Confessions of an Executioner

[Element 6]

The article did not ask him these questions – just posting them for debate.

 

Do you get rewarded in the afterlife for killing people on earth – even if its justified. Can this man actually refuse to execute someone if he believes they’re innocent? Does he know much about the legal procedures or the particulars of a case in terms of evidence? Can he know if there was discrimination or bias towards the accused?

 

Read the article below from the BBC, they interview a Saudi Executioner.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2966790.stm

BBC Article

[J.Lee]

Under the Gulf kingdom's strict Islamic Sharia laws, the death penalty can be imposed for murder, rape, apostasy, armed robbery, drug trafficking and repeated drug use.

I was under the impression that the death penatly,according to Sharia Law, should be imposed (only?) when one was found guilty of Murder and apostasy (and even if one was found guilty, s/he had the option to repent, so that they might escape such a harsh penalty or be left alone to allah's will).

 

Also, I'm curious! Where in the Quran does it say one is justified in excuting anybody who has been found guilty of rape, armed robbery, drug trafficking and drug use? Pray tell, How is he carrying out Allah's will?

 

Do you get rewarded in the afterlife for killing people on earth – even if its justified. Can this man actually refuse to execute someone if he believes they’re innocent? Does he know much about the legal procedures or the particulars of a case in terms of evidence? Can he know if there was discrimination or bias towards the accused?

I think, in my opinion and what I've been thought, a muslim is justified to "Kill somebody" if it's in self-defense or during Jihad. Secondly, he can refuse to excute somebody if he believes they are innocent but I hightly doubt he will because in doing so he will lose his job since the Judge and the supreme law he must uphold already have deemed the person guilty. Also, it wouldn't be wise of him to question the said system for that might lead to unsatisfactory consequences for him. furthermore, I also highly doubt he cares about the details concerning a case; After all his job is to excute not ask questions.

 

Besides, if he starts to question the fairness of the punishments, he'd might realize that though at times he was rightfully carrying out "Allah's Will" he also murdered alot of innocent people in the process who didn't deserve such an unjust punishment.

[Bess.]

The Islamic Law and the Saudi Executions

Since the majority of the provisions in the Saudi Penal Code are based on Islamic law, at least in theory, I would like to examine the Saudi actions under both the strict interpretations of the classic Islamic Law and in light of the expositions by the early Islamic Jurists.

 

According to the statement by the Saudi Interior Ministry, the six Somali gangsters were convicted of “abducting and robbing taxi driversâ€. Thus, there were no allegations of murder in the statement.

Now, based on the above facts, the only possible crime, under Islamic law, which these men can be charged with and which they might be found guilty of is the crime of Hirabah, a crime similar to the Highway Robbery.

Linguistically (Arabic), the term Hirabah comes from the root Hariba, a verb that means to become angry and enraged. By derivation the noun harb (pl. hurub) means variously “war†and “enemy.

 

In Islamic legal terminology, the term Hirabah is broadly defined as “spreading mischief in the land,†but its precise meaning is “killing by stealth and targeting a defenseless victim in a way intended to cause terror in society.â€

This crime , being one of the Hudud crimes, and its punishment is described in the holy Quran as Surah al-Maidah 5 verse 33-34 states “The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution, or crufication, or the cutting off the hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter. Except for those who repent before they fall into the power: In that case, know that Allah is Oft-Forgiving and Most Mercifulâ€

 

The Jurists from the four major schools of jurisprudence in the Sunni Islam have interpreted the punishment contained in the above verse as following:

 

(A) A Jail time or discretionary punishment (Ta’zir) not leading to death penalty but might include exile will be imposed where Hirabah was committed without seizure of property or causing death.

 

(B) First strike: With amputation of the right hand from the wrist and the left foot from the ankle where property was seized, but death was not caused.

 

© In the event of a Second strike, that is where the Hirabah is committed for the second time, the offender will face the imputation of the left hand from the wrist and the right foot from ankle.

 

(D)Where murder occurs in the course of committing Hirabah but no property was seized, the offender will face the death penalty.

 

(E) The most severe punishment will be imposed where the offender commits murder and seizes property, in which case he will face death penalty and or including crucification.

 

In the absence of any credible and fair sentencing guidelines, appeal process and competent legal defense in the Saudi justice system, the Saudi executions are, therefore, from Islamic law perspective, unusual, appallingly inhumane, cruelly disproportionate punishment to the crimes allegedly committed by these young men.

 

I am not questioning the solemn duty of the Saudi government to protect its citizens and maintain law and order rather, my point is that even under the most strict Islamic law interpretations, the charges brought against these young men carry maximum punishment of amputation of their hands and legs and NOT executions.

 

I wonder if the Saudi authorities would find the guts to impose the same punishment had the offenders were its own citizens or those of powerful foreign country, a sad fact that speaks volumes about the state of administration of justice in the Muslim world today!

this is from an article wrtten by....Abdul Wahid SheikhOsman is an Adjunct Professor at the Law School of the University of Minnesota

E-mail: Shei0038@umn.edu web page

[OG_Girl]

For MsWord,

 

Things are so complicated since we don't have one Islamic autority and Mufti in Saudi Arabia is different from the one in Egypt, Kuwait, Indonisia.... , It's normal that we have so many different of Inerpretations!And they all say this is the Share'a Law. However,The Share'a has the punishment for four major crimes... murder and other bodily harm, theft, fornication and qazaf (to accuse someone of zinaa - fornication - without adequate evidence). Besides these crimes, there is crimes committed against the community rather than an individual or crime is of the nature of religious persecution or if the crime is to spread a wave of terror through the whole community or if the crime is committed against the state, the Quraan calls it "Fasad fil arth".

 

Punishments for crimes other than those mentioned above shall be determined by the collectivity of the Muslims, through their legislative body.

 

So,Some scholers put rape, drug trafficking..etc . Even some went as far opposition agains the regime is crime against the cumminity thus, you could be killed

 

For information, In kuwait , rape case punishment is not death plenty but charges as a Adultery for the accused! I believe only Saudi Arabia and Iran apply death plenty for rape criminals.

 

PS:APOSTASY punishment is not stated in the Quran, but is said to be based on certain Hadith.

 

All I wanted was to clear that we don't have every thing in Quraan so muslim scholers use what we call " Qiyaas" and they do their Ijtihads.

 

I got this Hadeth about killing apostasy :

 

Narrated Ikrima, "Some atheists were brought to Ali and he burnt them. The news of this event, reached Ibn Abbas who said, "If I had been in his place, I would not have burnt them, as Allah's messenger forbade it, saying, "Do not punish anybody with Allah's punishment (fire)." I would have killed them according to the statement of Allah's Messenger, "Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him." Bukhari.

 

As you see kind of punishment is just opinions!

 

Salam