Theological Principles Governing the Legislation of Qişāş and their Role in Responding to Objections against Qişāş

A systematization of religious propositions concerning Islamic punishments, particularly qişāş (retaliation in kind), and extraction of the principles governing their legislation play a significant part in understanding the philosophy behind their legislation and how to respond to objections raised against them, since it is only in this way that the ground is prepared for a systematic reply. Drawing on the descriptive-analytic method and considering the human existential dimensions and the human developmental course in Islamic psychology, this article seeks to extract theological principles, a proper deployment of which clarifies the philosophy of the legislation of qişāş and paves the path for presenting counterexamples or explanatory replies to objections raised against this ruling. Based on the findings of this article, there are five relevant theological principles: (1) the principle of human inherent dignity, (2) principle of guidance and salvation, (3) principle of justice and fulfilment of rights, (4) principle of life as well as individual and social dynamics, and (5) principle of deterrence in punishment. These are the principles governing the punishment of qişāş. This article utilizes the implications of these principles and their priorities to reply to some objections raised against qişāş, including the superiority of life prison to qişāş and its incompatibility with altruistic and human dignity considerations.