RELIGIOUS VIEWS

ISLAM AND CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

Islam on the whole accepts capital punishment.

...Take not life, which God has made sacred, except by way of justice and law. Thus does He command you, so that you may learn wisdom

Qur'an 6:151

But even though the death penalty is allowed, forgiveness is preferable. Forgiveness, together with peace, is a predominant Quranic theme.

Muslims believe that capital punishment is a most severe sentence but one that may be commanded by a court for crimes of suitable severity. While there may be more profound punishment at the hands of God, there is also room for an earthly punishment.

Methods of execution in Islamic countries vary and can include beheading, firing squad, hanging and stoning. In some countries public executions are carried out to heighten the element of deterrence.

Each case is regarded individually and with extreme care and the court is fully able to impose more lenient sentences as and when they see fit.

Islamic countries that practice a very strict Sharia law are associated with the use of capital punishment as retribution for the largest variety of crimes.

At the other end of the spectrum are countries such as Albania and Bosnia, which still retain the death penalty as part of their penal system, but are abolitionist in practice.

In Islamic law, the death penalty is appropriate for two groups of crime:

•         Intentional murder: In these cases the victim's family is given the option as to whether or not to insist on a punishment of this severity

•         Fasadfil-ardh ('spreading mischief in the land'): Islam permits the death penalty for anyone who threatens to undermine authority or destabilize the state

What constitutes the crime of 'spreading mischief in the land' is open to interpretation, but the following crimes are usually included:

•         Treason/apostasy (when one leaves the faith and turns against it)

•         Terrorism

•         Piracy of any kind

•         Rape

•         Adultery

•         Homosexual activity

Whilst Islam remains firmly retentionist, there is a small but growing abolitionist Islamic view. Their argument is as follows:

•         The Ulamas (those who are learned in Islamic Law, constitution and theology) do not always agree on the interpretation or authenticity of the sacred texts. Neither do they agree on the social context in which these texts should be applied.

•         Sharia law is often used by repressive powers that attack women and the poor.

•         There are incidences of these states summarily executing those who are accused whilst denying them access to a lawyer. These acts are totally contradictory to the concept of Islamic justice.

In Geneva, on 28th April 2005, there was a call for a moratorium on corporal punishment, stoning and death penalty. This was, however, rejected by the Legal Research Commission of the Al-Azhar University in Cairo, the world's leading Islamic learning Centre.

Some forms of Islamic law, as in Saudi Arabia, may require capital punishment, but there is great variation within Islamic nations as to actual capital punishment. Apostasy in Islam and stoning to death in Islam are controversial topics. Furthermore, as expressed in the Qur'an, capital punishment is condoned. Instead, murder is treated as a civil crime and is covered by the law of retaliation, whereby the relatives of the victim decide whether the offender is punished with death by the authorities or made to pay diyah as compensation. Muslims frequently refer to the story of Cain and Abel when referring to killing someone. The Qur'an says the following:

"If anyone kills person– unless it be (a punishment) for murder or for spreading mischief in the land— it would be as if he killed all people. And if anyone saves a life, it would be as if he saved the life of all people" (Qur'an 5:32).

This verse, in accordance with the Mosaic Law, maintains that the punishment for murder is the death penalty. "Mischief in the land" has been interpreted universally to refer to one who upsets the stability of the entire nation or community, in that his actions seriously damage the society, either through corruption, war or otherwise.

Although many hard line and extremist MuslimHYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Societies"societies have adopted capital punishment for other than the crime of murder, this is in violation of the QuranicHYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law"law mentioned above, and so is rejected by most orthodox commentators and scholars.

However, there is also a minority view within some Muslims that capital punishment is not justified in the light of Qur'an.

In Islamic law, the death penalty is applied for a limited number of cases, including murder and adultery. Adultery and murder fall into different categories of crime. Adultery is a haddcrime, the most serious type of crime because its punishment is clearly articulated in the Qur’an and thus there can be no leniency. However, with this type of crime, the burden of proof is incredibly high. Four people must witness the act of penetration and agree on all the details. Moreover, circumstantial evidence is not sufficient and pregnancy is not proof of adultery.

Murder, on the other hand, is a qisas crime, which means it involves retaliation. This is when there is intentional murder and the victim’s family has the right to ask for the like to be done to the murderer: an eye for an eye. Unlike a haddcrime, there is not one punishment. In other words, the death penalty can be applied, but it does not have to be. The murderer can pay money to the victim’s family called diya as a kind of compensation or they can forgive, leaving ultimate judgment to God, and this is the higher moral stance.

The judge has a heavy responsibility to determine without a doubt that the individual is guilty. Most often, this is impossible to do. The severe nature of the punishments in Islamic law indicate these punishments should act as deterrents, but in reality rarely are applied because of the burden of proof required. It is for this reason that in a hadith the Prophet Muhammad maintained that erring in forgiveness is better:

“Wherever possible, do not inflict punishments (hudud; singular hadd) on Muslims; if there is a way out for someone, let him go. It is better for the ruler (al-imam) to err in forgiveness than for him to err in punishment.”

For Ramadan, there is too much possibility for error in the current government systems both in Muslim majority countries and in the United States for the high level of proof to ever be attained. In Muslim majority countries, there are many examples of violations of Islamic law where punishments have been meted out haphazardly and unjustly, and thus, execution should be avoided until there is a guarantee that abuses will not occur.