Law of Hudud

7/30/2019 Law of Hudud

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MAJLIS UGAMA ISLAM SINGAPURA

FRIDAY SERMON

18 OCTOBER 2002M / 11 SYAABAN 1423H

HUDUD LAWS IN ISLAM

My Respected Friday Congregation,

Today, through various media, we hear more voices for theimplementation of the Shariah or Islamic Law. In this openenvironment and with the advancement of Information

Technology, the Muslim community in Singapore would havesurely heard some of these calls and hence follow theirdevelopments as well as discuss and debate about it. Thenon-muslim community too would be aware of such calls assuch issues i.e. to enact hudud laws in neighbouringcountries are covered by the local media. This would surelyraise questions about the Muslim communitys stand on thisissue.

My dear brothers,

Islamic scholars have given various interpretations of theword syariah. Some of them have given general meaningswhile others have chosen to be specific. Nevertheless, what

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is required of the Ummah is to practise Islam as a way of life.ALLAH Al-Mighty says in the Quran,

If anyone desires A Religion other than Islam (submissionto God), Never will it be accepted of him ; and in thehereafter He will be in the ranks of those who have lost (all

spiritual good) (Ali-Imran :85)

The Islam that has to be lived and implemented is a religionof three basic elements Aqeedah or the Islamic Creed,Ibadah or Rituals & Practises and Jurisprudence or moreknown as the Fiqh and thirdly, Akhlaq or Noble Characterand Etiquettes.

Each of those three elements have their own elaborationsand importance and priorities and cannot be neglected.

Accordingly, when we talk about implementing Shariah in itsgeneral and wide term i.e. implementing Islam as a way oflife, it means to secure the true aqidah orIslamic creed, the just and correct jurisprudence and noblecharacters.

And when we talk about implementing the Shariah in itsspecific interpretation that is Shariah meaning Fiqh orJurisprudence such as hudud laws, we cannot ignore theother two elements i.e. to secure the Islamic creed andinculcate the akhlaq or noble characters. Infact, the Islamic

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creed has to be the basis for implementing the laws, and theimplementing of laws should be congruent with observinghigh standards of moral.

It does not suffice for a Muslim to have faith and proclaim hisIslam, but not to observe the laws and the moral standards,and otherwise too.

We hear people saying Why must we do this and that .more importantly, we must have good hearts. Why must wedo this and that . if our character is still bad. Is not thecontent of Islamic teachings more important, not the form of

it?

These are unsound sayings, because if we are to accept theargument that whats more important is the good heart .whats more important is the content, not the form , peoplewould then have reasons to not carry out all religiousobligations. People will start saying, why pray, if you still dowrong things, why go to haj, if you still dont refrain yourself

from doing wrong, why fast, only to be hungry, whats moreimportant is to have a good heart!!On the other hand, we should understand that someone whopractises Islam is not divinely protected from sins. Therefore,it is possible to see a muslim lady with hijab but committingsins, such as gossipping or slandering. In this case, ALLAHwill reward her for her hijab, yet at the same time, punish herfor gossipping and her other sins.

My Dear Brothers,

Among the most talked about aspects of IslamicJurisprudence these days is the implementation of hududlaws.

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Hudud laws is one of the three types of Criminal Law inIslam. Hudud originally means borders or anything that

ALLAH forbids us from doing. ALLAH says in the HolyQuran;

Those are the Limits (set by) God ; Approach not nighthereto. (Al-Baqarah : 187)

In the context of Islamic Criminal Laws, hudud means alloffences done not on humans and carry specific punishmentas stipulated and fixed by ALLAH. Criminal offences whichdo not carry specific punishment are called tazeer such asvandalising public property. Offences with specificpunishment but inflicted upon human life itself such as killingand injuring others is called Qisas.Hudud, Qisas and Tazeer form the Islamic Laws of Jinayator Crimes. The offences which fall under the category of

hudud are:

First, adultery which carries the punishment of 100 strokes ofthe cane for male and female offenders who have notmarried as mentioned in Surah An-Nur :2 and stoning todeath if the offender has been married as mentioned in aHadith narrated by Ibn Majah and observed by ProphetMuhammad p.b.u.h. unto MaIz and al-Ghamidiyyah as

narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim.

Second, accusing someone else of adultery withoutwitnesses. This act carries a punishment of 80 strokes of thecane as mentioned in Surah an-Nur :4.

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Third, consuming liquor which carries a punishment of 40strokes of the cane. Our Prophet Muhammad p.b.u.h. said,

Whoever consumes liquor, lash him with the cane

(Narrated by at-Turmuzi)

Fourth, theft which carries a punishment of amputating of thehand as mentioned in Surah al-Maidah :38.

Fifith, high-way robbery whose punishment varies accordingto the degree of the offence as mentioned in surah al-Maidah :33.

Some scholars include revolting against the state andapostasy as part of the hudud laws too.

To understand hudud offences comprehensively, one needsto understand also the aspects of how to provide evidence,execute the punishment, the rationale behind the laws andthe wisdom of these laws so as to avoid misunderstanding of

ALLAHs laws.

Today, a lot of people criticise the amputating of hands for

stealing on the basis of violence yet they dont understandwhat is the definition of stealing. When does stealingcarry such a punishment. What is the philosophicaldimension to such a ruling? As if if someone steals twodollars, his hands will be cut off.

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My Dear Brothers,

We surely are not able to discuss all aspects of the hududlaws in this khutbah. Whats important is that we must know

that hudud is part of our religion and we are required tounderstand it best before we can even talk about itsimplementation or criticise it.

Hudud laws are mentioned in the Quran and Sunnah. Assuch, all Muslims everywhere must belief in its authencity.To doubt these laws and to dispute on its authencity maynullify our Aqeedah or Creed and its feared that we fall under

the category of those mentioned in the verse :

If any do fail to judge by (the light of) what God Hathrevealed, they are (No better than) Unbelievers.

(al-Maidah :44)

Nevertheless, the implementation of hudud laws can only bedone after preparing the proper infrastructure such as havinga trained group of people and an effective judiciary system.Besides that, the community must be ready to accept suchlaws as part of their lives because the Islamic way of life isnot built upon laws only, but more importantly upon aqidah

and iman/faith in ourselves.

Equally important is that only the political authority canimplement hudud laws. It cannot be implemented byindividuals or Islamic organizations. A father cannotimplement the hudud law and thus lash his child who

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consumed liquor and Islamic organizations cannot attacksomeone who transgressed the hudud laws or attack nightclubs on the streets.

To introduce hudud laws in a society which has longforgotten Islam must be done gradually. Hudud laws shouldnot be implemented all at once because ALLAH Himselfintroduced the hudud laws over time and not at once.

Nevertheless, we have to understand that hudud laws arejust part of the many religious obligations that we have tofulfil. Therefore, we have to prioritise our obligations, which

one needs to be fulfilled first in the context of the place andtime we are in. In this context, the Muslim community inSingapore living as a minority have faith in the hudud laws,but at the same time acknowledges the reality of our livesand our priorities which differ from other Islamic countries.

Although it is required of us to implement these laws, ourinability to do just that does not mean our Islam is of a lesser

quality as compared to other Muslim communities aroundthe world because we are required to strive within our ownlimitations.

The King of Ethiopia, Najasyi was a Muslim and hadauthority over his people, but he could not implement theShariah as a whole because his people might revolt againsthim as most of them were still Christians. Despite that, ourProphet Muhammad p.b.u.h. prayed for him when he died

and praised him. This was mentioned by Ibn Taimiyah in hisbook of Fatawa, Volume 19, pages 218-219.

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ALLAH says in the Quran:

which means:

On no soul doth God Place a burden greater than it canbear (al-Baqarah :286)

May this khutbah be a small guidance for our Muslimcommunity to understand this issue for different angles.

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Law of Hudud

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