the land. Thus, the correct view is the first: these prescribed punishments are fixed, and the imam has no discretion in them. Here, “or” indicates the different categories, not a choice.

Is it permissible to anesthetize the thief and the highway robber when their limbs are amputated, or is it not permissible?

The answer: it is permissible to anesthetize the highway robber and the thief for the amputation of his limb, because the aim is the removal of the limb, not the infliction of pain. This differs from one upon whom retaliation is due: it is not permissible to anesthetize him, because it is retaliation, and he must suffer pain equivalent to that suffered by the victim.

“Whoever among them repents before he is apprehended, whatever punishment is due to Allah—banishment, amputation, crucifixion, or the mandatory imposition of execution—shall be waived from him …”

His statement: “Whoever among them repents before he is apprehended, whatever punishment is due to Allah—banishment, amputation, crucifixion, or the mandatory imposition of execution—shall be waived from him.” Linguistically, repentance means returning; in the Sacred Law, it means returning from disobedience to Allah to obedience to Him. If the sin consists in neglecting an obligation, repentance entails fulfilling it if it can still be made up, or fulfilling its substitute if it cannot be made up. If it has no substitute, then mere remorse for what one has missed is sufficient.

For example, if we hold that the eclipse prayer is obligatory and a person does not perform it, repentance for having missed it is remorse, because it has no substitute and cannot be made up after its cause has passed. If he repents from neglecting an obligation during Hajj, however, it has a substitute, which he must offer.

But if repentance is from committing something forbidden, it is through abandoning it and desisting from it immediately. If he does not desist from it, then his repentance—while he persists in it—