Crime and Punishment

• Shari'a law in Islam


  Defines different categories of punishment
• Shari'a law


  Relates to different areas of law (criminal, civil and family law)
• There is debate about how appropriate it is to use shari'a in different settings
• The interpretation and application of shari'a today raises important questions: is it at all appropriate in secular states and if so, in what way?
• Particular punishments regarding the death penalty raise issues
• Main punishments defined in shari'a law

  • Hudud crimes (transgress God's laws, fixed punishments including corporal and capital punishment)
  • Qisas crimes (against other individuals, retaliation or compensation)
  • Tazir crimes (lesser offences, decided by a Qazi judge)
• The Qur'an gives the right to ask for punishment but makes the point that forgiveness is better
• The Ottoman Caliphate in the 19th century underwent a modernisation process in updating law and introducing secular style systems
• Approaches to shari'a law in Muslim countries


  • Strict shari'a (e.g. Iran, Saudi Arabia)
  • Dual system (e.g. Pakistan)
  • Secular law
• Secular law has developed in modern states, making some people critical of shari'a: they argue that equality before the law is an important principle therefore different systems should not exist
• The death penalty is considered wrong by many modern campaigners
• Some argue the death penalty is justified because Muhammad used it


  Others argue it was really the tribal way of the time and not appropriate today
• The position of women in shari'a courts dealing with family law and divorce settlements is a concern - women's evidence is considered less than men
• The Medieval scholar Kafi al-Subki provided an 83-point checklist of excuses why shari'a punishments might be set aside, making them practically impossible to use
• Some Muslims, having faced oppression by corrupt or cruel Muslim rulers, see moral justification in using what they see as God's law