Repentance as a Legal Concept

Abstract

This thesis assesses the mitigating impact of repentance upon the fixed punishments for brigandage (hiraba), theft, and the accusation of fornication (qadhf) under Islamic law, focusing on classical sources of Qur'anic exegesis (tafsir), law (fiqh), and legal theory (usul al-fiqh). It examines and compares the opinions of jurists and exegetes who are not affiliated with a school of law as well as jurists who belong to any of the eight legal schools--namely the Hanafis, Malikis, Shafi`is, Hanbalis, Zahiris, Zaydis, Imamis, and Ibadis. This thesis demonstrates that the mitigating impact of repentance upon the fixed punishments for brigandage, theft, and qadhf constitutes a case of casuistry as jurists do not assign legal significance to the concept of repentance in all of these three cases. Furthermore, the legal tradition on the mitigating impact of repentance upon fixed punishments shows a high degree of commonality that transcends school affiliation and theological orientation.