The Relationship Between Neglecting the Fixed Punishments and Legal Rulings and the Descent of Divine Punishments

Question : A questioner asks: What is the validity of this statement? If the legal punishments for transgressors, such as the hudud (fixed Qur'anic punishments) and ta'zir (discretionary punishment), are not carried out, do people or societies become exposed to cosmic punishments such as wars, earthquakes, and fitnah (trial, discord or temptation)?

Answer : Yes, this statement is correct, because if the limits of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) are not enforced, that is a cause of destruction, as established from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding the incident of Usamah ibn Zayd with the woman from the Khuzaimah tribe who used to borrow goods and deny it. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered that her hand be cut off. The matter of her status delayed the action, so they asked Usamah ibn Zayd to intercede for her with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) rebuked him and said, "Do you intercede in a limit of the limits of Allah?" Then he delivered a sermon and said, "The only reason the nations before you were destroyed is that when a noble person among them stole, they left him alone, and when a weak person among them stole, they established the limit upon him. By Allah, meaning he swore by Allah, if Fatimah, the daughter of Muhammad, had stolen, I would have cut off her hand." His statement, "The only reason the nations before you were destroyed," contains evidence that it is obligatory to establish the limits. For this reason, the scholars said that it is obligatory for the one in authority to establish the limits, meaning it is obligatory for the one in authority to enforce the limits. "And the thief, male and female, cut off their hands" is a command. "And the woman and man who commit zina (unlawful sexual intercourse), flog them" is a command. Indeed, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) delivered a sermon on the minbar (the pulpit) of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
And he informed them that the verse of rajm (stoning), meaning the stoning of the one who commits zina, is in the Book of Allah, and that it is an obligation, in the presence of the Companions. There is no doubt that neglecting the implementation of the limits is a cause of the destruction of nations. And the limits must be established for the noble and the lowly, the near and the far, because they are a right for Allah (Mighty and Majestic).