20 June 2006

How to punish a thief: The Bible vs. the Quran

The Bible says that poor thieves, who cannot make restitution for what they have stolen, are to be sold into slavery.
If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it; he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep. ... If he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. -- Exodus 22:1-3

The Quran says that we should cut off their hands.

As for the thief, both male and female, cut off their hands. It is the reward of their own deeds, an exemplary punishment from Allah. -- Quran 5:38
So what should be done with poor thieves? Should they be sold into slavery or have their hands cut off? (Or should we cut off their hands and then sell them into slavery?)

13 comments:

Muhammad Farooqi said...

why a rich theif will make any theft!!!.... he actually doesn't mean to do that..


and for cutting one hand is a perfact punishment.. if there is only forgiveness.. then this thief can make more danger or big theft... or otherwise, either he... and all belonging to him or anybody who knows its outcomes, will never make theft!...

Regards

Jean Russell said...

Not quite fair, slavery was time limited (maximum time 49 years actually to the next year of jubilee which was anything from 1 to 49 years away), so the thief sold in the bible was not sent to eternal punishment, but to actually work for the debts he owed.

Can You DIstinguish The Good & The Bad? said...

‘He who steals must steal no longer;
but rather he must labor,
performing with his own hands what is good,
so that he will have something to share with one who has need.’
Ephesians 4:28

Bible teaches about love n forgiveness more than the Quran does

Anonymous said...

I think that cutting off the thief's hand and then selling them into slavery would be kinda hard. Who would want to by a handicapped slave? maybe if he/she is just going to hold my towel or clean then maybe but you wont get much other than that.

Unknown said...

Always funny how atheists attack the bible out of context:

1) Jesus overturned this rule for Christianity
2) It is better to be sold into "slavery" which was more of a servitude than the modern day, exegesis slavery of the 1800's we think of today.

Enlighten on this one my intellectual superiors; all slaves were freed in Israel every 7 years. All debts cancelled, every debt gone.

BTW, what atheist in history, BEFORE JESUS PREACHED LOVE, actually taught the high morals with which you atheists now judge? None

The fact is, the world was a barbarian place where thieves were killed beyond measure and beyond the proportion of the crime they committed.

Good thing we had the Bible limiting punishments to control people's desires. Eye for an Eye is not so disgusting when you consider that they didn't have "Love they enemy" and "turn the other cheek" back then - we do, and you foolish atheists forget that those wonderful rules of love came from Christianity 2000 years before you woke up one day and thought you were smarter than thousands of years of theism.

11-year old Atheist-Libertarian said...

"Always funny how atheists attack the bible out of context"

Please see NonStampCollector's video called Context

"Jesus overturned this rule for Christianity"

I thought Jesus was God. God is Omniscient. So why not just not put the rule in the Bible in the first place?

2) It is better to be sold into "slavery" which was more of a servitude than the modern day, exegesis slavery of the 1800's we think of today."

Let see what the Bible says about the issue.

"His master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever."
-Exod. 2:16

"BTW, what atheist in history, BEFORE JESUS PREACHED LOVE, actually taught the high morals with which you atheists now judge? None"

I thought before and after Jesus atheists were killed or excommunicated. So they couldn't preach ANYTHING. Also what does this prove? Nothing! That statement proves nothing.

"and you foolish atheists forget that those wonderful rules of love came from"

When you say that you violate the wonderful rules of love that Jesus preached.

"but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire."
-Matt. 5:22

Also are you SURE that Jesus' words are wonderful rules of love?

-Bye

ogunitracy said...

@ 11-year old Atheist

You're doing exactly what the other guy said - quoting out of context

Exodus 21:5,6
“But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ 6 then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.

Bashing Christianity does not prove that God does not exist, by the way so I hope you have enough proof for yourself.

@ Jengie Jon
Slavery was six years maximum. The 50th year was the year of Jubilee in which they didn't plant but miraculously got food.

Ghdjd said...

May I suggest killing them instead? As a man with no hand is not useful, as is a stealing servant.
Also, stealing comes from inequality. By promoting equality we might be able to prevent theft.

Unknown said...

Total ignorance from ignorant people. It is totally forbidden in Islamic law to cut the hand of the thief if they steal for food, medicine, out of need etc etc. For the hand of the thief to be cut, the theft should be of a set significant value. Thus a poor thief would have the right to steal if he was stealing to feed himself and his family.

Ahmad said...

To add to the above comment. The law of cutting the hand is not activated if there are obstacles to people to make honest living and if the country is in economical resession.

Unknown said...

According to Islamic laws, the hand of the thief should be cut if he has stolen something. It does not belong to him and hurts the people by stealing the things.

Unknown said...

I love how people simply fail to understand the true teachings in Islam and they simply go blabbering out of ignorance.

A poor thief who steals for survival MUST NOT have his hand cut. This is for two reasons.
- Poor person stealing is in a desperate state to feed himself/family
- if the state/government fails to enable/provide for its people then it is has NO right to impose punishment since it failed to fulfill its obligations.

An example of the above scenario is what happened back in the times of Omar bin Alkhattb. During that time the state was going through famine. Therefore he did not punish those who were forced to steal in order to survive.


Additionally, not every act of theft is punished with hand cutting. If the judge decides that a lesser punishment is sufficient then he will go with the least one. Examples of this:
- a youth/youngster stealing. In this case a much lesser punishment can take place such as doing community work, or some sort of parenting can fix him up
- a person who is mentally impaired. In Islam those kind of people get no punishment due to their lack of understanding and mental impairment
- a thief who stole for the first time and showed true regret and remorse.


But in a case where a wealthy person is corrupted and is stealing out of corruption and greed then this punishment is very well worth his crime.


Lastly, before you make a fool of yourself remember that Islam is a continuation of the Abrahamic religions and if you are a true believer you should speak of this faith with respect as it came from the same Lord that you worship. If you deny this fact then by default you are denying your Lord and thus your faith is impaired.

Unknown said...

Y'all can bash Christianity all you want (free will, etc.), but the fact of the matter is....Jesus came to clear things up because the people of the OLD testament had terribly misinterpreted God's word which was why they were so barbaric. Jesus taught love, compassion, tolerance and forgiveness. He was sent to REPLACE the OLD law with the NEW covenant. As for Islam, you all are in the shape you're in because you're still living in barbarity. Look at the shape of your country. You can't blame the rest of the world for that. It's your own hate and disdain for for other humans that don't believe the way you do that's made it that way. What if Christians took up your says and started killing all non believers, decapitating them and burning them alive? That would be a game changer. The Qur'an is a terrifying read for non Muslims. Nowhere in the New covenant does it even hint at brutally killing non believers. So yes, we worship the same God, but the guy that interpreted God's word for Islam was putting more of his own words and ways than our God. Theres a reason Jesus was mentioned so many times in the Qur'an. Your land does not show the world that Muhammed was on track, but that he was an insane, pedophilistic, warlord on a power trip and used the Lord God to deceive the poor, desperate and naive people. Sad really, but we Christians to what we're taught. We love our enemies and pray God blesses them. However, that does not mean we are to be pushover and allow evil to rule out other cheek. So, God bless you ALL with EVERYTHING He has for you. We love you, so stop being so self DESTRUCTIVE, in Jesus' sweet name! Amen.