Study of the Quran's Indication of the Different Punishment Theories

At the beginning of the article, after defining punishment and punishment theory, the importance and position of this topic in ethics and law are mentioned. Due to the effect of punishment theory on the legal system of countries, studying it from the Quranic point of view is important for the Islamic society. Then five kinds of punishment theories are distinguished among moral philosophers and jurists that are Deterrence, Incapacitation, Retribution, Rehabilitation, and Restoration. Next, the main issue has been studied and evidence of each one of five theories in the Quran verses is evaluated. The pieces of evidence of deterrence and incapacitation look stronger. According to the qiṣāṣ verses, some kinds of retribution are proven, although these verses have some emphasis on forgiveness vs. punishment. Also, there are some other pieces of evidence of retribution in ḥudūd verses. Little indications of rehabilitation and restoration are found, but they do not look convincing, besides those verses with stronger signification to rehabilitation are abrogated. The research methodology is traditional and rational reasoning is used as an interpretation tool.