islamic laws and punishment

[sky_012]

:salam2:
ok sorry for asking so many questions at the same time, but this is really important to undersntand something for me,

i heard many times and even recently on tv, that for instance, if someone stoles something his hand should be cut, and i know that in some islamic countries, these things are respected and done, and there are many punishements given to any kind of sinner, even for some it is death,

and in some other islamic countries, if someone steal soemthing, they won't cut his hand,

i wanted to know, if these are rules are really islamic rules, and one should apply them, how is it possible for a thief to be forgiven by Allah SWT while in some other countries, stealing only even once, and if the person get caught, it changes ur life forever, i know Allah SWT is the Most Mercifull, the Forgiver, but how can someone be forgiven without having the legal punishement of islamic rule, and some other they didn't get the chance to repent and they have very hard physical pain and sometimes their lives are taken

sincerely JAzak Allah for enlightenning me

Wassalam

 

[visionusman]

Assalamualaikum sister. Firstly Allah knows best and all praises are for Him alone.

These punishments are classed under the title of Hud. Islam does not have many custodial sentences. A thief shall have his hand chopped off and if he repeats it a second time then the other hand too. Now this is only applicable if the state has first fulfilled her duties towards this citizen If he steals out of complete destitution he should not face the same sentence. However on the other hand some one living in a country where there is ample opportunity for a livelihood, yet the thief is found to be habitual, then what do you recommend? Have the societies of the developed countries become any safer? The home office in the UK has instructed judges not to send too many people to prisons. Sex Offenders have not been given prison terms because of these extraordinary conditions.

Have you ever thought who pays for these prisoners and the facilties they get. For many the prison is just a break. They get to live with like minded people in very good conditions. Where, in all of this, is the deterrant to prevent a crime. The victim on the hand is told this is a soft crime. I have had two thefts unfortunately myself and have been told by the police on both occasions that nothing can be done. The crimes unfortunately did not have a priority. Yet for me the loss on both occasions was immense. I work hard for my living and some one gets all that for free. Is there a way of stopping this crime. Apparantly not in the UK. They only talk of figures and distorted statistics. Thats what they do.

 

[ripefig]

:salam2:

There is no doubt that Allah is compassionate and merciful. He may forgive any sin (except ascribing partners to him) because he is Allah and he is in control of every affair. If we look closely at the punishment in the Quran prescribed by Allah most high, we can see the wisdom in it. For instance the cutting out of the hand of the thief. Prevention seem to be the main factor. In countries with those laws a man could leave his business open and go to pray, when he returns his possessions are still there. In other countries (who comment on these laws as barbaric), a teenager would steal a car and commit more robberies because he knows that even if he is caught he will be let go shortly and he could continue his career as a thief. Now what about the pain and suffering he may have caused hundreds or even thousands of people. If we weigh that against just him suffering I think the answer is clear. One more example is a guy I was talking to about two weeks ago. He had some problem with a building inspector and said he could kill him and do eight years. He said "I will do eight years and come back out but he will be six feet under". I have spoken to many non Muslims who have great respect for the Islamic law and wish to see it applied in their own situation. To end, Allah most high is the best disposer of affairs.

 

[ibn azem]

:salam2:

Praise be to Allaah.


Theft is haraam according to the Qur’aan, Sunnah and scholarly consensus (ijmaa’). Allaah has condemned this action and decreed an appropriate punishment for it. The hadd punishment for a thief is to cut off his hand. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And (as for) the male thief and the female thief, cut off (from the wrist joint) their (right) hands as a recompense for that which they committed, a punishment by way of example from Allaah. And Allaah is All Powerful, All Wise” [al-Maa’idah 5:38]

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The hand should be cut off for (the theft of) a quarter of a dinar or more.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, al-Hudood, 6291)

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) cursed the thief because he is a corrupt element in society, and if he is left unpunished, his corruption will spread and infect the body of the ummah. He (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, “May Allaah curse the thief who steals an egg and has his hand cut off, or steals a rope and has his hand cut off.” (al-Bukhaari, al-Hudood, 6285).

What indicates that this ruling is definitive is that fact that a Makhzoomi noblewoman stole at the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and Usaamah ibn Zayd wanted to intercede for her. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) became angry and said, “Do you intercede concerning one of the hadd punishments set by Allaah? Those who came before you were destroyed because if a rich man among them stole, they would let him off, but if a lowly person stole, they would carry out the punishment on him. By Allaah, if Faatimah bint Muhammad were to steal, I would cut off her hand.” (al-Bukhaari, Ahaadeeth al-Anbiyaa’, 3216)

This is the ruling of Allaah concerning theft, that the hand should be cut off from the wrist joint.

Al-Nawawi said in his commentary on Saheeh Muslim: Al-Shaafa'i, Abu Haneefah, Maalik and the majority (of scholars) said: The hand should be cut off from the wrist, where the hand meets the forearm. Al-Qurtubi said: all the scholars said: The hand should be cut off from the wrist, not as some of the innovators do when they cut off the fingers and leave the thumb.

Because cutting off the hand is a serious matter, cutting off the hand of the thief should not be done for just any case of theft. A combination of conditions must be fulfilled before the hand of a thief is cut off. These conditions are as follows:

The thing should have been taken by stealth; if it was not taken by stealth, then (the hand) should not be cut off, such as when property has been seized by force in front of other people, because in this case the owner of the property could have asked for help to stop the thief.

1- The stolen property should be something of worth, because that which is of no worth has no sanctity, such as musical instruments, wine and pigs.

2- The value of the stolen property should be above a certain limit, which is three Islamic dirhams or a quarter of an Islamic dinar, or their equivalent in other currencies.

3- The stolen property should have been taken from a place where it had been put away, i.e., a place where people usually put their property, such as a cupboard, for example.

4- The theft itself has to be proven, either by the testimony of two qualified witnesses or by the confession of the thief twice.

5- The person from whom the property was stolen has to ask for it back; if he does not, then (the thief’s) hand does not have to be cut off. ​

If these conditions are fulfilled, then the hand must be cut off. If this ruling was applied in the societies which are content with man-made laws and which have cast aside the sharee’ah of Allaah and replaced it with human laws, this would be the most beneficial treatment for this phenomenon.

But the matter is as Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):​

“Do they then seek the judgement of (the days of) Ignorance? And who is better in judgement than Allaah for a people who have firm Faith” [al-Maa’idah 5:50]


See al-Jaami’ li Ahkaam al-Qur’aan, 6/159; al-Mulakhkhas al-Fiqhi, 2/442

 

[sky_012]

JAzak Allah for the information

i don't say anything against these laws because i know behind every commendment there is indeed a wisdom , which are very obvious

but i wanted to ask this, if someone has stolen something and lives in the west, nobody will cut his hands, but imagine, after a time, he realizes his sin and wants to repent, and return everything, will Allah SWT forgive him ? because if he was in another country his hand whould have been cut and about people who stay with the same gender, in iran, they kill them , and i also heard it iss said to kill them, imagine in the west Astagfirullah, people do same but one day they want to repent and know how bad they did, can they be forgiven ? genereally can soemone be forgiven without having the legal punishement under the islamic law, the thing is that the thief in the west, he still has the chance to repent, if he wants witohut having any punishement, while on the other side if he lived in another place, and his robbery was obvious , he would have had the punishement

please enlighten me on this

i don't even know if someone understands my question
wassalam

 

[Globalpeace]

Contextualisation of information is necessary!

Asslamo Allaikum Brother,

Hadd is the Islamic system of punishment applied after a due judicial process during which a Qadhi (Muslim Judge) decides the guilt of the person:

1) During the judicial process the whole crime, reasons for crime are taken into account and if the person is found guilty then the punishment is given. The person is given the right to defend himself/herself and all evidence (even circumstantial) is taken into account. I would have liked you to read a translation that I posted on this forum (Protection of Women bill 2006) but I think it may have been removed; it may be beneficial for you to read.
2) Please note that often the punishment is waived due to circumstances and it was waived (temporarily) wholesale during the reign of the second Khalifa Umar (RA) during drought when it was thought that theft may occur because of the drought
3) When the guilt is established then ONLY the family of the victim (I am discussing murder here & not theft) has the right to waive the punishment & forgive the person and this happens a lot as well

Once the person is found guilty after due process then the Hadd must be enforced as it is injunction of Allah (SWT) and I will now relate to you a story about the British when they colonised Nigeria (you can search on the web and find this story; I read the English version it in the Impact magazine and the sources were quoted there)

When the British colonised Nigeria there were shocked to find the death penalty of adultery so they reasoned to the Mufti of Nigeria for this to be repelled as the British thought this was barbaric. During the argument the British judge asked the Mufti if he had EVER awarded this penalty and the answer was negative, the question was then repeated about the Mufti’s father (Mufti’s predecessor) and the answer was still No but the Mufti recalled that he did hear about his my grand-father who had dealt with a case of adultery.

Points are:

1) It is NOT an ad-hoc system
2) If it is implemented then theft wouldn’t remain common; the conflict in your mind is arising from the fact that theft is so common; shop-lifting is NOT even considered a serious crime because it is so common that the police can’t be asked to investigate and prosecute people; just ask the small shop-owners who loose serious amounts of money & would like to see these idiots HANGED!
3) You are looking at it from the perpetrators point of view; but what about the victim (read point two)…
4) It is impossible to walk around in most major cities of the world with the latest gadgets (mobiles, PS2 etc.) and if you display a wad of cash then you have had it!
5) I gave Shahada to a Hindu girl years ago who came to speak to me about Islamic barbaric laws and I challenged her to walk in South San Diego (California) in the late hours of the night alone and get away with it!..Allah (SWT) made her the see the reasons and she became Muslim

 

[ibn azem]

Bismillah,

:salam2:

Your question is clear dear sister.

The answer to that is that the person should sincerely repent to Allaah, and even if he lives in the west and the act of Hadd has not been carried out on him, insha'Allaah he will be forgiven.
Further:

How does a thief repent?

Answer:


If what he has stolen is still in his possession it should be returned to the owner. If it has been used or disposed of, then an amount equivalent to its value should be returned to the owner--unless the owner is willing to forgive.


Excerpts from the book "I would like to repent BUT..."

Also if the person wants to return what he stole:

I find it extremely difficult to go back to those whom I had stolen from, nor can I ever confess to them in order to gain their forgiveness. What shall I do?

Answer:


It is not necessary for you to face the embarrassment of informing them yourself, or offering compensation in person. You can send their dues to them say, by mail, or through another person without revealing your identity. You can also place it in their sight without their knowledge, or say to them if you have to go in person that "someone" - who doesn't like to reveal his name - says this is your property. In short, the important thing is to return to the people their property.


Excerpts from the book "I would like to repent BUT..."

Repentance from all sins is obligatory on every adult Muslim. This is emphasized by Allaah is His saying: "And all of you beg Allah to forgive you all, O believers, that you may be successful." (An-Noor 24:31) The meaning of ‘ Tawbah’ is to turn back to Allaah by abandoning all major and minor sins and to repent to Allaah from all known and unknown sins. Al-Agharr Al-Muzanee narrated that the Messenger of Allaah saws said:

“O people! Repent to Allaah and seek for His forgiveness. I repent to Him in a day 100 times.” (Reported by Muslim).

A sincere repentance according to the scholars has conditions:

1. To discontinue the sin.

2. To regret over its occurrence.

3. To determine never to go back to that sin again.

4. To give back the right to whom it is due if the sin involves a man.

The Prophet saws has also informed us that repentance can be done any time during the day or night. Aboo Moosaa Al-Ash‘aree narrated that the Prophet saws said:

“Allaah holds out His Hand during the night to receive the repentance of the one who has committed wrong during the day and holds outs His Hand during the day to receive the repentance of the one who has committed wrong during the night.” (Muslim)

Indeed, Allaah is very happy when any of His slaves repents. If he responds to the call of his Lord and repents, he will have a prosperous life in this world and the good rewards in the hereafter. If he however does not repent, Allaah will punish him for his sins and He is not unjust with anyone.

Among the logical reasons behind Allaah’s love for His slaves’s repentance is that one of His attributes is ‘At-Tawwaab’ (the One who accepts repentance). It indicates that Allaah accepts the repentance even if it is done repeatedly. And this attribute necessitates the existence of a sinner who repents from his sins so that Allaah will accept his repentance and forgive him. All other beautiful names of Allaah are like that. Each name demonstrates a great attribute of Allaah that the name contains and each of Allaah’s Beautiful Names necessitates the appearance of its signs on the universe.

Another reason behind His love for His slave’s repentance is that Allaah Himself is the Benefactor, Master of Infinite Goodness; whoever obeys Him through repentance He will be kind to him and reward him in this world and the next and whoever neglects repentance, Allaah will be kind to him in this world and will punish him in the hereafter for his evil deeds; for your Lord is not unjust towards His slaves.

Further, it is alright to repent from some sins though one will be held responsible for sins that are not repented from.

The Door of repentance is open to all and sundry until the sun rises from the west. It is then that the door of repentance will be closed and faith will be of no avail to a soul which has not believed before. Safwaan ‘Assaal narrated that he heard the Messenger of Allaah saws saying:

“Allaah opened a door west side for seventy years for the purpose of repentance, it will not be closed until the sun will rises from the west.” (At-Tirmidhee)

Allaah has also promised the best reward and good abode for the repentant when He says: “(The believers whose Allaah has purchased are) those who repent to Allaah (from polytheism and hypocrisy, etc.), who worship Him, who praise Him, who fast (or go out in Allaah’s cause), who prostrate themselves (in prayer), who enjoin (people) for Al-Ma‘ruf (i.e. Islamic Monotheism and all what Islam has ordained) and forbid (people) from Al-Munkar (i.e. disbelief, polytheism of all kinds and all that Islam has forbidden), and who observe the limits set by Allah (do all that Allah has ordained and abstain from all kinds of sins and evil deeds which Allah has forbidden). and give glad tidings to the believers.” (At-Tawbah 9:112)

To emphasize Allaah’s love for the repentance of His servant, the Prophet saws said:

“Allaah is happier when a servant of His repents to Him than a man who was on his camel in a waterless desert and the camel escaped from him with his food and water. When he has lost hope of finding it, he retired to a tree and lied down under its shade. As he was there, the camel suddenly appeared in front of him. He took hold of its halter and said in his state of excessive joy: ‘O my Lord You are my servant and I am Your Lord’. He uttered this erronious statement as a result of his being over-joyed.”(Muslim)

Repentance is an act of worship done by the Prophets, Messengers and pious people. Allaah says:

“Allah has forgiven the Prophet, the Muhajirun (Muslim emigrants who left their homes and came to A-Madinah) who followed him (Muhammad) in the time of distress (Tabuk expedition, etc.), after the hearts of a party or them had nearly deviated (from the Right Path), but He accepted their repentance. Certainly, He is unto them full of Kindness, Most Merciful.” (At-Tawbah 9:117)

Muslim as a matter of necessity needs repentance every second of his life; he needs it after performing righteous deeds or after perpetrating forbidden acts. The Almighty says:

“Seek the forgiveness of your Lord, and turn to Him in repentance, that He may grant you good enjoyment, for a term appointed, and bestow His abounding Grace to every owner of grace (i.e. the one who helps and serves needy and deserving, physically and with good words). But if you turn away, then I fear for you the torment of a Great Day (i.e. the Day of Resurrection).” (Hood 11:3)

Fear Allaah that you may attain His Pleasure and Paradise and be saved from His wrath and punishment. Allaah says:

“ But as for him who repented (from polytheism and sins, etc.), believed (in the Oneness of Allah and His Messenger Muhammad), and did righteous deeds (in the life or this world), then he will be among those who are successful.” (Qasas 28:67)

The Prophet saws also said:

“Indeed, Allaah accepts the repentance of man as long as he hasnt started gargling (i.e. dying).”

And Allaah says:

“And turn in repentance and in obedience with true Faith (Islamic Monotheism) to your Lord and submit to Him (in Islam), before the torment comes upon you, then you will not be helped. And follow the best of that which is sent downto you from your Lord (i.e. this Qur’an, do what it orders you to do and keep away from what it forbids), before the torment comes on you suddenly while you perceive not.” (Az-Zumar 39:54-55).

 

[BintMuhammad]

Assalamu alaikum,

The links below might help.

The hadd punishment for theft

She committed adultery when she was a minor – should the hadd punishment be carried out on her?

The punishment for homosexuality

 

[Aspirant]

Misjudgement and other Questions



Hello respected Brothers ans Sisters. This is my first post in this forum. Starting I have to say that I´m not a Muslim. I´m in an undiceded religious state. I´ve red about Islam and I appreciate this religion. But in some cases there are Problems for me to accept it. Here are some of these:

As known there are many misjudged death-penalties in the U.S. Doomed man are generaly black and from low social status. Riches can pay good advocates.
Death-penalty for murder does´nt prevent murder. The cases of murder in states of U.S. upholding the death penalty are not lower than in states without death-penalty.

May it be that harsh Penalties in Islamic law prevent stealing (shop-lifting...): does that really compensate the high risk of misjudgement? Two witnesses with false perception or conspiracing people are easy to suggest.

Next point: Homosexuality. Islamic law demands the death-penalty for that. Putting aside the possibility of misjudgement and conspiracy my Question is: What is the horrible aspekt of the fact that two men or two women having sex with each other - of their own volition? Is there anybody who is injured by these people? It is scientific commonsense that sexual orientation is caused by biological factors (genes) and not by things as seduction. A homosexual cannot decide to be hetero. Furthermore homosexuality ist common in fauna. Bulls and other animals are doing it sometimes with their own sex. I´m not homosexual, but if I were, I would have no choice except of denying my sexuality. And if I decide to deny it, I would not be able to impede my thoughts.
Islam goes west. Thousands of people in EU and US converted, Millions of Islamic Immigrants live in the west. Do they in their majority want so bring up this Islamic law?
According to some literature there ist no country in the world where Islamic law is fully applied. Saudi Arabia and Nigeria should be the most harsh. (Most interesting Nigeria is famous of 419 scam....). So you see, in practice there are mostly compromises. To my opinion, if Islam will really expand in the west, it has to make clear that it accepts the standards of human rights, so as the catholic church, which in the middle age burns women to death (comparable with stoning and chopping off hands) has accepted these standard (this struggle lasts some hundred years).