The penal laws of Islām are called ḥudūd1 in the Ḥadīth and Jurisprudence books. In the parlance of jurists, the word ḥudūd is limited to punishment for crimes mentioned in the Holy Qur’ān or the Ḥadīth, while other punishments left to the discretion of the Imām or the ruler are spoken of as ta‘zīr (lit., chastisement). 2
It should be pointed out at the very beginning of a discussion on the penal laws of Islām, that all violations of Divine limits in a general sense are not punishable by the state; punishment is inflicted only in those cases in which there is violation of other people’s rights. For instance, neglect of prayer, or omission to keep fasts or perform pilgrimage is not punishable; but in the case of zakāt there is a difference. Zakāt is a charity as well as a tax, and the Holy Prophet appointed official collectors to collect the zakāt, which was received in the state treasury (bait al-māl), thus showing that its collection was a duty of the Muslim state. Hence it was that when, after the death of the Holy Prophet, certain Arab tribes refused to pay, Abū Bakr the first Caliph sent out troops against them, this step being taken because the withholding of zakāt on the part of an entire tribe was tantamount to rebellion.
The punishable crimes in Islamic law are those which affect society; and those spoken of in the Holy Qur’ān are murder, dacoity or highway robbery, theft, adultery or fornication (zinā) and accusation of adultery. Before discussing in detail the various punishments prescribed in these cases, it may be stated that the Holy Qur’ān lays down a general law for the punishment of offences in the following words: “And the recompense of evil (sayyi’ah) is punishment (sayyi’ah) like it, but whoever forgives and amends, he shall have his reward from Allāh” (42:40). This golden rule is of very wide application, since
1 This word is the plural of ḥadd, which means prevention, hindrance, restraint, prohibition and hence a restrictive ordinance, or statute of God, respecting things lawful and things unlawful (LL.). The same authority then goes on to add: “Ḥudūd of God are of two kinds: first, those ordinances prescribed to men respecting eatables and drinkables and marriages, etc., what are lawful thereof and what are unlawful, the second kind, castigations, or punishments, prescribed, or appointed, to be inflicted upon him who does that which he has been forbidden to do.
2 The general word for punishment is ‘uqūbah (from ‘aqb meaning one thing coming after another), being so called because punishment follows transgression.