Chapter on Discretionary Punishments

This is disciplinary correction, and it is obligatory …

His statement, “Discretionary punishment”: linguistically, it means prevention. From this is the saying of Allah, Most High: “So that you may believe in Allah and His Messenger, and support him” [al-Fatḥ 48:9]—that is, protect him from that from which you protect yourselves and your children.

In technical usage, the author said: “It is disciplinary correction.” Its connection to the linguistic meaning is that disciplinary correction prevents the person being disciplined from committing what is improper.

May Allah have mercy on the author: he did not specify its category or form. Accordingly, it varies according to the people involved, the sin, the time, and the place. Some people may be disciplined by being reprimanded before their peers, and this may be harsher for them than anything else. For others, the opposite may be the case: matters affecting their bodies may be of little consequence to them, but they do not want any of their wealth to be taken. Some people may be disciplined by dismissal from employment, suspension, or the like.

The point is that, in saying, “It is disciplinary correction,” the author has informed us that discretionary punishment is anything through which proper discipline is achieved. Discipline means rectifying one’s character, or doing whatever brings about such rectification.

His statement, “And it is obligatory”: this is the ruling of disciplinary correction. It is obligatory upon whoever has the authority to discipline; this may be the imam, his deputy, or