CHAPTER III
Islamic Penology: Contemporary Thought and
Governmental Practice
We may now turn from the historical development of the Shari'a, "Islamic law," to consider the development of a contemporary Islamic criminal jurisprudence and penology, and attempts to apply Islamic principles in contemporary state practice.
Beginning in the last century, reformers in various parts of the Islamic world sought to find ways by which Islamdom could meet the Western challenge, which was then reaching a pitch and intensity never before seen in the long relationship between the two civilizations. These reformers were found primarily in Egypt, long an intellectual center of Islamdom, and in British India, where Islam had its own distinctive experience, and faced the special challenge of adapting itself to conditions as the "crown jewel" of the British Empire, where British style jurisprudence was established in the fullest degree. The earliest reformers tended to be either "Westernizers," prepared to adopt Western ideas wholesale, including Western jurisprudence and penology, or traditionalists, who called for rejection of the West, but did not feel themselves called upon to develop in detail new Islamic formulations a return to the pristine past being judged sufficient. Since that time, a number of "neo traditionalist" reformers have emerged, calling neither for Westernization nor a simple return to a (real or imagined) past, but for construction of a new society rooted in basic Islamic values. It is among thinkers of the last group that discussion of a modern Islamic jurisprudence has emerged.
In addition, a number of Muslim (or Muslim dominated) states have, in recent years, moved with great fanfare to adopt "Islamic law" and punishments. These include, most notably, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan. These states present us with most o...