Theft, Murder, Adultery - Contemporary Issues - Bilal Philip

Theft, Murder, Adultery

Speaker: Dr. Abu Aminah Bilal Philips

Series: Contemporary Issues

Opening

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

I'd like to welcome you, dear viewers, to our series, Contemporary Issues, in which we continue to look at the variety of issues which face the Muslim world today, you know, which are part of the thoughts of the world in general, where the non-Muslim world looks at the Muslim world and questions the practices.

Introduction: Criminal Justice in Islam

In our previous segment, we began looking at criminal justice, the criminal justice system in Islam. We looked at the issues of murder and how Islam treats it and addresses it. In this segment, we're gonna be looking at theft, the issue of what to do when somebody steals.

Muslims are noted for chopping off hands, or oftentimes in the media, they will say hacking off hands, as if Muslims will take a saw, a hack saw, and saw off people's hands. Of course, it's not done in this way, but this is the media hype to give the impression of savagery amongst Muslims, that this is how they deal with the crimes.

The Quranic Prescription for Theft

The fact is, yes, according to Islamic law, it is mentioned in the fifth chapter of the Quran, verse 38, Allah says there:

"As for thieves, both male and female, cut off their hands as recompense for their deeds and an exemplary punishment from Allah."

This is there, we have no doubt about it. Islam prescribes the amputation of the right hand of a person who steals. But there are conditions. There are conditions. It's not just applied to anybody under any circumstance at

Conditions for Applying the Punishment for Theft

At one point, we have to start off with the issue of the times. If there are times of starvation, famine, there is some kind of tragedy in the society, people are in a state of desperation, when a person steals under these circumstances, just to survive, then the law is not going to be applied. The law will be suspended during those periods.

Secondly, if a worker stole from his boss who withheld his pay, for example, then again, the law will not be applied because he's stealing what is really his.

Thirdly, if what he takes is considered to be public property, a person steals, for example, the fittings or rugs from a mosque or public transport, something like this, it's wrong. Punishment will be applied on that individual, but not cutting off the hand of the thief because he had a part of that being public property. He had a right in it. Part of it was his. He shared in that right.

Fourthly, if the value of what is taken was less than 10 dirhams, then they're not going to cut off the hand for it.

And if the item stolen was not in its proper place, that is, if something was left accidentally, a person makes ablution, washes their hands whilst preparing for prayer, and they leave their watch somewhere and somebody snatched it, then they won't apply it there because there's temptation, issue of temptation. Meaning that the law is applied really for the person who is the professional criminal, the pickpocket, because there's no temptation in picking the pocket. This is something a person has to train himself for or herself.

The Application and Effect of the Punishment

So hands will be cut for that type of crime. Person breaks into a home or robs a bank. I mean, this is not something, things out of place, temptation is there, no.

But what we find is that when the law is applied, you find the society that the rate of theft drops drastically, as it did in Saudi Arabia when it was applied, as it did in the Sudan when it was applied. And it creates a sense of security within the society, where people are not obliged to latch up all their doors and put on burglar alarms and all these kinds of things that is common in Western societies today, where people live in fear of break-ins. Everybody's home on the block. Everybody is experiencing this.

Now, one point should also be mentioned is that when the hand is cut off, it's not sawn off again by a hacksaw, but it is amputated. And if the person repeats the crime, then the left foot is removed at the ankle. The left foot is removed at the ankle. And again, not sawn off, but amputated.

And if a person continues crime, even after all of that, then the law does permit his execution. Because this is obviously a criminal who cannot be reformed. There's no chance to stop this individual. The only thing is to put him down like a wild animal who is a danger to the society and just no way of controlling it. So that individual, his life is taken for the protection of the society and the security of the society as a whole.

The Deterrent Value of Islamic Punishments

And as I said, the punishment, of course, it may seem very harsh, but it carries with it, as Islamic punishments carry with them, deterrent value. The idea of losing one's hand, it is something which will cause a person to think. Think twice. You know, you go to jail for a year or six months or whatever for stealing. You know, people are willing to take the chance, but to lose your hand or lose your foot. These situations will cause a person to think more than once before committing such crimes.

Punishment for Adultery and Fornication

Now, another area of criminal punishment is that for adultery and fornication. Where Islam prescribes for adultery, stoning to death. For fornication, 100 lashes.

And one point to note is that these, the application of these laws, whether it is cutting off the hand of the thief, or whether it is executing the murderer, or stoning to death the fornicator, or 100 lashes for one who was not married, who was involved in illicit sexual relations. These are done publicly.

You know, the law prescribes that people from the believers should be present to observe it. Not for entertainment. It's not the idea is not for entertainment of the public, but for them to see Allah's laws in application.

And this, the sight of it helps to enforce or to reinforce in the minds of the people, you know, that God's laws are being applied, and we should avoid these kinds of crimes. And Western law used to be applied that way also. It used to be applied publicly, you know. The criminal was executed publicly.

However, when it shifted to punishment done inside of a dungeon, inside of a prison, nobody sees it, it's only a statistic in the paper. So-and-so was executed for this crime. Then it doesn't have that deterrent effect that it would if it were done publicly. Of course, it still has some. But the impact is not as great, and this is why this is a condition for the application of Islamic law, that it be done publicly.

The Western Attitude Toward Islamic Punishments

Now, when we come to the issues of fornication and adultery, and the West's attitude towards Islamic

application of these laws, look at this as being really outmoded, how to do this in these times. The reason for this is that there has been a change in moral standards in the West, you know, where the president himself of the country, you know, presidents of these countries, I mean, may be known for adultery and fornication. The society accepts it.

It elects them knowing these things. I mean, you go back 20 years ago, 30 years ago, it was inconceivable, you know, that a president in these countries or prime ministers, you know, could be elected or could become head of state knowing that they were involved in these kind of things. However, in our times, with the change in the morality of the society, this has become acceptable, it's become a norm.

So naturally, in a society where adultery and fornication have become norms, they're accepted, nobody questions it, you know, it causes the breakup of marriages and things like this. However, it's been decriminalized, it's no longer a crime because it's consenting adults. Consenting adults are involved in it and, you know, this is the principle which governs the rightness and wrongness of sexual relations.

As long as this, as they say, it's between consenting adults, then really the society has no business to punish them or to be involved. To punish them or to get involved in their affairs is on the basis of religion. It's religion which says, no, this shouldn't take place, et cetera.

And according to Western systems now, they're secular, which means that religion has no place to play in the application of law. So with this kind of an attitude, where, you know, we are evolved beings, our great- grandparents were monkeys, well, the monkeys don't have any problems in fornication. We don't even see issues of adultery because they don't get married.

So why should we be making all of this? I mean, it's something which we have introduced. We're really only animals anyway, so no big deal. So the idea now of punishing somebody for this, this is something abhorrent in many Western systems.

I'm not saying that every single individual in the West holds these views. In fact, there are many people in the West who are very much saddened, sickened by the changes in the moralities of the society. But I'm just talking about the system and as it is portrayed through the media and through the international political systems, you know, whether it is through the UN or whatever, these attitudes are being promoted, especially promoted in the Muslim world, where there is a resistance to this kind of thinking and this kind of approach to life.

Requirements for Proving Adultery and Fornication

However, when we go back to the actual application of this law within the Muslim system, we have to recognize that this application is not just across the board. You know, somebody accuses somebody of fornication or adultery and all of a sudden the law is being applied. No, no, no.

Islamic law requires that there be four witnesses for the application of this law, whether it's lashing because it's fornication, people who are not married, or it's stoning to death in the case of adultery where people are having illicit sex who are married. These laws are not applied unless there are four witnesses, four people who have seen them in the act and four reliable witnesses, not just anybody you pull out of the woodwork, you can pay them some money and you know, but people who are known to be just and righteous people in the society, you know, they're not known to be corrupt and these type of things.

So without those four witnesses, the law cannot be applied and because of that, the number of cases of people stoned to death and, you know, lashed for adultery, very few. Over the last 1,400 years of application of Islamic law from the time of the Prophet (may God's peace and blessings be upon him) until today, very, very few cases. They can be counted, you know, within the 10s and the 20s. Why? Because the evidence for it is very difficult to establish.

Types of Evidence Required

Now, what is the evidence? The evidence has to be a confession. People confess. They're caught and they confess.

Or a woman gives birth to a baby. She becomes pregnant. Her husband is away. He's out of the country. He's been out of the country for the last nine months and she's delivering a baby, you know. These are the signs.

So where there's clear evidence, you know, then the law will be applied. But accusation is not sufficient. You know, the woman, for example, who, you know, she is caught, she's pregnant. She points the finger and says, he did it. They're not going to, they'll question him. Did you do it? If he said no, they cannot apply the law.

Why? Because she could be pointing at somebody she doesn't like. Maybe it's not that person at all. But, you know, the person who was involved, who she loves, she wants to save him, but there's somebody she'd like to get back. And so she says, he did it. And in fact, he didn't. So this kind of accusation is not acceptable.

Punishment for False Accusation

In fact, from Islamic law perspective, if you accuse somebody and you don't have these witnesses, then you are lashed 80 lashes publicly. So it's considered very serious sexual slander to slander somebody saying that they've committed adultery or they've committed fornication. It's very, very serious.

If you don't have the evidence, then according to Islamic law, you have to be silent. Now, in a case where a husband or a wife catch each other in the act, they don't have the evidence, then they can raise their case before the court and their marriage can be dissolved on the basis of it. Right? But the law will not be applied of

punishment to either party unless the evidence is there, unless there's a confession, there's a pregnancy or witnesses.

So basically the law is a deterrent. As we said, it's rarely applied, but it's a deterrent, something to discourage people. And as a result of that, you find that the rate is quite low in Muslim countries in general.

The Impact of Western Moral Decadence

I mean, when we go back and we look at public displays of affection, which have become a norm in Western societies where people hold hands, they kiss and hug each other publicly in the society. And, you know, I mean, you go to a park, et cetera, in the West, I mean, you don't know what you could be finding happening there. You go there with your family, sometimes it's very embarrassing, you know, because this has become a norm.

People don't feel anything wrong with it. You know, shaking the hands of your guests, female guests, the man, his man comes with his wife, shaking her hand, even kissing the wife of somebody else. I mean, it's considered part of normal social, you know, etiquette in the West.

Whereas from Islamic perspective, this is discouraged. It's discouraged, strongly discouraged. Why? Because these kinds of interactions can lead to corruption, you know, and we have people, especially people getting together, you know, in states where they're involving using alcohol, things like this. It's very easy for the limits to be broken.

There's a case a few months back, you know, of a couple, a man and a woman, they met each other, they're flying from New York to London. They didn't know each other. They happened to be sitting next to each other in business class. You know, they have a few drinks, next thing you know, they're involved in these activities, cover themselves with a blanket. People around them are saying, stop, stop. You know, the stewardesses are coming, stop, stop. Don't do this. So they went on through it. Of course, when they arrived, they were arrested.

But something like this, you know, public, you know, sexual intercourse in public in front of people like this. I mean, this happens. I mean, this, because of this relaxation, this moral decadence which has spread, you know, where these kind of practices, you know, though maybe objected to in this instance, but people are going to movies and watching this. I mean, this is the, the movies are promoting this. This is, you know, fornication adultery is the norm for movie goers today.

So if people are constantly bombarded with this as being a norm, the movie stars are doing it, you know, and they're portraying people from all walks of life. Common people, normal people, but everybody seems to be involved in one way or another in fornication or adultery. And this is what the movies are telling us.

Then naturally people will be encouraged in their personal lives to be involved in such practices and activities.

Protection of the Family and Society

So Islam looks at the family structure as being very important, as in the case of theft and the cutting off the hands of the thief. Security of the society is looked at as very important.

In fact, the thief who is involved in armed robbery, according to Islamic law, that person can be executed. When you take out weapons against the society, there's danger of creating a major security threat. In those circumstances, such people may be executed.

Rape, you know, weapons are taken out and people are forced, it's death. To keep this kind of harm from the society and maintain a level of security. Similarly, for the sake of the family, protection of the family.

Family is the core of the society. Once that breaks down, you're finished. So in order to protect that family, the laws are very strong.

Islam encourages, you know, marriage early. It permits polygamy. You know, all of the things that are there, divorce is not inaccessible. So where people have problems, et cetera, these things can be worked out. There are other options for them. So beyond that now, any kind of illicit sex from Islamic perspective is considered a grave crime. And as such, the punishment is very, very grave.

Historical Context: Mosaic Law

And I should mention, as we close, that the punishment for adultery is not something which Islam introduced, meaning the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) introduced it. This is found in Mosaic law also. It's been around. It's not something newly introduced. Islam revived it, brought it back to the forefront, and established it and has kept it alive until today, where in other societies, it has been lost. The idea is now considered outmoded.

Closing

With that, dear viewers, I'd like to thank you for being with us in this segment of our program, Contemporary Issues. I hope that some light has been shed on these issues for you, that you can better understand the Islamic stance in regards to these issues, and how they are relevant today, and how society still will benefit from it and will continue to benefit from it until the last day.

With that, dear viewers, I'd like to bid you farewell.

السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ