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In recent years some of the more fundamentalist regimes in the developing world (such as those of Iran, Pakistan, Sudan and the northern states of Nigeria) have reintroduced Islamic law in place of western criminal codes. Rudolph Peters presents a detailed account of the classical doctrine and traces the enforcement of criminal law from the Ottoman period to the present day. Accounts of actual cases, ranging from theft and banditry to murder, fornication and apostasy, shed light on the complexities of the law, and the sensitivity and intelligence of the qadis who implemented it.
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This page intentionally left blank CRIME AND PUNISHMENT I N I S L A M I C L AW Rudolph Peters’ book is about crimes and their punishments as laid down in Islamic law. In recent years some Islamist regimes, such as those of Iran, Pakistan, Sudan and the northern states of Nigeria, have reintroduced Islamic law in place of Western criminal codes. This was after the abolition of Islamic criminal law in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Previously, during the pre-modern period, Islamic criminal law was applied across the Muslim world, and there are many examples of that application in the abundant archives and other sources of the period. Peters gives a detailed account of the classical doctrine and traces the enforcement of criminal law from the Ottoman period to the present day. The accounts of actual cases which range from theft to banditry, murder, fornication and apostasy shed light on the complexities of the law, and the sensitivity and perspicacity of the q¯ad.¯ıs who implemented it. This is the first singleauthored account of both the theory and practice of Islamic criminal law. It will be invaluable for students, and scholars in the field, as well as for professionals looking for comprehensive coverage of the topic. rudolph peter s is Professor of Islamic law at Amsterdam University. He has published extensively on the subject. His books include Jihad in Classical and Modern Islam (1996) and Sharia Criminal Law in Northern Nigeria (2003). t h e m e s i n i s l a m i c l aw 2 Series editor: Wael B. Hallaq Themes in Islamic Law offers a series of state-of-the-art titles on the history of Islamic law, its application and its place in the modern world. The intention is to provide an analytic overview of the field with an emphasis on how law relates to the society in which it operates. Contributing authors, who all have distinguished reputations in their particular areas of scholarship, have been asked to interpret the complexities of the subject for those entering the field for the first time. Titles in the series: 1. The Origins and Evolution of Islamic Law wae l b. h all aq CRIME AND PUNISHMENT I N I S L A M I C L AW Theory and Practice from the Sixteenth to the Twenty-first Century RU D O L P H P E T E R S Amsterdam University CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521792264 © Cambridge University Press 2005 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published in print format eBook (EBL) ISBN-13 978-0-511-34467-1 ISBN-10 0-511-34467-8 eBook (EBL) ISBN-13 ISBN-10 hardback 978-0-521-79226-4 hardback 0-521-79226-6 ISBN-13 ISBN-10 paperback 978-0-521-79670-5 paperback 0-521-79670-9 Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accu