The ruling on striking one who has committed a sin to make him confess to it
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The questioner:
From the questions of the day at the presidency, he says: Honorable Shaykh Abu 'Abdullah, is it permissible for me to strike one who has committed a sin to make him confess to committing it?
The Shaykh:
Yes.
The questioner:
He says: Is it permissible to clarify to one who has committed a sin to make him confess to committing it?
The Shaykh:
A confession is not taken by coercion or by striking; a confession is not taken by striking and coercion. It is only taken by the method of choice and proper admission. Yes.
The questioner:
From the questions, this Shaykh says: Is it…
The Shaykh:
So if there is strong evidence that he committed the crime, if there is evidence pointing to this, then he is struck to the extent that he confesses, just as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered the striking of the Jew who had money that he had hidden, and the evidence was that the money was in his possession. So he ordered 'Ali to torment him until he admitted it. So if there is clear evidence that he is a liar and that he is denying the truth, there is no harm in taking some measure of torment with him until he confesses to the truth. Yes.
From the questions of the day at the presidency, he says: Honorable Shaykh Abu 'Abdullah, is it permissible for me to strike one who has committed a sin to make him confess to committing it?
The Shaykh:
Yes.
The questioner:
He says: Is it permissible to clarify to one who has committed a sin to make him confess to committing it?
The Shaykh:
A confession is not taken by coercion or by striking; a confession is not taken by striking and coercion. It is only taken by the method of choice and proper admission. Yes.
The questioner:
From the questions, this Shaykh says: Is it…
The Shaykh:
So if there is strong evidence that he committed the crime, if there is evidence pointing to this, then he is struck to the extent that he confesses, just as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered the striking of the Jew who had money that he had hidden, and the evidence was that the money was in his possession. So he ordered 'Ali to torment him until he admitted it. So if there is clear evidence that he is a liar and that he is denying the truth, there is no harm in taking some measure of torment with him until he confesses to the truth. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، محاضرات في العقيدة والدعوة-069-ضوابط الأمر بالمعروف والنهي عن المنكر|صالح الفوزان|كبار العلماء — youtube.com (44:17)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.