"And the discretionary punishment shall not exceed ten lashes"
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The Shaykh : The author said "other than for zina, and the discretionary punishment shall not exceed ten lashes" First, who is responsible for administering the discretionary punishment? The ruler or his deputy, or do we say anyone who has the authority to discipline? This is the broader definition: the one who administers the discretionary punishment is the one who has the authority to discipline. So the father disciplines his son, the teacher disciplines his students, and likewise the prince disciplines his subjects. Every person responsible for another is responsible for disciplining them, so he has the right to discipline. But we say that the discretionary punishment shall not exceed ten lashes. We lash him only ten times with a whip that is not new, not old, not stretched, not stripped, and not raised high so that the armpit is visible. Yes, ten lashes. If we find a man with a woman, having spent the whole night with her, enjoying all forms of enjoyment except that he did not reach the level of zina, we knock on his door in the morning and say, "Please come out," and we take with us a whip described with these characteristics... on his back, ten lashes, and we do not add more. We say, "If you wish to repeat it, you may repeat it; otherwise, you will not repeat it?" And the truth is that their saying, may Allah have mercy on them, that in the discretionary punishment of ten lashes, there must be a basis; otherwise, it would contradict their previous statement that discipline is obligatory. Why? Because ten lashes for such a great evil that reaches the level of a fixed punishment—does that achieve discipline? Absolutely not. It is not achieved. He says, "What matters is that I wake up with ten lashes; I can shake the dust off my clothes and go back." But they have a basis. The basis is that it is established from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said Sahih Muslim 1708 They said that "limit" here means punishment, because the hadith is in the context of punishments: "No one is to be lashed." And if it is in the context of punishments, we must interpret "limit" as what? As punishment. That is, no one is to be punished with lashing beyond ten lashes except in a limit. And what is the minimum of the limit? The minimum is eighty, as previously mentioned, the limit for falsely accusing someone of zina. And on this basis, it is not permissible to add to ten lashes. And some scholars said, rather, it is permissible to add to ten lashes, and twenty, thirty, forty, one hundred, two hundred, one thousand, and two thousand, to the extent that discipline is achieved, because the purpose is correction: correcting deviation, discipline, and removing evil and corruption. And what is necessary for the completion of an obligation is itself obligatory. And we saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) administer a discretionary punishment greater than ten lashes, as we will mention, if Allah wills. And if that is the case, then the saying of the Messenger (may Allah pray upon him and grant him peace) Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1463Sahih (Darussalam) must be interpreted as referring to a prohibition among His prohibitions, because the limits of Allah are applied to obligations, to prohibitions, and to punishments, or not? [Al-Baqarah 2:229] What is this? Obligations. [Al-Baqarah 2:187] Prohibitions. The limits are the punishments prescribed by the Shari'ah, clearly defined. And if the discretionary punishment or discipline is such that this perpetrator of the sin does not become disciplined except with more than ten lashes, then at that point, either we say we do not add, and these lashes become futile, because lashes that do not serve their purpose are futile, and they have no benefit. And the Shari'ah does not command futility; rather, it commands only what contains benefit and wisdom. And if that is the case, then the words of the Messenger (may Allah pray upon him and grant him peace) must be interpreted in a way that contains benefit and has a straight meaning, and "limit" in the hadith must be interpreted as the legal limits, which are either neglecting an obligation or committing a prohibition. The meaning becomes that we do not discipline anyone for neglecting dignity, for example, with more than ten lashes. If we find someone in our gathering, which is a gathering of knowledge and respect, and we find him eating, what would this be?
The questioner : Contrary to dignity.
The Shaykh : Contrary to dignity. This we lash, but we do not lash him more than ten lashes, right? Or not? Do we give him one lash for each piece, or is that not enough? Okay, and if he ate thirty pieces, we do not add to ten. This is what we do not add to ten. A man said to his son, "Sit in the coffee shop; visitors will come to us." The son heard the boys playing ball and went out and left the coffee shop. His father returned wanting to discipline him. What do we say? Do not add to ten lashes, right? Okay, he was ordering his young son to pray, and the son was eleven years old, but the son was defiant. How many lashes does he get?
The questioner : Ten.
The Shaykh : If that does not work?
The questioner : He increases.
The Shaykh : If that does not work, he increases, because this is neglecting an obligation, a limit from the limits of Allah. And on this basis, we say that the limit in the hadith is the prohibitions of Allah, meaning the legal limits, not the punitive limits. The legal limits are either neglecting an obligation or committing a prohibition. And you have understood the reason for the obligation to interpret the hadith in this way: that the Lawgiver intends thereby discipline, and discipline is not achieved with something like ten lashes for one who has committed a great sin that does not incur a fixed punishment. And this opinion is the stronger position, and it is the choice of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah and a group of the precise scholars, and it is the one that must be acted upon. And it will come to us, if Allah wills, that the discretionary punishment is also not restricted to this type of discretionary punishment, meaning that it is not limited to lashing. The discretionary punishment may be of multiple types, even according to the school of jurisprudence, it is of multiple types. And this indicates that it is permissible to add to ten lashes. Yes, that is right.
None should be given more than ten lashes, but in case of any Hadd out of the Huded of Allah.
لا يجلد أحد فوق عشرة أسواط إلا في حد من حدود اللهexcept for a legal punishment among Allah's punishments
إلا في حد من حدود اللهThese are the limits of Allah, so do not transgress them
فتلك حدود الله فلا تعتدوهاThese are the limits [set by] Allah, so do not approach them
تلك حدود الله فلا تقربهاThe questioner : Contrary to dignity.
The Shaykh : Contrary to dignity. This we lash, but we do not lash him more than ten lashes, right? Or not? Do we give him one lash for each piece, or is that not enough? Okay, and if he ate thirty pieces, we do not add to ten. This is what we do not add to ten. A man said to his son, "Sit in the coffee shop; visitors will come to us." The son heard the boys playing ball and went out and left the coffee shop. His father returned wanting to discipline him. What do we say? Do not add to ten lashes, right? Okay, he was ordering his young son to pray, and the son was eleven years old, but the son was defiant. How many lashes does he get?
The questioner : Ten.
The Shaykh : If that does not work?
The questioner : He increases.
The Shaykh : If that does not work, he increases, because this is neglecting an obligation, a limit from the limits of Allah. And on this basis, we say that the limit in the hadith is the prohibitions of Allah, meaning the legal limits, not the punitive limits. The legal limits are either neglecting an obligation or committing a prohibition. And you have understood the reason for the obligation to interpret the hadith in this way: that the Lawgiver intends thereby discipline, and discipline is not achieved with something like ten lashes for one who has committed a great sin that does not incur a fixed punishment. And this opinion is the stronger position, and it is the choice of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah and a group of the precise scholars, and it is the one that must be acted upon. And it will come to us, if Allah wills, that the discretionary punishment is also not restricted to this type of discretionary punishment, meaning that it is not limited to lashing. The discretionary punishment may be of multiple types, even according to the school of jurisprudence, it is of multiple types. And this indicates that it is permissible to add to ten lashes. Yes, that is right.