The fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth books all relate to the subject of crime: the forms and categories of crime, the procedure of investigating them, and the punishments resultant from having committed them.

Muslim fiqh (law) divides punishment into three heads: hadd, qisAs, and ta�zIr.  Hadd (pl. HadUd) comprises punishments that are prescribed and defined in the QurAn and the HadIs.  These include stoning to death (rajm) for adultery (zinA); one hundred lashes for fornication (QurAn 24:2-5); eighty lashes for slandering an �honorable� woman (husun), i.e., accusing her of adultery; death for apostatizing from Islam (irtidAd); eighty lashes for drinking wine (shurb); cutting off the right hand for theft (sariqah, QurAn 5:38-39); cutting off of feet and hands for highway robbery; and death by sword or crucifixion for robbery accompanied by murder.

The law also permits qisAs, or retaliation.  It is permitted only in cases where someone has deliberately and unjustly wounded, mutilated, or killed another, and only if the injured and the guilty hold the same status.  As slaves and unbelievers are inferior in status to Muslims, they are not entitled to qisAs according to most Muslim faqIhs (jurists).

In cases of murder, the right of revenge belongs to the victim�s heir.  But the heir can forgo this right and accept the blood-price (diyah) in exchange.  For the death of a woman, only half of the blood-price is due.  The same applies to the death of a Jew or a Christian, but according to one school, only one-third is permissible in such cases.  If a slave is killed, his heirs are not entitled to qisAs and indemnity; but since a slave is a piece of property, his owner must be compensated with his full value.

The Muslim law on crime and punishment is quite complicated.  Though the QurAn gives the broad outline, the HadIsalone provides a living source and image.

author : ram swarup