The realm of government to punishthe guilty

This research paper is focused on the realm of government authority to explain whether the government can determine the punishment for doing certain act or the failure to perform it، the one which is considered as sin in Islamic Law (Sharia). First، it articulates the relationship between «crime» and «sin» and then six views exist in texts concerning Islamic jurisprudence are examined. The results obtained via this study show that onlysome ofthe sins haveworldlypunishment، not all sins. Hence،onlysomesinscan beconsidered as crime and the governmenthasthe right to interveneand punishtheirperpetrators. In addition to the sins which their punishments determined as Hadd (ordained punishments) or Ta’zir (punishments determined by jurists and judges)، those sins which have public aspects and threaten the established order، system and social security can be subject to worldly punishment and the governmentcouldinterveneas a guarantor ofits implementation. But the sins which have personal aspects and the Islamic Law (Sharia) had not determine any Hadd or ta’zir in these cases are specified with noworldlypunishment and the governmenthas noright to interveneand punish theguilty.