Khamr and discretionary penalties (ta'zir)

Khamr, the intoxicating drink, is prohibited by the Quran, the Sunna and the consensus of the community. Its drinker incurs a fixed penalty (hadd) whose amount, forty or eighty lashes, divided the schools. The other intoxicating beverages set the Hanafis, who prohibit only four precise categories, against the majority of jurists, who extend the ruling of khamr to all of them. The page then sets out ta'zir, the disciplinary punishment for sins carrying no fixed penalty: its legitimacy, who has the right to administer it, whether it is obligatory or merely permitted, and compensation in case of death. This first part restitutes the exposition of the encyclopedia of jurisprudence: the positions of the schools, the evidences drawn from the Quran and the Sunna, and the exact figures of the penalties.

Sections of this page

The chapter is published in sections, each complete and directly accessible:

• Khamr and intoxicating drinks: the prohibition
• The khamr drinker: punishment, blame and practical rulings
• Drugs and the application of the punishment