Ethics of Punishment Execution against Offenders in Islamic Criminal Laws

Zurita Mohd Yusoff, Fatimah

Abstract

Islam is a religion that cultivates human affection and emphasizes the welfare of human beings, which includes offenders. Punishments such as stoning to death, qisas (retaliation) in cases of murder, qisas of limbs, whipping, imprisonment and exile have been exercised by the government within prescribed ethical standards in Islam. Misunderstanding among certain quarters has led to unfounded negative perceptions towards the Islamic ethical standards in meting out its prescribed punishment. Hence, this article aims to identify the ethical standards outlined in Islamic criminal law regarding penalties against its offenders. The methodology used in this paper is document analysis by conducting a detailed study of the books of fiqh, books of tafsir (commentaries), hadith, books written by the contemporary fuqaha (fiqh scholars). As a result, the researchers found that among the important ethical standards outlined in the execution of punishment against offenders are to defer the punishment if the offender is ill, providing the basic necessities to the offender in prison, not abusing the offenders, protecting and covering the aurah of offenders and deferring penalties for pregnant and nursing offenders.