The Scope of the Death Penalty under the Sharia Law

The death penalty is one of the core issues which have been widely discussed around the world. As capital punishment has been the part of the Islamic legal system, the Quran and hadith explicitly established the penalties in various serious crimes. A majority of the world‟s nations has abolished the death penalties from their constitutions, but most of the Islamic countries firmly believe in this system. One root cause of it is that the Holy Quran and hadith provide the justification for capital punishment. Further, several Islamic countries where Islam has the status of the state religion, allow the application of the death penalty. This work has prompted us to expose that the Islamic penal code is well-established in the legal and political systems of Islamic countries and the impact of religious traditions have an indirect impact on the implication of the death sentence. Since the death penalty is even now broadly established in Muslim countries, there is also increasing support in several of these states to abolish of the death penalty. Some secular activists have distorted the Quranic verses dealing with the death penalty to support their instance. For different reasons, they claim that political governments may use the death penalty as cover to suppress their political rivals. Our findings reveal that secular propaganda against the Islamic penal system is based on wrong assumptions and a result of Islamophobia. This research article can provide a logical discussion on the issue of capital punishment, rooted in the true spirit of the Islamic punishment system.

Practice and Politics of Corporal Punishment in Schools: A Case Study of District Peshawar, Pakistan

The practice of corporal punishment against children is a common phenomenon around the world. This study examined the phenomenon of corporal punishment in schools of Peshawar, Pakistan as very minimum research has been carried out on this issue in Pakistan. Previous studies proved that the practice of corporal punishment is associated with numerous negative impacts on children whilst others indicate positive impacts. The present study addressed a range of dimensions from physical to psychological and from sociological to religious doctrine, which are linked with the phenomenon of corporal punishment. The research was conducted in Peshawar, Pakistan. Due to the sensitive nature of the topic in Pakistan, the selected methodology was qualitative, adopting a purposive sampling technique for participant selection. A sample of fifty interviewees was achieved; ten each of teachers, parents, child psychologists, religious scholars and non government organization workers. Data was collected through in-depth interviews using an interview guide. To enhance validity and reliability data was triangulated with field notes and analysis of relevant policy documents and the research literature. Informed consent was obtained from each participant and data anonymity and confidentiality was ensured. Applied discourse analysis of interview data found that participants were supportive of the practice of corporal punishment in some cases. Cultural acceptability, personal experience in the past, achieving academic goals, lack of awareness, illiteracy, religious factors, anger, work stress, school environment, teacher’s frustration and teachers lack of understanding of child behaviour are some of the main causes of corporal punishment practice. Negative impacts of corporal punishment on children were also recognized by respondents. These included; an increase in anti-social behaviour and aggression, escalation to physical abuse, spoiled creativity, lack of courage, anxiety, depression, frustration, poor academic achievement, criminal tendencies, promoting a culture of violence and drop out from school. Conversely, some participants consider corporal punishment beneficial for adult respect, obedience and the achievement of academic goals. The study provides research based policy recommendations for abolishing corporal punishment from schools including; educational system reform, mass awareness, teacher training programmes, promoting alternative methods for behaviour modification to teachers and parents, strengthening of parents-teachers council, dealing with teachers own frustration, following the real meaning of Islamic teaching, effective legislation and implementation, opening up complaint mechanisms, effective monitoring, evaluation and accountability, prioritizing child rights, enhancing government interest in child education, advocacy seminars on child rights, promoting a culture of rewards and appreciation in schools and appointing Social Worker’s and Child Psychologists to support the strategy. This combination of measures will be helpful in dealing with the practice of corporal punishment in schools of Pakistan.