An Eye for An Eye – Post-October Zionism Meets Sharia Law

“A Muslim shall not be killed in retaliation for a disbeliever.”— Sahih al-Bukhari 6915; Sahih Muslim 1671

1. What Is Sharia Law?

Sharia (شريعة) means “the path” in Arabic and refers to Islamic law derived from The Qur’an, The Sunnah (Muhammad’s sayings and actions), Ijmaʿ (consensus of scholars) and Qiyas (analogy or reasoning).
Sharia governs both personal conduct (worship, morality, family life) and public law (justice, economics, punishment).

2. Capital Punishment in Sharia

Under Sharia, capital punishment (the death penalty) can apply to certain serious crimes, but its application and interpretation vary greatly across Muslim-majority countries and schools of thought.

The main categories of crime are Hudud crimes (fixed punishments) – considered crimes against God with prescribed penalties in scripture. These include murder, apostasy, adultery, highway robbery and blasphemy. 

Another category of crime is Qisas (retributive justice) – “an eye for an eye” principle for intentional murder.

Classical Sharia imposes strict evidentiary standards before carrying out capital punishment, and in theory, executions under Sharia should be rare.

Many Muslim-majority countries retain and practice capital punishment, though the frequency, legal basis, and methods differ widely. Some base executions partly or wholly on Sharia (Islamic law), while others use secular or mixed legal systems.

The countries that actively carry out executions are Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, Somalia, Afghanistan, Egypt, Iran, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Sudan.

These countries regularly implement the death penalty, often citing Sharia law or national security/criminal codes.

Countries That Retain but Rarely Use It are as follows

Countries that retain but rarely use capital punishment are Kuwait, UAE, Qatar, Jordan, Bahrain and Morocco. The exception to the law is in cases of terrorism where capital punishment is unequivocally enforced.

Capital Punishment in Sharia: Muslims vs. Dhimmīs

The application of the death penalty historically depended on both the nature of the crime and the religious status of the offender and the victim. The general principle is “a soul for a soul” –  Qur’an 5:45.  However, classical jurists disagreed on whether the life of a Muslim and a dhimmī (Jew or Christian) were legally equivalent.

The most important questions that must be answered relative to this discussion are as follows:

Can a Muslim be executed for killing a Dhimmī? The answer is NO.

Can a Dhimmī be executed for killing a Muslim? The answer is YES.

In modern legal terms there is a strong argument that Sharia Law believes in the legal concept of Mandatory Minimum Sentence of Capital Punishment when it involves murder, an infidel killing a believer, and the broad term of terrorism.

Mandatory Minimum Sentence

Most countries have enacted Mandatory Minimum Sentences into law. A Mandatory Minimum Sentence is the minimum sentence that a judge must impose for the crime.

This is a sentence that is mandated by law, the judge cannot impose a lighter sentence and it usually applies to certain crimes such as child pornography, drugs, rape and murder. 

In many muslim lands, including Egypt, Iran, Turkey, UAE and Saudi Arabia, the Mandatory Minimum Sentence for murder is the death penalty, except if a muslim murders a dhimmi.

Israel does have minimum mandatory sentences, but only for certain offenses, not across the board. For most crimes, Israeli judges have broad discretion within the sentencing range set by law. There’s usually a maximum sentence specified (e.g., up to 20 years), but not a fixed minimum.

The offenses in Israel with Mandatory Minimum Sentences are firearms offenses, sex offenses involving minors, DUI offenses and assaults on police officers.

In 2016, Israel enacted the Counter-Terrorism Law 5776-2016. It updated definitions of “terrorist organization”, “terrorist act”, and sets out criminal offenses, procedural powers for authorities, designation of terror groups, and financial/asset-seizure mechanisms.

A “terrorist act” under the law is an act (or threat) motivated by ideological, nationalistic, religious or other motive, intended to cause serious harm (to persons, property, infrastructure, the economy, environment, etc.).

Here are the key sentencing features in the law:

If someone commits a terrorist act punishable by life imprisonment, and the law designates it as mandatory life imprisonment, then the law sets the rule accordingly. For example, the law states: “one who commits an offense that is a terrorist act punishable by life imprisonment, where this penalty has not been designated as mandatory, is liable to 30 years’ imprisonment.”

For offenses of conspiracy/assistance: e.g., “Should the Court hold that a person has committed … an offense that is a terrorist act, … one who assists … is liable to 15 years’ imprisonment.” 

The law prescribes specific maximum sentences and some minimum thresholds (or at least, aggressive mandatory minima for certain high-level terror offences). For example:

Leaders or those heading/ directing a terrorist organization: punishable by up to 25 years.

Terrorist act causing bodily harm to a large public (mass casualty) or using chemical/biological/radioactive weapons: life imprisonment.

In spite of so many horrendous terrorist acts, Israeli law still allows a convicted terrorist to be paroled as stated in the act……

Parole / release rules for life sentences: If a life sentence is imposed under the law, the special release committee may only submit a recommendation for parole once at least 15 years have passed since sentence start, and the recommended commuted sentence shall not be less than 40 years.

POST-OCTOBER ZIONIST APPROACH TO CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

If Israel learned just one lesson from October 7th, it is that if someone says that they want to kill you then they mean it.

Western liberal jurisprudence and Israeli jurisprudence believe in rehabilitation. Sharia Law believes in swift and final punishment with no room for rehabilitation.

Herein lies the problem.

Israel must amend the Counter Terrorism Law 2016 and enact a law that requires THE DEATH PENALTY for any act of terrorism that results in the death of any Jew.

The reasoning behind this law should not be as an act of justice, nor should it be as an act of retribution. 

This law should be used as an act of deterrence.

Muslims view death in the name of jihad as an honorable death. As such they do not fear death during the act of terror, nor do they fear death as punishment.

Nor should this be a military law subjected to military rules and censorship. The IDF usually manages to “neutralize” a terrorist.

The world has to know and understand that there is a law in Israel, let’s call it The Sharia Law, that metes out swift and final judgement on those who seek to kill us. Naming it The Sharia Law would immediately find a place on social media and totally confuse search engines thinking that Israel is now under Sharia Law.

Even though this law might be a just law it should be enacted so that any terrorist who has committed murder will no longer be alive to be used as a bargaining chip for any future terrorist negotiations. Full stop.

Imagine if the Sinwars were not alive on October 7, 2023.

Imagine if Marwan Barghouti was not alive today.

Imagine if there were zero prisoners to use a bargaining chips for the lives of a few precious hostages.

Imagine if there was no incentive with which to bargain.

Imagine if they called us to the bargaining table and we didn’t show up.

-photo courtesy of www.foxnews.com, news.bbc.co.uk, www.israelhayom.co.il, www.cbsnews.com