This article examines the history of crime and punishment in Islamic societies, comparatively. In most studies of Islamic criminal law, the principles, practices, and justifications for punishment typically operate in siloes separated by a wide plain. This lecture explores the ground where they meet. This lecture focuses on the criminal law principles and practices in Umayyad Syria, ‘Abbasid Iraq, and Mamluk Egypt. In the process, she illustrates the most striking feature of medieval Islamic criminal: it featured a «jurisprudence of doubt and lenity» in contrast to «political practices of control and severity». In addressing that contrast, she argues that more insight can be gained by approaching the field with greater attention to not only the principles, practices, but also the justifications for Islamic criminal law.
Islamic criminal law, doubt, lenity, hudud, qisas, ta‘zir, siyasa, shari‘a.