Book of Prescribed Punishments (Hudud)
Introduction
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Book of Prescribed Punishments
No ḥadd (prescribed punishment) is carried out except upon a legally accountable Muslim who understands that the act is forbidden.¹
Intercession—and accepting it—is unlawful in any ḥadd ordained by Allah² once the case has reached the ruler, and the penalty must still be enforced even if the one executing it³ was himself a partner in the offence.
None may administer the ḥadd except the ruler, his deputy, or a master upon his own slave.
It is forbidden to execute it inside a mosque.
The most severe of the hudud are, in order: lashing for fornication, then for slander, then for drinking, and finally discretionary punishment (taʿzīr).
A man is to be flogged standing, with a whip.
The face, the head, the genitals, and any lethal area must be avoided.
A woman is flogged while seated; her clothing is bound tightly around her and her hands are restrained.
After the ḥadd, further imprisonment or verbal abuse is prohibited, for the ḥadd itself expiates the sin.
Whoever commits an offence warranting a ḥadd should conceal it and is not encouraged to confess it before the judge.
If several hudud ordained by Allah coincide and are of the same kind, they merge into one; if they are of different kinds, they do not.