Hudud

This article is about the concept in Islamic law. For the series of laws concerning this topic in Pakistan, see Hudood Ordinances.
"Hadd" redirects here. For other uses, see HADD (disambiguation).
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Hudud[a] (Arabic: حدود) is an Arabic word meaning "borders, boundaries, limits".[1] In the religion of Islam, it refers to punishments that under Islamic law (sharīʿah) are believed to be mandated and fixed by God, i.e. prescribed punishments, as opposed to Ta'zeer (Arabic: تعزير, lit. 'penalty'). These punishments were applied in pre-modern Islam,[2][3] and their use in some modern states has been a source of controversy.

Traditional Islamic jurisprudence (Arabic: فقه, romanized: fiqh) divides crimes into offenses against God (Arabic: جرائم ضد الله) and those against man (Arabic: جرائم ضد الناس). The former are seen to violate God's hudud or "boundaries", and they are associated with punishments specified in the Qur'an and in some cases inferred from ahadith.[4][5] The offenses incurring hudud punishments are zina (unlawful sexual intercourse such as fornication), unfounded accusations of zina,[6][7] drinking alcohol, highway robbery, and some forms of theft.[8][9] Jurists have differed as to whether apostasy from Islam and rebellion against a lawful Islamic ruler are hudud crimes.[4][10]

Hudud punishments range from public lashing to publicly stoning to death, amputation of hands and crucifixion.[11] Hudud crimes cannot be pardoned by the victim or by the state, and the punishments must be carried out in public.[12] These punishments were rarely implemented in practice, however, because the evidentiary standards were often impossibly high.[5][2] For example, meeting hudud requirements for zina and theft was virtually impossible without a confession in court, which could be invalidated by a retraction.[13][5] Based on a hadith, jurists stipulated that hudud punishments should be averted by the slightest doubts or ambiguities.[b][13][5]

During the 19th century, Sharia-based criminal laws were replaced by statutes inspired by European models in many parts of the Islamic world, although not in particularly conservative regions such as the Arabian peninsula.[3][14][15] The Islamic revival of the late 20th century brought along calls by Islamist movements for full implementation of Sharia.[14][16] Reinstatement of hudud punishments has had particular symbolic importance for these groups because of their Quranic origin, and their advocates have often disregarded the stringent traditional restrictions on their application.[14] In practice, in the countries where hudud have been incorporated into the legal code under Islamist pressure, they have often been used sparingly or not at all, and their application has varied depending on local political climate.[14][15] Their use has been a subject of criticism and debate.

Hudud is not the only form of punishment under Sharia. For offenses against man—the other type of crime in Sharia—that involve inflicting bodily harm Islamic law prescribes a retaliatory punishment analogous to the crime (qisas) or monetary compensation (diya); and for other crimes the form of punishment is left to the judge's discretion (ta'zir).[4] Criminals who escaped a hudud punishment could still receive a ta'zir sentence.[3]

In the 21st century, hudud, including amputation of limbs, is part of the legal systems of Afghanistan,[17] Brunei,[18] Iran, Mauritania,[19] Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates,[20] Yemen,[21] and northern part of Nigeria.


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  1. ^ Wehr, Hans. Hans Wehr Dictionary of Arabic (PDF). p. 135. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-06-20. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  2. ^ a b Wael Hallaq (2009), An introduction to Islamic law, p.173. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521678735.
  3. ^ a b c Rudolph Peters (2009). "Hudud". In John L. Esposito (ed.). The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 2017-03-03. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  4. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference mdth1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b c d Brown, Jonathan A.C. (2014). "5. Muslim Martin Luthers and the Paradox of Tradition". Misquoting Muhammad: The Challenge and Choices of Interpreting the Prophet's Legacy. Oneworld Publications. pp. 180–181. ISBN 978-1780744209.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference zmh11 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Asifa Quraishi (2000). Windows of Faith: Muslim Women Scholar-activists in North America. Syracuse University Press. p. 126. ISBN 978-0-815-628514.
  8. ^ Otto, Jan Michiel (2008). Sharia and National Law in Muslim Countries. Amsterdam University Press. pp. 663, 31. ISBN 978-90-8728-048-2.
  9. ^ Philip Reichel and Jay Albanese (2013), Handbook of Transnational Crime and Justice, SAGE publications, ISBN 978-1452240350, pp. 36–37
  10. ^ Campo, Juan Eduardo (2009). Encyclopedia of Islam, p.174. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 978-0816054541.
  11. ^ Hadd Archived 2015-02-05 at the Wayback Machine Oxford Dictionary of Islam, Oxford University Press (2012)
  12. ^ Terrill, Richard J. (2009) [1984]. World Criminal Justice Systems: A Comparative Survey. Routledge. p. 629. ISBN 9781437755770. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  13. ^ a b Hallaq, Wael (2009). Shariah: Theory, Practice and Transformations. Cambridge University Press. p. 311. ISBN 978-0-521-86147-2.
  14. ^ a b c d Vikør, Knut S. (2014). "Sharīʿah". In Emad El-Din Shahin (ed.). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Politics. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 2017-02-02. Retrieved 2017-07-04.
  15. ^ a b Otto, Jan Michiel (2008). Sharia and National Law in Muslim Countries: Tensions and Opportunities for Dutch and EU Foreign Policy (PDF). Amsterdam University Press. pp. 18–20. ISBN 978-90-8728-048-2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-10-09. Retrieved 2017-07-04.
  16. ^ Mayer, Ann Elizabeth (2009). "Law. Modern Legal Reform". In John L. Esposito (ed.). The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 2017-07-31. Retrieved 2017-07-04.
  17. ^ France-Presse, Agence (2022-11-14). "Afghan supreme leader orders full implementation of sharia law". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-02-27.
  18. ^ "Death by stoning for gays, amputation for theft in Brunei". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 2021-11-03.
  19. ^ "Shariah Punishments in the Islamic Republics of Mauritania and Maldives, and Islamic State of Yemen". academic.oup.com. Retrieved 2024-03-28.
  20. ^ "United Arab Emirates | Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children". 3 November 2017. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
  21. ^ "Yemeni man sentenced to hand and foot amputation for armed robbery". Amnesty International. 2013-09-16. Retrieved 2021-11-03.