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'''Amputation''', is the removal of part or all of a body part enclosed by skin.<ref>[http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=12537 Definition of Amputation] - Medicine Net</ref>  Within the context of [[Islam]], it refers to the removal of the hands or feet. This, along with beheading, flogging, [[stoning]], and [[crucifixion]], is a prescribed punishment in [[Islamic law]].  
'''Amputation''', is the removal of part or all of a body part enclosed by skin.<ref>[http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=12537 Definition of Amputation] - Medicine Net</ref>  Within the context of [[Islam]], it refers to the removal of the hands or feet. This, along with beheading, flogging, [[stoning]], and [[crucifixion]], is a prescribed punishment in [[Islamic law]].  


==In The Modern World==
==Modern World==


Today in Saudi Arabia, for example, amputation for criminal punishment is not performed by a medical professional but rather by the designated professional executioner who also earns his living beheading people.<ref>[http://www.arabnews.com/?page=0&section=1&article=27038&d=5&m=6&y=2003 Kingdom’s Leading Executioner Says: ‘I Lead a Normal Life’ - Mahmoud Ahmad, Arab News - June 5, 2003]</ref>  Muhammad Saad Al-Beshi, Saudi Arabia's leading executioner, describes amputation:
Today in Saudi Arabia, for example, amputation for criminal punishment is not performed by a medical professional but rather by the designated professional executioner who also earns his living beheading people.<ref>[http://www.arabnews.com/?page=0&section=1&article=27038&d=5&m=6&y=2003 Kingdom’s Leading Executioner Says: ‘I Lead a Normal Life’ - Mahmoud Ahmad, Arab News - June 5, 2003]</ref>  Muhammad Saad Al-Beshi, Saudi Arabia's leading executioner, describes amputation:
{{Quote|2=I use a special sharp knife, not a sword.  When I cut off a hand I cut it from the joint. If it is a leg the authorities specify where it is to be taken off, so I follow that.<ref>[http://www.arabnews.com/?page=0&section=1&article=27038&d=5&m=6&y=2003 Kingdom’s Leading Executioner Says: ‘I Lead a Normal Life’ - Mahmoud Ahmad, Arab News - June 5, 2003]</ref>}}
{{Quote|2=I use a special sharp knife, not a sword.  When I cut off a hand I cut it from the joint. If it is a leg the authorities specify where it is to be taken off, so I follow that.<ref>[http://www.arabnews.com/?page=0&section=1&article=27038&d=5&m=6&y=2003 Kingdom’s Leading Executioner Says: ‘I Lead a Normal Life’ - Mahmoud Ahmad, Arab News - June 5, 2003]</ref>}}


Amputation is used as punishment for theft in Nigeria, which reintroduced shariah law in 1999.<ref>[http://www.mg.co.za/article/2005-09-19-nigerian-islamic-court-orders-amputation Nigerian Islamic court orders amputation - Mail & Guardian Online - September 19, 2005]</ref> This, along with other shari'a punishments, are "overwhelmingly" supported by the Nigerian Muslim population,<ref name="Nigerian Muslims Support Sharia">[http://www.peacewomen.org/news/Nigeria/October03/harsh.html NIGERIAN MUSLIMS SUPPORT HARSH PUNISHMENT] - Peace Women, October 2, 2003</ref> and by 2003 three men already had their arms amputated for stealing; a goat, a cow, and two bicycles.<ref name="Nigerian Muslims Support Sharia"></ref> In the chaotic Islamic Somalia, one horrified man found guilty of stealing was put on public display like some barbaric, depraved form of entertainment as his hand was severed at the wrist and then dangled by the index finger for all to see.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8057179.stm Somali justice - Islamist-style by Mohamed Mohamed, BBC Somali Service - May 20, 2009]</ref>  His is not the only story.  In June of the same year (2009), a court run by an extremist Islamic group sentenced four Somali men to each have a hand and a leg cut off for allegedly stealing mobile phones and guns.<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,528139,00.html Islamic Extremists Sentence 4 Somalis to Amputations - Associated Press, FoxNews.com - June 22, 2009]</ref><ref>[http://www.javno.com/en-world/somali-islamists-amputate-teenagers-hands-legs_267541 Somali Islamists Amputate Teenagers` Hands, Legs - JAVNO, June 25, 2009]</ref>  In 2008, the Islamic Republic of Iran saw five double amputations in a single week--five convicted robbers were each sentenced to have their right hands and left feet amputated.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/world/middleeast/11iran.html Spate of Executions and Amputations in Iran - Nazila Fathi, The New York Times - January 11, 2008]</ref>
Amputation is used as punishment for theft in Nigeria, which reintroduced shariah law in 1999.<ref>[http://www.mg.co.za/article/2005-09-19-nigerian-islamic-court-orders-amputation Nigerian Islamic court orders amputation - Mail & Guardian Online - September 19, 2005]</ref> This, along with other shari'ah punishments, are "overwhelmingly" supported by the Nigerian Muslim population,<ref name="Nigerian Muslims Support Sharia">[http://www.peacewomen.org/news/Nigeria/October03/harsh.html NIGERIAN MUSLIMS SUPPORT HARSH PUNISHMENT] - Peace Women, October 2, 2003</ref> and by 2003 three men already had their arms amputated for stealing; a goat, a cow, and two bicycles.<ref name="Nigerian Muslims Support Sharia"></ref>  


When the Taliban, an Islamic militant group, took over Afghanistan in 1996, within a year, public executions, amputations and stonings were a regular Friday event in Kabul.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1600136.stm Flashback: When the Taleban took Kabul - Terence White, former AFP correspondent in Kabul - BBC News - October 15, 2001]</ref>  In 1998, the AFP reported this gruesome event:
In Somalia, one man found guilty of stealing was put on public display as his hand was severed at the wrist and then dangled by the index finger.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8057179.stm Somali justice - Islamist-style by Mohamed Mohamed, BBC Somali Service - May 20, 2009]</ref> In June of the same year (2009), a court run by an Islamic group sentenced four Somali men to each have a hand and a leg cut off for allegedly stealing mobile phones and guns.<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,528139,00.html Islamic Extremists Sentence 4 Somalis to Amputations - Associated Press, FoxNews.com - June 22, 2009]</ref><ref>[http://www.javno.com/en-world/somali-islamists-amputate-teenagers-hands-legs_267541 Somali Islamists Amputate Teenagers` Hands, Legs - JAVNO, June 25, 2009]</ref> 
 
In 2008, the Islamic Republic of Iran saw five double amputations in a single week--five convicted robbers were each sentenced to have their right hands and left feet amputated.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/world/middleeast/11iran.html Spate of Executions and Amputations in Iran - Nazila Fathi, The New York Times - January 11, 2008]</ref>
 
When the Taliban, an Islamic militant group, took over Afghanistan in 1996, within a year, public executions, amputations and stonings were a regular Friday event in Kabul.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1600136.stm Flashback: When the Taleban took Kabul - Terence White, former AFP correspondent in Kabul - BBC News - October 15, 2001]</ref>  In 1998, the AFP reported this event:
{{Quote|2=The hardline Taliban Friday publicly executed a murderer and amputated limbs of two robbers amid shouts of "God is the Greatest" at the Kabul stadium, witnesses said. Thousands of Taliban soldiers and citizens, including women, watched the proceedings. The murderer squatted and after his face was covered with a pink mask he was shot dead by the father of the man allegedly killed by the accused earlier this year. Later a team of surgeons wearing blue masks chopped off right hands and left feet of two men convicted of highway robbery. The surgeons amputated the limbs after anaesthetizing the convicts and left the severed limbs on the ground for the spectators to rush and have a close look. The three were convicted by a military tribunal created by the Taliban supreme leader Mulla Omar to deal with criminal cases under the Islamic Sharia law. Taliban, who now control almost three-quarter of Afghanistan, have enforced punishments in public under the Islamic law which they say helped deter and curb criminal acts.<ref>[http://www.rawa.org/execute4.htm Taliban publicly execute murderer, amputate two robbers - AFP - August 14, 1998]</ref>}}
{{Quote|2=The hardline Taliban Friday publicly executed a murderer and amputated limbs of two robbers amid shouts of "God is the Greatest" at the Kabul stadium, witnesses said. Thousands of Taliban soldiers and citizens, including women, watched the proceedings. The murderer squatted and after his face was covered with a pink mask he was shot dead by the father of the man allegedly killed by the accused earlier this year. Later a team of surgeons wearing blue masks chopped off right hands and left feet of two men convicted of highway robbery. The surgeons amputated the limbs after anaesthetizing the convicts and left the severed limbs on the ground for the spectators to rush and have a close look. The three were convicted by a military tribunal created by the Taliban supreme leader Mulla Omar to deal with criminal cases under the Islamic Sharia law. Taliban, who now control almost three-quarter of Afghanistan, have enforced punishments in public under the Islamic law which they say helped deter and curb criminal acts.<ref>[http://www.rawa.org/execute4.htm Taliban publicly execute murderer, amputate two robbers - AFP - August 14, 1998]</ref>}}


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==Hadith==
==Hadith==


While the majority of Muslim translators have remained true to the Arabic text, many apologists have attempted to obscure the plain meaning of {{Quran|5|38}}. However, the [[hadith]] prove its meaning is entirely literal. Furthermore, Prophet [[Muhammad]] and the early generations of Muslims had no qualms with it being so.
While the majority of Muslim translators have remained true to the Arabic text, many apologists have attempted to obscure the plain meaning of {{Quran|5|38}}. However, the [[hadith]] prove its meaning is entirely literal. Furthermore, [[Muhammad]] and the early generations of Muslims had no qualms with it being so.


===How to qualify for the punishment===
===How to qualify for the punishment===
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{{Quote|1={{Abudawud|38|4378}}|2=Narrated Jabir ibn Abdullah: The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Cutting of hand is not to be inflicted on one who plunders, but he who plunders conspicuously does not belong to us.}}
{{Quote|1={{Abudawud|38|4378}}|2=Narrated Jabir ibn Abdullah: The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Cutting of hand is not to be inflicted on one who plunders, but he who plunders conspicuously does not belong to us.}}


Allah needs all the hands he can get during times of war, so they are not to be cut off during an expedition.
Able-bodied men are needed during times of war, so hands are not to be cut off during an expedition.


{{Quote|1={{Abudawud|38|4394}}|2=Narrated Busr ibn Artat: Junadah ibn AbuUmayyah said: We were with Busr ibn Artat on the sea (on an expedition). A thief called Misdar who had stolen a bukhti she-camel was brought. He said: I heard the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) say: Hands are not to be cut off during a warlike expedition. Had it not been so, I would have cut it off.}}
{{Quote|1={{Abudawud|38|4394}}|2=Narrated Busr ibn Artat: Junadah ibn AbuUmayyah said: We were with Busr ibn Artat on the sea (on an expedition). A thief called Misdar who had stolen a bukhti she-camel was brought. He said: I heard the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) say: Hands are not to be cut off during a warlike expedition. Had it not been so, I would have cut it off.}}
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==Scholars==
==Scholars==
===Origins of the punishment among the pagan Arabs===
{{Quote|1=[http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=780&Itemid=60 The Necessity of Cutting off the Hand of the Thief]<BR>Tafsir Ibn Kathir on verse 5:38|2=Allah commands and decrees that the hand of the thief, male or female be cut off. During the time of Jahiliyyah, this was also the punishment for the thief, and Islam upheld this punishment. In Islam, there are several conditions that must be met before this punishment is carried out, as we will come to know, Allah willing. There are other rulings that Islam upheld after modifying these rulings, such as that of blood money for example.}}


===Is the repentance of a thief acceptable?===
===Is the repentance of a thief acceptable?===


{{Quote|1=[http://www.tafsir.com/default.asp?sid=5&tid=13843 Repentance of the Thief is Acceptable]<BR>Tafsir Ibn Kathir|2=(But whosoever repents after his crime and does righteous good deeds, then verily, Allah will pardon him. Verily, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.) Therefore, whoever repents and goes back to Allah after he commits theft, then Allah will forgive him. Imam Ahmad recorded that `Abdullah bin `Amr said that a woman committed theft during the time of the Messenger of Allah and those from whom she stole brought her and said, "O Allah's Messenger! This woman stole from us.'' Her people said, "We ransom her." The Messenger of Allah said,
{{Quote|1=[http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=778&Itemid=60 Repentance of the Thief is Acceptable]<BR>Tafsir Ibn Kathir on verse 5:38|2=(But whosoever repents after his crime and does righteous good deeds, then verily, Allah will pardon him. Verily, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.) Therefore, whoever repents and goes back to Allah after he commits theft, then Allah will forgive him. Imam Ahmad recorded that `Abdullah bin `Amr said that a woman committed theft during the time of the Messenger of Allah and those from whom she stole brought her and said, "O Allah's Messenger! This woman stole from us.'' Her people said, "We ransom her." The Messenger of Allah said,


(Cut off her hand.) They said, "We ransom her with five hundred Dinars." The Prophet said,
(Cut off her hand.) They said, "We ransom her with five hundred Dinars." The Prophet said,
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==See Also==
==See Also==


* [[Punishments]]'' - A hub page that leads to other articles related to Punishments''
{{Hub4|Punishments|Punishments}}


==External Links==
==External Links==
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*[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1331789/Sharia-lessons-pupils-aged-BBC-uncovers-weekend-schools.html#ixzz15zhbIrbV Sharia lessons for pupils aged six: BBC uncovers 'weekend schools' that teach pupils how to hack off thieves' hands] ''- James Slack, The Daily Mail, November 22, 2010''
*[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1331789/Sharia-lessons-pupils-aged-BBC-uncovers-weekend-schools.html#ixzz15zhbIrbV Sharia lessons for pupils aged six: BBC uncovers 'weekend schools' that teach pupils how to hack off thieves' hands] ''- James Slack, The Daily Mail, November 22, 2010''
*[http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mareeg.com%2Ffidsan.php%3Fsid%3D18724%26tirsan%3D3&date=2011-02-12 AL-Shabab cuts young boy's hand In El-bur district]'' - MareegOnline, 2011''
*[http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mareeg.com%2Ffidsan.php%3Fsid%3D18724%26tirsan%3D3&date=2011-02-12 AL-Shabab cuts young boy's hand In El-bur district]'' - MareegOnline, 2011''
*[http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/02/28/syrian-extremists-amputated-a-mans-hand-and-live-tweeted-it/ Syrian extremists amputated a man’s hand and live-tweeted it] '' - The Washington Post, February 28, 2014'' ([http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=de2_1393694098 watch the video])


===Videos===
===Videos===
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*[http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2009/07/sharia-law-this-is-what-god-said.html Sharia Law And Forced Amputations In Nigeria: "This is What God Said"]
*[http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2009/07/sharia-law-this-is-what-god-said.html Sharia Law And Forced Amputations In Nigeria: "This is What God Said"]
*[http://www.apostatesofislam.com/media/handcutting.htm Cutting of hands and feet]
*[http://www.apostatesofislam.com/media/handcutting.htm Cutting of hands and feet]
*[http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=de2_1393694098 GRAPHIC - Syria - ISIS terrorists struggle to cut off man's hand] (March 2014) - (see [http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/02/28/syrian-extremists-amputated-a-mans-hand-and-live-tweeted-it/ related news report])


==References==
==References==
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[[Category:Islamic Law]]
[[Category:Islamic Law]]
[[Category:Articles needing to be rewritten]]
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