Islam, being the religion of nature that it is, has laid great emphasis on the importance of human life. It says life should be preserved, even if one has to lie about his religion or eat something that is forbidden in his religion in order to do so. Islam has gone as far as saying that one who saved one life has saved all of humanity, and one who killed one man for no reason has killed all of humanity. But at the same time, Islam has devised a mechanism of severe punishments for crimes in order to protect life, honor, dignity, stability and coexistence of the society. Islam has brought with it a stringent system of justice based on ‘an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’
In the contemporary world, death penalty has been subject to a lot of criticism. Many countries have ended capital punishment, arguing that punishing someone by death is an infringement upon their basic human rights. Islam, however, has laid down that if it is absolutely necessary to preserve rule of law and justice in a society, criminals can be charged with death penalty.
In Islam, there are three possible cases in which one can be liable to death penalty. These include homicide, adultery and apostasy.
In the case of homicide, if somebody kills anyone without any reasonable justification, the family of the victim has the right to award the offender with a death sentence. However, Islam has also given the heirs of the victim the right to forgive the murderer. In case they choose not to forgive, the offender must be charged with death to soothe the feelings of the victim’s family.
Secondly, Islam allows death penalty if a married person commits adultery. In this case, the offender can be stoned to death. The reasoning behind this punishment is for it to act as a deterrent to others who might be considering engaging in adultery. It is important to note that Islam distinguishes between adultery by married and unmarried individuals. In case of unmarried individuals, the punishment is one hundred lashes.
The last crime that is punishable by death is apostasy. If somebody abandons Islam after they have embraced it, they are liable to a death sentence. However, if they repent such an act and do righteous deeds, they may be spared from death penalty. This punishment was introduced in the beginning of Islam as many people entered Islam at its dawn in order to get the benefit of being a Muslim, but left it as soon as they got what they needed. In order to ensure stability in the society and to prevent others from making fun of their religion, death penalty for apostates was introduced.
Punishments in Islam are only for noble causes. Death penalty is only justified in the specific cases mentioned above, and even in these scenarios, it must be proven rigorously that someone has actually committed the above mentioned acts. Severe punishments and strong laws in Islam are merely a means to stop Muslims from crossing certain lines in order to ensure a safer and happier society. It must be realized that these teachings of Islam are for collective wisdom and greater good because Islam has, at many times, talked about the sanctity of human life and has ordered to preserve it no matter what.
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