NCJ Number
87486
Date Published
1982
Length
23 pages
Annotation
Criminal responsibility under Islamic law requires that a person be of the age of discretion, be able to exercise choice, and be at fault (have criminal intent or contribute to the offense through a mistake).
Abstract
Criminal responsibility occurs only when it can be established that a person's behavior is the primary cause of criminal harm being done to another. This can include an act of omission as well as commission. Although a person is not criminally responsible for a crime which he/she has not committed, a person's mistake or neglect may be a cause for holding him/her responsible for another's criminal act, such as when a person's employee or animal causes harm to another. Criminal intent is the inclination toward the performance of a punishable act or a punishable omission. In this respect, criminal intent under Islamic law does not differ from that in positive law. Intent may be categorized as general or specific. General intent involves the will to do harm to another but not to the degree that actually occurred, e.g., the intent to discipline a child by beating him which issues in the child's death. Specific intent would involve the will to kill the child by beating him. Islamic law is detailed in its specification of the character of intent in cases of murder by poisoning, abortion, battery, monetary crimes and mistakes. Reasons for vacating or mitigating criminal responsibility under Islamic law include the use of one's right, the performance of a duty, self-defense, insanity, unconsciousness, coercion, necessity, and infancy.