Section: Financial Discretionary Penalties
Imposing taʿzīr by way of financial measures—that is, punishments that target a person’s property—is also sanctioned in certain specific situations. This is the well-known view transmitted from Mālik, the view of Aḥmad in a number of cases about which there is no dispute among his followers and in others where some debate exists, and one of the reported opinions of al-Shāfiʿī. Although the jurists differ over the details, the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) clearly attests to its legitimacy. He permitted the confiscation of the personal effects of a man who hunted within the sanctuary of Madinah after catching him; he ordered that wine jars be smashed and their skins torn open; and he instructed ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar to burn two saffron-dyed garments. When Ibn ʿUmar asked, “Shall I wash them instead?” he replied, “No—burn them.”
Likewise, on the day of Khaybar he commanded that the vessels containing donkey meat be broken. Later, when the Companions sought permission merely to spill out the contents, he allowed it: “When he saw the pots boiling with donkey flesh, he ordered that they be broken and the contents poured away. They said, ‘Could we not simply pour it out and wash the pots?’ He said, ‘Do so.’” This indicates that either course was acceptable, for the punishment itself was not obligatory.
Other precedents are his demolition of the Mosque of Harm (Masjid al-Dirār); Moses’ burning of the calf that had been taken as a god; his doubling of the liability for anyone who stole property that had not been kept in a secure place; the report that the possessions of a soldier who had misappropriated booty were burned; and his depriving a killer of the spoils when he assaulted the commander without authorization. ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb and ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib likewise ordered the burning of premises where wine was sold; half the wealth of one who withheld the zakāt was to be taken; ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān burned Qurʾān codices that differed from the master copy; and ʿUmar ibn