Methodology of Imam Ali’s (AS) confrontation with Taboos A Critique of the Generality of the Rule “punishment for all forbidden acts”

According to Islamic jurisprudence, whoever commits a forbidden act deserves punishment in the Hereafter. Regarding the entitlement to the worldly punishment, some taboos, according to the circumstances, are subject to a certain punishment, namely, “hadd”, “qisas” and “compensation”; the cause, type and amount of each of them are specified in the Holy Shari’a. But there is no specific punishment assigned to some taboos in the Shari’a. Regarding those taboos lacking any assigned punishment, the rule of the “punishment for all forbidden acts” is a well-known law among the jurists, according to which all forbidden acts should be punished.Banking on the generality of this rule in the executive arena leads to unlimited expansion of repressive policies. Basically, this paper, using a descriptive-analytical-critical method, seeks to shed more light upon Imam Ali’s (AS) encounter with taboos lacking any assigned punishment. Based on that, the paper criticizes the generality of the law of “punishment for all forbidden acts”. According to the results, the measures taken by Imam Ali (AS) against such taboos does not necessarily end in punishment. The manner in which the Imam confronted the taboos can be explained in two forms: deterrent measures and reactionary measures. The punishment has been only one of the types of reactionary measures. In the biography of Imam Ali (AS), it says that, on condition of necessity, the act of punishment to deal with taboos is not denied, but is an absolute reliance on it for deterring taboos and using it in any case, regardless of other measures and arrangements, is debatable.