought'', 1996: p.38-42 is a movement within Islam. It holds the belief that traditional religious c ...

) propose excluding ahadith and using only verses in the Quran in formulating Islamic Law, which would exclude stoning (though not amputation, flogging or execution for some crimes).Edip Yuksel, Layth Saleh al-Shaiban, Martha Schulte-Nafeh, ''Quran: A Reformist Translation,'' Brainbow Press, 2007Aisha Y. Musa
The Qur’anists
, Florida International University, accessed May 22, 2013. The vast majority of Muslims and most Islamic scholars, however, consider both Quran and

hadiths to be a valid source of Sharia, with Quranic verse 33.21, among others,, , , , Muhammad Qasim Zaman (2012), ''Modern Islamic Thought in a Radical Age'', Cambridge University Press, , pp. 30–31 as justification for this belief.Neal Robinson (2013), ''Islam: A Concise Introduction'', Routledge, , Chapter 7, pp. 85–89

Notes

References

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