Theft : Sharia Law

My atheist friends think God is cruel because he gives very severe punishments for crimes. For example, Bible gives stone to death penalty on adulterous women (Deuteronomy 22:20-21) and Quran gives the punishment of amputation of a thief's hand (Quran 5:39).

"And (as for) the man who steals and the woman who steals, cut off their hands as a punishment for what they have EARNED, an EXEMPLARY punishment from God ; and God is Mighty, Wise. But whoever REPENTS after his wrongdoing and REFORMS, indeed, Allah will turn to him in FORGIVENESS. Indeed, God is Forgiving and Merciful. Do you not know that to God BELONGS the dominion of the heavens and the earth? He punishes whom He WILLS and forgives whom He wills, and God is over all things competent." (Quran 5:38-40).

FOUR VERY IMPORTANT POINTS are to be noted:

(1) God says he doesn't GIVE OUT that punishment to thieves. Thieves EARN that punishment. It sounds like a teacher says to his students that he doesn't give out marks to students, students earn marks.

(2) God says the punishment is EXEMPLARY. This means other people should learn a lesson from the punishment of thieves. No one would dare to steal something after watching the punishment of amputation of a thief's hand. If the price for the safety of a society is to cut off the hands of thieves, then it is better to cut the hands off of the thieves.

(3) God says if a thief REPENTS to God and REFORMS himself/herself (doesn't steal again in future), he/she would be PARDONED (his/her hands will not be cut off). If the thief doesn't reform himself/herself after his/her repentance, he/she will not be pardoned second time (his/her hands will be cut off).

Note that the punishment of cutting hands off for stealing only applies when a country is fully governed by God's law. Because God's law uproots poverty from the society by Zakah (Obligatory alms giving required of all Muslims). The biggest reason of theft is poverty. God not only punishes for stealing but also ensures that no one steals because of poverty. God says-"You shall observe the Contact Prayers (Salah) and give the obligatory charity (Zakah), and bow down with those who bow down." (Quran 2:43) In Saudi Arabia and Iran, people's hands are not cut off for stealing if they are in poverty. Note that poverty means lack of basic human needs (e.g. food, clothing, and shelter), not the lack of luxury things.

(4) Is it possible to justify the action of Mr. Jeff if he smashes the windows of a vehicle that doesn't belong to him? No, his action can't be justified because he doesn't own that vehicle. Is it possible to justify the action of Mr. Jeff if he smashes the windows of a vehicle that belongs to him? Yes, his action can be justified because he owns that vehicle. He has right to do whatever he wants to do with that vehicle because that is his private property.

(5) Quran doesn't say to chop off the hands of non-Muslims. It says to chop off hands of the thieves regardless of their religious identity. Everyone is EQUAL BEFORE THE LAW in the Quran. Westerners borrowed Quranic principle of the equality before the law for their legal system. No other legal system prior to Quran declared equality before the law in the history of mankind.

Theists believe that God is the owner of everything that is in the heaven and on earth including human beings. God has ownership rights on human beings. He has right to do whatever he wants to do with human beings. This is why the severe punishment of God makes sense to theists. God says everything including human beings BELONGS to him. Therefore his WILLS will be done.

Western societies have not succeeded to solve the problem of crime because they are kind to criminals. Their kindness towards criminals is increasing and so is crime. There is a direct relationship between their kindness towards criminals and crime. A group of foolish westerners are protesting to ban death sentence under the banner of human rights. Compare crime statistics between western countries with countries that FULLY follow God's law. The crime rate is close to zero percent in Saudi Arabia and Iran. The proof of the benefits of following God's law is in front of your very eyes. Don't close your eyes. Keep them open.