The Role of Repentance in Extinguishment of Hudud

According to the free will principle, man is responsible for his actions and will be punished accordingly. Therefore, acting against the law of shari’a in Islam leads to punishment and in Islamic jurisprudence there are prefixed punishments for many crimes called “hadd”. But there are some elements like repentance that extinguish “hadd”, so that the criminal will be forgiven and excused. Concentrating in verses of Quran and ahadith and also comments of jurists, it turns that the repentance is a reason of extinguishment of punishments, in order that muslim jurists approve that repentance, before demonstrating the crime by confess or testimony, when the crime is of that kind that breaches God’s right, leads to extinguishment of punishment. Here, we study the repentance and its role in extinguishment of hudud.