Prominent Shiite Clerics Diverge From Iran on 'Islamic' Punishment
While Iran continues to enforce Islamic punishment through its legal system, many Shiite clerics remain critical of such practices.
The implementation of Islamic criminal law, most notably in countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia, is a source of concern for international human rights organizations.
Punishments included in the Islamic penal code, such as stoning and dismemberment, were once common practice among many tribes in ancient times. Yet prior to the Islamic Revolution in Iran, such practices were banned in Shiite Islamic jurisprudence. The authority to implement such punitive measures was reserved for the infallible Shiite imams.
Islamic jurisprudence is an expansion of the Islamic code of conduct known as "sharia." Islamic jurists, known as faqihs, interpret this code, which is derived from Quranic interpretations and the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad and the Imams.
Ayatollah Ahmad Khansari, one of Iran’s prominent religious authorities, has unequivocally stated that the implementation of such punishments during the absence of the 12th Shiite Imam is haram, or religiously forbidden. A decision that was unanimously supported by all Shia faqihs at the time.
