tazir
Meaning. Under Islamic criminal law, a discretionary punishment for offences whose penalty is not fixed by the Quran or Sunna.
Islamic criminal law divides punishments into hadd (fixed penalties for specified offences), qisas (retaliation) and diyat (blood money) for offences against the person, and tazir for all other offences. In tazir, the judge or ruler decides the kind and quantity of punishment, which may range from admonition to fines, imprisonment or flogging, according to the offence and offender.
Tazir resembles modern criminal law in giving discretion in sentencing. It has no application in Indian criminal law, which is governed by the BNS for all communities, but it is studied in jurisprudence and Islamic law.
Example
Since the offence carried no fixed penalty, the qazi imposed a tazir punishment in his discretion.
See also
Read more in the study notes
- Notion of punishment in law: meaning, history and purpose (Penology and Victimology)