Amputation in Islamic Law
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Definition
Amputation, is the removal of part or all of a body part enclosed by skin.[1] 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.
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.[2] Muhammad Saad Al-Beshi, Saudi Arabia's leading executioner, describes amputation:
Amputation is used as punishment for theft in Nigeria, which reintroduced shariah law in 1999.[4] This, along with other shari'ah punishments, are "overwhelmingly" supported by the Nigerian Muslim population,[5] and by 2003 three men already had their arms amputated for stealing; a goat, a cow, and two bicycles.[5]
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.[6] 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.[7][8]
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.[9]
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.[10] In 1998, the AFP reported this event:
Qur'an
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, Muhammad and the early generations of Muslims had no qualms with it being so.
How to qualify for the punishment
Exceptions to the law
Plundering is not considered to be thievery.
Able-bodied men are needed during times of war, so hands are not to be cut off during an expedition.
Amputation not needed for thieves who steal fruit.
He told him that he had heard the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) say: The hand is not to be cut off for taking fruit or the pith of the palm-tree. The man then said: Marwan has seized my slave and wants to cut off his hand. I wish you to go with me to him and tell him that which you have heard from the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him). So Rafi' ibn Khadij went with him and came to Marwan ibn al-Hakam.
Rafi' said to him: I heard the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) say: The hand is not to be cut off for taking fruit or the pith of the palm-tree. So Marwan gave orders to release the slave and then he was released.Thieves who repent must still be punished
Story continued in Sahih Muslim 17:4188 and Sahih Bukhari 8:81:792...
Here the story is confirmed by yet another narrator:
The habitual thief
So his (left) foot was cut off. He was brought a third time and he said: Kill him. The people said: He has committed theft, Apostle of Allah! So he said: Cut off his hand. (So his (left) hand was cut off.) He was brought a fourth time and he said: Kill him. The people said: He has committed theft, Apostle of Allah! So he said: Cut off his foot. So his (right) foot was cut off. He was brought a fifth time and he said: Kill him.
So we took him away and killed him. We then dragged him and cast him into a well and threw stones over him.The thieving slave and Aisha
Amra continued, "The slave took it and unstitched it and took out the cloak. In its place, he put some felt or skin and sewed it up again. When the mawla girls came to Madina, they gave it to his people. When they opened it, they found felt in it and did not find the cloak. They spoke to the two women and they spoke to A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, or they wrote to her and suspected the slave. The slave was asked about it and confessed. A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, gave the order and his hand was cut off. A'isha said, 'A thief's hand is cut off for a quarter of a dinar and upwards.'"
Malik said, "The limit I prefer above which cutting off the hand is obliged is three dirhams, whether the exchange is high or low. That is because the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, cut off the hand of a thief for a shield whose value was three dirhams, and Uthman ibn Affan cut off the hand of a thief for a citron which was estimated at three dirhams. This is what I prefer of what I have heard on the matter."Miscellaneous
Malik's Muwatta contains many more ahadith regarding amputation laws:
Scholars
Origins of the punishment among the pagan Arabs
Tafsir Ibn Kathir on verse 5:38
Is the repentance of a thief acceptable?
(Cut off her hand.) They said, "We ransom her with five hundred Dinars." The Prophet said,
(Cut off her hand.) Her right hand was cut off and the woman asked, "O Messenger of Allah! Is there a chance for me to repent" He said,
(Yes. This day, you are free from your sin just as the day your mother gave birth to you.) Allah sent down the verse in Surat Al-Ma'idah,
(But whosoever repents after his crime and does righteous good deeds (by obeying Allah), then verily, Allah will pardon him. Verily, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.) This woman was from the tribe of Makhzum. Her story was narrated in the Two Sahihs from Az-Zuhri from `Urwah from `A'ishah, The incident caused concern for the Quraysh after she committed the theft during the time of the battle of the Conquest [of Makkah]. They said, "Who can talk to Allah's Messenger about her matter" They then said, "Who dares speak to him about such matters other than Usamah bin Zayd, his loved one." When the woman was brought to the Messenger of Allah , Usamah bin Zayd talked to him about her and the face of the Messenger changed color (because of anger) and he said,
(Do you intercede in a punishment prescribed by Allah) Usamah said to him, "Ask Allah to forgive me, O Allah's Messenger!" During that night, the Messenger of Allah stood up and gave a speech and praised Allah as He deserves to be praised. He then said,
(Those who were before you were destroyed because when an honorable person among them would steal, they would leave him. But, when a weak man among them stole, they implemented the prescribed punishment against him. By Him in Whose Hand is my soul! If Fatimah the daughter of Muhammad stole, I will have her hand cut off.) The Prophet commanded that the hand of the woman who stole be cut off, and it was cut off.Tafsir Ibn Kathir on verse 5:38
Where should amputated limbs be buried?
This matter is open, because amputated limbs do not come under the same ruling as the whole person. There is no reason why they should not be put with the garbage, but burying them in the ground out of respect towards them is preferable. But the matter is open, praise be to Allaah, as we said. They do not have to be washed (ghusl) and buried unless it is a foetus of more than four months’ gestation. But if it was merely flesh into which the soul had not yet been breathed, or it was an amputated finger or something similar, then the matter is open. But burying it in the ground is good and is preferable.
Kitaab Majmoo’ Fataawa wa Maqaalaat Mutanawwi’ah li Samaahat al-Shaykh al-‘Allaamah ibn Baaz , vol. 9, p. 436Islam Q&A, Fatwa No. 10100
Can a thief have his hand surgically reattached?
The thief has no right to have the amputated hand reattached, because that means that the signs of the punishment for his crime disappear, and the effectiveness of the rebuke and lesson is lost. It is contrary to the idea of punishment and example as mentioned in the verse in which 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]
Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, 22/220.Islam Q&A, Fatwa No. 13926
See Also
- Punishments - A hub page that leads to other articles related to Punishments
External Links
News
- Reports from Fundamentalism-stricken Afghanistan - RAWA.org
- Eyewitness: Nigeria's Sharia amputees - BBC News, December 19, 2002
- Incorporating Sharia into legal systems - BBC News - February 8, 2008
- Iranian chocolate thief 'to have hand chopped off' - AFP, October 16, 2010
- More hands amputated in Iran - Seven people lost a hand to set an “example” for other convicts
- 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
- AL-Shabab cuts young boy's hand In El-bur district - MareegOnline, 2011
- Syrian extremists amputated a man’s hand and live-tweeted it - The Washington Post, February 28, 2014 (watch the video)
Videos
References
- ↑ Definition of Amputation - Medicine Net
- ↑ Kingdom’s Leading Executioner Says: ‘I Lead a Normal Life’ - Mahmoud Ahmad, Arab News - June 5, 2003
- ↑ Kingdom’s Leading Executioner Says: ‘I Lead a Normal Life’ - Mahmoud Ahmad, Arab News - June 5, 2003
- ↑ Nigerian Islamic court orders amputation - Mail & Guardian Online - September 19, 2005
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 NIGERIAN MUSLIMS SUPPORT HARSH PUNISHMENT - Peace Women, October 2, 2003
- ↑ Somali justice - Islamist-style by Mohamed Mohamed, BBC Somali Service - May 20, 2009
- ↑ Islamic Extremists Sentence 4 Somalis to Amputations - Associated Press, FoxNews.com - June 22, 2009
- ↑ Somali Islamists Amputate Teenagers` Hands, Legs - JAVNO, June 25, 2009
- ↑ Spate of Executions and Amputations in Iran - Nazila Fathi, The New York Times - January 11, 2008
- ↑ Flashback: When the Taleban took Kabul - Terence White, former AFP correspondent in Kabul - BBC News - October 15, 2001
- ↑ Taliban publicly execute murderer, amputate two robbers - AFP - August 14, 1998