Seadet-i Ebediyye - Endless Bliss Sixth Fascicle

10 – ’UQÛBÂT (Penal Code)
There are four major divisions of the science of Fiqh: ’Ibâdât,
Munâkehât, Mu’âmalât, and ’Uqûbât. Whe have written as much
as necessary in our book, (Se’âdet-i Ebediyye, which is the Turkish
original of the five fascicles of Endless Bliss,) about the first
three [1] . In the following chapters, I will provide brief information
on ’Uqûbât. It is stated as follows in the third part of the book
entitled Durr-ul-mukhtâr:
Punishments inflicted by way of beating; amputation of an arm;
nejm (or najm), which means stoning to death; or killing are called
’uqûbât. ’Uqûbât means things that follow. This naming is because
the so-called punishments are impossed after a sin is committed.
There are three branches of ’uqûbât: hadd and ta’zîr and qisâs.
Hadd is a punishment whose measure has been dictated definitely
in Islam. The punishment termed ta’zîr vary, depending on the
decision of the judge of the court of law. Doubt will cause a
punishment of hadd to be pardoned. A punishment of ta’zîr, by
contrast, will become necessary upon a doubt. Hadd is not
applicable to a child, but a punishment of ta’zîr is. Hadd can be
inflicted only by the judge, whereas the husband of a woman or
any Muslim who sees the offender on the act is accredited to carry
out the punishment. Female witnesses will not be heard in a case
of hadd. The accused in a case of hadd will be imprisoned, whereas
they will not be imprisoned in a case of ta’zîr. Once a case of hadd
has been brought to the court of law, shefâ’at (intercession) or
forgiveness is out of the question. A case of ta’zîr will fall when the
offender makes a tawba. A case of hadd also will fall if it has not
been heard by the judge yet.
Punishment of hadd is applicable to five sins: Fornication;
drinking wine; drunkennes with an alcoholic beverage; qadhf (or
qazf, i.e. accusing a virtuous person of fornication;) theft; and
brigandage. Punishments of hadd will become wâjib not when the
offence is committed, but when the judge decides. Infliction of a
punishment of hadd will not cleanse the sin. A tawba also is
necessary for the cleansing of the sin. The lexical meaning of
‘hadd’ is ‘prevention’. A door-keeper is called ‘haddâd’, because
he prevents entrance.
[1] ’Ibâdât is dealt with in the fourth fascicle of Endless Bliss, while its
fifth fascicle covers the divisions munâkehât, –with the exception of
‘talâq’,– and mu’âmalât. ‘Talâq’ is dealt with in the fifteenth chapter.
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