Philosophy of Islamic Criminal Law and its Impact on Objectives of Islamic Law

Abstract

The development of objectives is connected with development of legal texts. In other words the concern of objectives existed right from the beginning of revelation. Later on it became a major topic during the first period of Islam as it is evident from the legal opinions of the scholars of this particular period. The due concern of this matter was so because of considering that objectives are the very causes, principles and interests which God connected with His rules.

Meanwhile the revealed laws established general principles which must be understood by people of all ages and periods, example of such principles are those relating to punishments and rewards. Right from its infancy level, Islamic law was already complete.  It was revealed from God in its completeness and universality with no crookedness found in it. It is valid for all periods until God will bequeath the earth and all what is on it. In fact Islamic law was established for uplifting standards of people and to guide them towards sublimity and completeness.

Although non-Muslim countries have recently started to prohibit consumption of intoxicants after realizing the material and psychological damages which it has caused; Islamic law prohibited it together with other crimes 23 centuries ago in order to protect the society.  There are a lot of crimes which spread in Western societies and in non-Muslim countries, such as killings, robbery, alcoholism, and fornication. The recorded rate of such crimes is reported to be very high, something which puts West

society and civilization in a terrifying and dangerous situation. There have been intense voices of warning from these destructive crimes in Western and other nonMuslim countries.

By studying the texts of the Qur'an which is the major source of Islamic law one will find that the basic aim of Islamic law is realization of welfare of people and prevention of evils. Whenever God addresses the believers His intention is either to urge them to promote virtues or to warn them against evils. No doubt that expression of such texts continues to preserve the universality and flexibility of same texts, which means that expression of these texts cannot be limited to particular period, or specific place and people.  If Muslims can implement the laws related to crimes, virtues will increase and vices will reduce within their societies