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Islamic criminal law (فقه العقوبات) is criminal law in accordance with Islamic law. Strictly speaking, Islamic law does not have a distinct corpus of "criminal law," as sharia courts do not have prosecutors, and all matters, even criminal ones, are in principle handled as disputes between individuals.[1] Instead of a separate corpus of criminal law, Islamic law maintains a special category of "offenses against god," or "hudud," whose punishments are fixed.
There are four classes of crimes in Islam, divided according to their mention in the Quran.[2][3]
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Hudud, meaning "limits", is the most serious category and includes crimes specified in the Quran.
These are:[2]
The Shafi'i school of Islamic jurisprudence does not include highway robbery. The Hanafi school does not include rebellion and heresy.
Except for drinking alcohol, punishments for all hudud crimes are specified in the Quran or Hadith: stoning-Hadith, amputation and flogging.
The punishment for stealing is the amputation of the hand and after repeated offense, the foot (Quran 5:38). This controversial practice is still in practice today in countries like Iran[4], Saudi Arabia[5], and Northern Nigeria[6]. In Iran, amputation as punishment has been described as "uncommon", but "not unheard of, and has already been carried out at least once" during 2010.[7]
Qisas is the Islamic principle of an eye for an eye. This category includes the crimes of murder and battery.
Punishment is either exact retribution or compensation (Diyya).
The issue of qisas gained considerable attention in the Western media in 2009 when Ameneh Bahrami, an Iranian woman blinded in an acid attack, demanded that her attacker be blinded as well.[8][9]
Tazir includes any crime that does not fit into Hudud or Qisas and which therefore has no punishment specified in the Quran. These types of crimes range from homosexuality to perjury to treason.
Diyya is compensation paid to the heirs of a victim. In Arabic the word means both blood money and ransom.
The Quran specifies the principle of Qisas (ie, retaliation), but prescribes that one should seek compensation (Diyya) and not demand retribution.
We have prescribed for thee therein ‘a life for a life, and an eye for an eye, and a nose for a nose, and an ear for an ear, and a tooth for a tooth, and for wounds retaliation;’ but whoso remits it, it is an expiation for him, but he whoso will not judge by what God has revealed, these be the unjust.[10]