Prescribed Punishments

Abu Qatada told that the Prophet forbade mixing dried dates and unripe dates, mixing raisins and dried dates, and mixing dates beginning to take on colour and fresh dates, and told them to make nabidh from each separately. Muslim transmitted it.

Ibn ‘Umar said the Prophet had a thief’s hand cut off for a shield worth three dirhams. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

‘Amr b. Shu'aib, on his father’s authority, said his grandfather, ‘Abdallah b. ‘Amr b. al-‘As, told that God’s Messenger was asked about fruit which was hung up and said, “If anyone steals any of it after it is put in the place where it is dried and it amounts to the price of a shield, he must have his hand cut off.” Abu Dawud and Nasa’i transmitted it.

It is transmitted in Sharh as-sunna that Safwan b. Umayya came to Medina and slept in the mosque, using his cloak as a pillow. A thief came and took his cloak and Safwan seized him and brought him to God’s Messenger who ordered that his hand should be cut off. Safwan then said, "This was not my intention. I give it to him as sadaqa.” God’s Messenger replied, "Why did you not do so before bringing him to me?” Ibn Majah transmitted something similar on the authority of ‘Abdallah b. Safwan who quoted his father’s authority, and Darimi did so also on the authority of Ibn ‘Abbas.

Anas told that the Prophet gave a beating with palm branches and sandals for drinking wine and that Abu Bakr gave forty lashes. (Bukhari and Muslim.) In a version on his authority it says that the Prophet used to give forty stripes with palm branches and sandals for drinking wine.

Thaur b. Zaid ad-Dailami told that ‘Umar sought counsel about the prescribed punishment for drinking wine and ‘Ali said to him, “I think you should give one who drinks it eighty lashes, for when he drinks he becomes intoxicated, when he is intoxicated he raves, and when he raves he makes up lies.” So ‘Umar inflicted eighty lashes as the punishment prescribed for drinking wine. Malik transmitted it.

Abu Burda b. Niyar reported the Prophet as saying, “No more than ten lashes are to be given, except in the case of one of the punishments prescribed by God.” (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Ibn ‘Abbas reported the Prophet as saying, “When a man calls another a Jew give him twenty lashes, when he calls someone a mukhannath* give him twenty lashes, and kill anyone who has intercourse with a woman who is within the prohibited degress.” Tirmidhi transmitted it, saying this is a gharib tradition.* Mukhannaths were sexually abnormal men who imitated women. Some of them were signets.

Wine was forbidden when it was forbidden (i.e. by the Qur’an), but we get only a little of the wine from grapes, most of our wine being from unripe dates and dry dates. Bukhari transmitted it.

'A’isha said that when God’s Messenger was asked about bit’, which is the nabidh* from honey, he replied, “Every liquor which intoxicates is forbidden.” (Bukhari and Muslim.)* Nabidh is a drink made from dates, raisins, honey, wheat, barley, etc. The ingredients were steeped in water in a vessel, and provided the drink was used before fermentation took place it was lawful.

‘A’isha reported God’s Messenger as saying, “If a faraq of anything causes intoxication, a handful of it is forbidden.”* Ahmad, Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud transmitted it.* To drink as much as a faraq (see p. 577) would be almost impossible, so the point of the tradition is to forbid anything which might in any conceivable circumstances cause intoxication.

Abu Sa'id al-Khudri said he had wine belonging to an orphan, and when al-Ma'idah (Al-Qur’an, 5) came down he asked God’s Messenger about it, telling him it belonged to an orphan, but he said, “Pour it out.” Tirmidhi transmitted it.

Dailam al-Himyari told that he said, “Messenger of God, we live in a cold land in which we do heavy work and we make a liquor from wheat to get strength from it for our work and, to stand the cold of our country.” He asked whether it was intoxicating, and when he replied that it was, he said they must avoid it. When he replied that the people would not abandon it, he said, “If they do not abandon it fight with them.” Abu Dawud transmitted it.

‘Abdallah b. ‘Amr told that the Prophet forbade wine, maisir, the kuba and ghubaira,* saying, “Every intoxicant is prohibited.” Abd Dawud transmitted it.*This is a comprehensive tradition not exclusively dealing with intoxicants, although the Prophet’s words might suggest that it does. Maisir was a game of chance and the kuba was a kind of drum wide at the ends and narrow in the middle which was looked on with disapproval. The parts which refer to intoxicants are the wine (khamr) and the ghubaira' which was an intoxicant made by Abyssinians from millet.

Abu Umama reported the Prophet as saying, “God has sent me as a mercy to the universe and as a guidance to the universe, and my Lord who is great and glorious has commanded me to annihilate stringed instruments, wind instruments, idols, crosses and pre-Islamic customs, and my Lord who is great and glorious has sworn, ‘By my might, none of my servants will drink a mouthful of wine without my giving him a similar amount of pus to drink, but he will not abandon it through fear of me without my giving him drink from the holy tanks'.” Ahmad transmitted it.

Ibn ‘Abbas reported God’s Messenger as saying, “If one who is addicted to wine dies he will meet God most high in the same condition as an idolater.” Ahmad transmitted it, Ibn Majah transmitted on Abu Huraira’s authority, and Baihaqi, in Shu'ab al-iman, gave it on the authority of Muhammad b. ‘Ubaidallah who quoted his father’s authority. He said that Bukhari in his Ta’rikh mentioned it on the authority of Muhammad b. ‘Abdallah who quoted his father's authority.