Comparative Study of Stoning Punishment in the Religions of Islam and Judaism Sanaz Alasti* Volume 4 – No. 1 –Spring 2007 * Sanaz Alasti Is Currently a Ca S.J.D. (Scientiae Juridicae Doctor) Candidate, Golden Gate
Comparative Study of Stoning Punishment in the Religions of Islam and Judaism
Sanaz Alasti*
Volume 4 – No. 1 –Spring 2007
* Sanaz Alasti is currently a CA S.J.D. (Scientiae Juridicae Doctor) Candidate, Golden Gate University School of Law, San Francisco, CA; LL.M, Tehran University, Tehran, Iran (2003); LL.B (Honors), Allameh Tabatabae University, Tehran, Iran (2001).
Abstract This Article under takes a comparative study of stoning in Islam and Judaism. In Islam stoning (rajm), which is one of the punishments originally, came from Hodoud (Hodoud are punishments that the kind, the quantity and the quality of them are determined in shariah) is the penalty of adultery. But in Judaism stoning was only one of the four kinds of penalties used in cases like adultery; sodomy, idolatry and the ways in which this punishment is executed are quite different in Islam and Judaism. By comparing the size of the stones and the way it is done, one can say that in Islam the aim of this punishment is to be more painful. In Islam, there are no clear instructions about stoning in Quran, but there are some implications in Hadiths (saying and stories about Prophet Mohammad’s behaviors told by his close followers), but it has been mentioned in Torah. Stoning is a kind of punishment that no matter for what reasons or charges is executed; it contradicts the International human right agreements such as Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Convention against torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. In Muslim world statistics shows, they still execute stoning as a punishment (sometimes in public), but in Judaism we can find just some implications in history. Therefore, considering the contemporary standards of societies we can deliberate various evidentiary, procedural, and barriers to imposition
Sanaz Alasti*
Volume 4 – No. 1 –Spring 2007
* Sanaz Alasti is currently a CA S.J.D. (Scientiae Juridicae Doctor) Candidate, Golden Gate University School of Law, San Francisco, CA; LL.M, Tehran University, Tehran, Iran (2003); LL.B (Honors), Allameh Tabatabae University, Tehran, Iran (2001).
Abstract This Article under takes a comparative study of stoning in Islam and Judaism. In Islam stoning (rajm), which is one of the punishments originally, came from Hodoud (Hodoud are punishments that the kind, the quantity and the quality of them are determined in shariah) is the penalty of adultery. But in Judaism stoning was only one of the four kinds of penalties used in cases like adultery; sodomy, idolatry and the ways in which this punishment is executed are quite different in Islam and Judaism. By comparing the size of the stones and the way it is done, one can say that in Islam the aim of this punishment is to be more painful. In Islam, there are no clear instructions about stoning in Quran, but there are some implications in Hadiths (saying and stories about Prophet Mohammad’s behaviors told by his close followers), but it has been mentioned in Torah. Stoning is a kind of punishment that no matter for what reasons or charges is executed; it contradicts the International human right agreements such as Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Convention against torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. In Muslim world statistics shows, they still execute stoning as a punishment (sometimes in public), but in Judaism we can find just some implications in history. Therefore, considering the contemporary standards of societies we can deliberate various evidentiary, procedural, and barriers to imposition