It is very pleasing to see the rapid development in the Kingdom in all fields. One area of this development involves the Ministry of Justice and the judicial system in the form of qualitative technical advancement. This advancement is aimed at serving people, at make their lives more comfortable and safeguarding their rights in accordance with the spirit of Islam.
However, this doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t practice self-assessment to improve our performance. For this reason, I would like to talk about the execution judge who has the power to end human life with the push of a button. In one mechanical movement, he can send one to jail, freeze his accounts and impose a travel ban etc. Just one sentence, just a click and the life of an individual come to a standstill. This authority is usually a normal procedure, but things become horrifying in case of a misjudgment.
Maybe, the idea of giving this authority to a judge is to effectively implement a verdict against a convicted individual. This is very natural, especially after completion of all legal procedures. But our faith teaches us that the punishment should be compatible with the crime committed, and that it shouldn’t be in any way harmful to his family members.
Ideally, we should have independent bodies that oversee implementation of any law or any sentence in a way that protects public interest. Ironically, I don’t think that we serve the public interest when we order freezing of assets and accounts of any person because we are simultaneously causing harm to his innocent children, wife and family. This is against the spirit of the Islamic legislation. According to Islam, no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of others. No one will be considered responsible for another’s sins. This is the true spirit of the Islamic legislation.
In other countries, they form juries for certain cases in order to reach a unanimous verdict. In our case, the verdict is left to a man with all the authority — a man who is not immune to making mistakes or error of judgment.
Throughout the history of Islam, being a judge was the least desirable career that any scholar would look for because it is a big responsibility. What I hope for is that the justice minister forms a committee of experts to study this procedure to safeguard peoples’ rights in accordance with the rule “No bearer of burdens will bear the burden of others.”
However, this doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t practice self-assessment to improve our performance. For this reason, I would like to talk about the execution judge who has the power to end human life with the push of a button. In one mechanical movement, he can send one to jail, freeze his accounts and impose a travel ban etc. Just one sentence, just a click and the life of an individual come to a standstill. This authority is usually a normal procedure, but things become horrifying in case of a misjudgment.
Maybe, the idea of giving this authority to a judge is to effectively implement a verdict against a convicted individual. This is very natural, especially after completion of all legal procedures. But our faith teaches us that the punishment should be compatible with the crime committed, and that it shouldn’t be in any way harmful to his family members.
Ideally, we should have independent bodies that oversee implementation of any law or any sentence in a way that protects public interest. Ironically, I don’t think that we serve the public interest when we order freezing of assets and accounts of any person because we are simultaneously causing harm to his innocent children, wife and family. This is against the spirit of the Islamic legislation. According to Islam, no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of others. No one will be considered responsible for another’s sins. This is the true spirit of the Islamic legislation.
In other countries, they form juries for certain cases in order to reach a unanimous verdict. In our case, the verdict is left to a man with all the authority — a man who is not immune to making mistakes or error of judgment.
Throughout the history of Islam, being a judge was the least desirable career that any scholar would look for because it is a big responsibility. What I hope for is that the justice minister forms a committee of experts to study this procedure to safeguard peoples’ rights in accordance with the rule “No bearer of burdens will bear the burden of others.”
