XXV.—PUNISHMENT.
Punishment is divided into three classes:—Hadd, Tʾazír, and Qisás.
1. Hadd is that punishment which is said to have been ordained of God in the Qurán and the Hadís, and which must be inflicted. The following belong to this class:—Adultery, for which the adulterer is stoned. Fornication, for which one hundred stripes are inflicted. Drunkenness, for which there are eighty stripes. The slander of a married person, that is, bringing a false charge of adultery against a married person, for which the offender must receive eighty lashes. This punishment is said to have been instituted by God, when ʾA′yesha, the favourite wife of "the Prophet," was falsely charged with adultery! Apostacy, for which the Murtadd, or Apostate, is killed, unless he repent of his error within three days. When an Apostate from Islám has been killed according to the law, or has left the country, his property goes to those of his heirs who still remain Musulmáns (vide the "Al Sirajiyah").
2. Tʾazír is that punishment which is said to have been ordained of God, but of which there are not special injunctions, the exact punishment being left to the discretion of the Qází, or Judge.
3. Qisás (lit. "retaliation") is that punishment which can be remitted by the person offended against, upon the payment of a fine or compensation. The punishment for murder is of this class. The next akin to the murdered person can either take the life of his kinsman's murderer, or accept a money compensation (Díat). There is also retaliation in case of wounds. Qisás is the lex talionis of Moses, "eve for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe" (vide Exodus xxi. 24). But in allowing a money compensation for murder, Muhammad departed from the Jewish code.