divide this community while it is united, strike him with the sword, whoever he may be.” (1).

The same may be said regarding his command to execute one who drinks intoxicants upon the fourth offense. This is supported by the report narrated by Ahmad in the Musnad from Daylam al-Himyarī, who said: I asked the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him: “O Messenger of Allah, we live in a land where we perform strenuous labor, and we make a drink from wheat to strengthen us for our work and against the cold of our land.” He asked, “Does it intoxicate?” I replied, “Yes.” He said, “Then avoid it.” I said, “The people will not give it up.” He said, “If they do not give it up, then kill them.” (2).

This is because one who spreads corruption is like an assailant: if the assailant cannot be repelled except by being killed, he is to be killed.

In sum, punishment is of two kinds:

The first is punishment for a past sin, as recompense for what a person has earned and as an exemplary punishment from Allah. Examples include flogging one who drinks intoxicants or falsely accuses another of fornication (3); the prescribed amputation of a brigand or thief; the discretionary punishment of one who steals property below the prescribed threshold from an unsecured place; and the discretionary punishment of one who breaches a trust, fabricates testimony, forges a signature, or commits similar offenses (4).

The second is punishment intended to compel the future fulfillment of an obligatory right or abandonment of a prohibited act. Thus, an apostate is called upon to repent until he accepts Islam; if he repents, he is spared, but otherwise he is killed. Likewise, one who neglects prayer, obligatory almsgiving, or the rights owed to other people is punished until he discharges them. Discretionary punishment in this category is more appropriate (5) than it is