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Islam: Practices That Shape Religious Identity

Crime and punishment in Islamic ethics

  • 3 things to know
  • Component 1

Overview

Aims of punishment in traditional Islamic thought, three categories of punishment in Islamic law and hudud punishments.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

What are the aims of punishment in traditional Islamic thought?

Key term

Name the three categories of punishment in Islamic law.

Key term

What is qisas?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What are the aims of punishment in traditional Islamic thought?

    Model answer

    Punishment aims to deter crime, protect society, uphold God's law and allow the offender to be purified. Retribution is limited throughout by strict proportionality.

  2. 2

    Name the three categories of punishment in Islamic law.

    Model answer

    Punishments are classified as qisas, hudud and tazir. Each category rests on a different source of authority.

  3. 3

    What is qisas?

    Model answer

    Qisas is retaliation in kind for murder or bodily injury, so that the punishment matches the harm. Sura 2:178 and Sura 5:45 set out the principle.

  4. 4

    What alternative to qisas does the Qur'an encourage?

    Model answer

    The victim's family may accept diya, compensation, instead of retaliation. Sura 5:45 describes remitting the penalty as an act of atonement.

  5. 5

    What are hudud punishments?

    Model answer

    Hudud are fixed penalties for a small number of offences named in the Qur'an and sunna. Theft, adultery, false accusation of adultery and highway robbery make up the usual list.

  6. 6

    Why were hudud punishments rarely applied in classical law?

    Model answer

    The standards of proof are extremely high, requiring confession or several eyewitnesses to the act itself. A hadith directs judges to avert the hudud wherever doubt exists.

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