Authority to Enforce Ḥadd on Slaves: Owner or Ruler?
By: Imrān Ayyūb Lāhorī
❖ Prophetic Ḥadīth
➊ Abū Hurayrah (RA):
The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said:
“Idhā zanat amat aḥadikum fatabayyana zanāhā falyajlid’hā al-ḥadd wa lā yutharrib ʿalayhā. Fa-in zanat falyajlid’hā wa lā yutharrib ʿalayhā. Fa-in zanat fī al-thālithah falyabʿahā wa law bi-ḍafīr.”
“When the bondwoman of any one of you commits zinā and it is confirmed, let him flog her the ḥadd but not reproach her. If she does so again, flog her and do not reproach her. If she does it a third time, then sell her even for a rope of hair.”
[al-Bukhārī: 2234; Muslim: 1703; al-Tirmidhī: 1440; Abū Dāwūd: 4469; Ibn Mājah: 2565]
➋ ʿAlī (RA):
He gave a sermon saying:
“Yā ayyuhā al-nās, aqīmū ʿalā arqā’ikum al-ḥadd mimman uḥṣina minhum wa man lam yuḥṣan.”
“O people! Establish the ḥadd on your slaves, whether they are married or unmarried.”
[Muslim: 1705; Ibn al-Jārūd: 816; al-Bayhaqī: 8/244; al-Ṭayālisī: 112]
➌ Another narration:
“Aqīmū al-ḥudūd ʿalā mā malakat aymānukum.”
“Establish the ḥudūd upon those whom your right hands possess.”
[Ṣaḥīḥ: Abū Dāwūd: 3755, 4473; Musnad Aḥmad: 1/135–145; Ibn Abī Shaybah: 11/62/1; al-Bayhaqī: 8/245]
❖ Scholarly Opinions
- al-Shawkānī, al-Shāfiʿī, Aḥmad (رحمهم الله):
The aḥādīth prove that the owner should carry out the ḥadd on his slave. - Ḥanafīs:
Only the ruler (ḥākim) may enforce ḥadd on slaves. - Ibn Ḥazm (رحمه الله):
The owner enforces the ḥadd, unless the owner is a disbeliever. - al-Tirmidhī (رحمه الله):
It is not the ruler but the owner himself who establishes the ḥadd on his slave.
[Nayl al-Awṭār: 4/574; Tuḥfat al-Aḥwadhī: 4/821; al-Umm: 6/135; al-Mabsūṭ: 9/80; al-Mughnī: 12/334; al-Muḥallā: 12/73–75]
❖ Rājiḥ View
Whether the ruler is present or not, it is the owner who should carry out the ḥadd on his slave.
[Nayl al-Awṭār: 4/574]
