Capital Punishment Essay Introduction
Capital Punishment is a legal process in which a person is going to put to death by the state or the supreme authority as a punishment for a crime against laws of state or divinity. The judicial ruling about someone who is punished in this manner is called a death sentence, though the actual enforcement is called an execution. Such crimes that can outcome in the death penalty are recognized as capital crimes or offenses. The capital term is originated from the Latin ‘capitalist, which means “regarding the head“. This argumentative essay is about the positive influence of Islam on capital punishment in Saudi Arabia.
It has been seen that in the past capital punishment has been practiced by most societies in the world as a punishment for criminals, political and religious dissidents. In the past, the carrying out of the death punishment was often done by torture and executions that were most often in public. With time, societies have evolved, progressed, and developed, and under some circumstances deviated, the topic of capital punishment has endured politically hot. Many societies have responded by eliminating this practice, while other societies have chosen to restrict its implementation.
SAUDI ARABIA and capital punishment Essay
The procedures of death penalties in Saudi Arabia are directed by Islamic law. These laws and regulations are firmly based on Sharia principles and religious interpretation. In another case, if the family of the victim family articulates a desire to spare the perpetrator, the court may verdict the perpetrator to prison or command him to pay a money sum to the family of the victim. There is extensive judicial carefulness in the application of capital punishment and the lack of a uniform criminal code. Although, Saudi courts are not destined by the precedent that is why there is little to no symmetry in what to suppose as a criminal perpetrator, and perpetrators are often uninformed of what crime they have been indicted of.
Additionally, all murder convictions in Saudi Arabia must be appealed so that a five-judge panel will hold the first stage appellate appraisal. After the first stage of appellate appraisal, a seven-judge panel will hold the second stage of appellate appraisal. The third and final appellate appraisal is held by the Saudi King. If the final petition is unsuccessful then the execution will proceed further. Saudi executions are performed overtly via decapitation because of the principle being to communicate the community a “lesson.”
Islam and Capital Punishment Essay
Capital punishment in Saudi Arabia is based on the Sharia and it is very prominent internationally because of the extensive range of crimes that can outcome in the death penalty and it is usually carried out by open beheading. The criminal justice system of Saudi Arabia is based on an uncompromising and literal method of Sharia law that is reflecting a particular state-sanctioned understanding of Islam. The death punishment can be imposed for an extensive range of offenses comprising murder, rape, blasphemy, armed robbery, false prophecy, repeated drug use, apostasy, witchcraft, sorcery, and adultery, and can be carried out by execution with a sword, or more infrequently by firing squad, and occasionally by stoning.
According to the Quran
“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 crucifixion, or the cutting off of 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”. Qur’an, 5:33
Correspondingly, capital punishment by stoning for extramarital sex (Dinah) is recommended in Hadiths and the books most reliable in the Islam after Quran, principally in Kitab Al-Hudud. In the four main schools of Sunni jurisprudence and the two main schools of Shi’a jurisprudence, certain types of crimes order capital sentences (Kronenwetter). Certain hudud crimes are considered crimes against Allah and his prophet that is why it needs capital punishment in public. These comprise apostasy, fasad, and Zina. Qisas is another classification of sentencing in which sharia permits capital punishment, for unintentional and intentional murder. In the case of death or Murder, sharia gives the right to the nearest relative or Wali of the victim, if the court supports, take the life of the murderer.
“O ye who believe! The law of equality is prescribed to you in cases of murder: the free for the free, the slave for the slave, the woman for the woman. But if any remission is made by the brother of the slain, then grant any reasonable demand, and compensate him with handsome gratitude, this is a concession and a Mercy from your Lord. After this whoever exceeds the limits shall be in grave penalty”. Quran 2:178
Furthermore, in the case of Qisas-related capital punishment, Islamic Law of Saudi Arabia offers the guardian of the victim the option of Diyya, i.e. monetary compensation.
“When you meet the unbelievers, strike the necks…” Quran 47:4.
It is argued that the death penalty is morally justified because when it is applied in murder cases especially with exasperating elements such as for child murderers, cop killers, multiple homicides, torture-murder, and mass killing i.e. terrorism, genocide and massacre. Many others are argued that the application of the death penalty in latter cases is patently unjust. It is in the Quran that “But whoever has committed murder, must die”.
Capital Punishment Essay Conclusion:
It is found that in this case, no juridical substitute or replacement can be taken or given for the satisfaction of righteousness. There is no proportion or likeness between life, nevertheless painful, and death; and consequently there is no equivalence between the crime of killing and the retribution of it but what is prudently accomplished by the accomplishment of the criminal.
Abolitionists claim that retribution is simply vengeance and cannot be condoned. Many others while accepting vengeance as an element of criminal righteousness nonetheless argue that life deprived of parole is a sufficient supernumerary. It is also argued that the strenuous of killing with another killing is a comparatively unique punishment for violent action because in general vicious crimes are not penalized by subjecting the offender to a similar act, for example, rapists are not penalized by being sexually assaulted.
