In traditional Islamic jurisprudence, Hudud (also transliterated as Hadood, Hadud, Hudood, ; sing.: Hadd ), meaning "borders, boundaries, limits",
refers to punishments (ranging from public lashing, public stoning to death, amputation of hands, crucifixion, depending on the crime), for several specific crimes (drinking alcohol, illicit sexual intercourse, false accusations of adultery, theft, apostasy from Islam, highway robbery)
for which punishments have been determined by verses of Quran or hadith.
Hudud is one of three categories of crime and punishment in classical Islamic literature, the other two being Qisas ("eye for an eye")–Diya (paying victims compensation), and Ta'zeer, (punishment left to the judge's or ruler's discretion). Hudud are crimes "against God", and cover the punishments given to those who exceed the "limits of God" (hududullah), associated with the Quran and in some cases inferred from hadith. (Qisas, Diya, and Ta'zeer deal with "crimes against man".)
Hudud crimes cannot be pardoned by the victim or by the state and the punishments must be carried out in public, but in traditional practice were rarely implemented because the evidentiary standards were so high, Offenders who escaped a hudud punishment could still receive a ta'zir sentence. and then restored in the late 20th to early 21st century in several Muslim-majority states as a result of the Islamic revival and calls by Islamists for full implementation of Sharia.
In the 21st century, hudud, including amputation of limbs, is part of the legal systems of Afghanistan, Brunei, Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, and the northern part of Nigeria.
Scriptural basis
Hudud offenses with prescribed punishments are mentioned in the Quran. The punishments for these offenses are drawn from both the Quran and the Sunnah. The Quran does not define the offenses precisely: their definitions were elaborated in fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence).
Hududullah, or the "limits of God", is a phrase found several times in the Quran, but not as a label for a particular type of crime. The Quran warns Muslims of the sin of transgressing the limits, which should not even be approached (Quran 2:187). But nowhere does the phrase appear in the clear context of labeling certain crimes (see Quran, 2:229, 4:14, 58:4, 65:1), though 4:14 is followed by discussion of sexual impropriety.
Quran
The Qur'an describes several crimes determined by scholars as hudud
and in some cases sets out punishments.
Theft (sariqa)
The hudud crime of theft is referred to in Quran verse 5:38: It is often defined by scholars as "robbery and civil disturbance against Islam" inside a Muslim state: The tendency to use existence of a shubha (lit. doubt, uncertainty) to avoid hudud punishments is based on a hadith that states "avert hadd punishment in case of shubha".
Hudud offences and punishments
Difference in number
Sources differ as to how many Hudud crimes there are. According to at least one scholar (Muhammad Shafi) there are just five hudud crimes in shariah -- (1) Robbery, (2) Theft, (3) Adultery, (4) False Accusation of Adultery, plus one more, drinking wine—added as a result of the consensus (Ijma`) of the Companions of Muhammad. Article One of the Penal Code of the state of Qatar lists six hudud punishments, adding apostasy to those of Muhammad Shafi. Hajed A. Alotaibi in his book on Minor Crimes in Saudi Arabia, states that Hudud "generally" covers seven crimes, adding "rebellion" to the Qatar list of crimes.
Offenses
The offences subject to hudud punishment:
- Theft (, السرقة). Punished with amputation of a hand. Although the punishment for zina mentioned in the Quran is lashing, not stoning, all schools of traditional jurisprudence agreed on the basis of hadith that the offense is to be punished by stoning if the offender is ' (adult, free, Muslim, and married or previously married). Lashing is the penalty for offenders who are not muhsan, i.e. they do not meet all of the above criteria. The offenders must have acted of their own free will. Punished by 80 lashes. Punished by 40 to 80 lashes, depending on the legal school.
- Apostasy from Islam, i.e. leaving Islam for another religion or none at all, is regarded as one of hudud crimes liable to capital punishment in traditional Maliki, Hanbali and Shia jurisprudence, but not in Hanafi and Shafi'i fiqh, though these schools also regard apostasy as a grave crime whose punishment is death.
:Apostasy from Islam is condemned in the Quran, but the punishments prescribed are in the afterlife (except that we are asked to "not accept their testimony forever") and do not include execution. However the classical understanding of sharia punishes them with death. Furthermore, some interpretations include acts such as failure to worship ("abandoning prayer and alms") as evidence of apostasy and punishable by death. (See: Ridda wars)
- Banditry, highway robbery (qat'al tariq) is a crime in Islam but one that jurists have differed on as to whether it is hiraba and a hudud crime. Although hiraba and the punishment for it is mentioned in the Quran, it is narrated that Muhammad applied retaliation (Qisas), which is a method based on the Quran, for a similar situation, not what is stated in the relevant (5:33) verse.