Journal of Razavi Culture

Criminal Justice in the Razavi Teachings

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Hossein Farzaneh 1
Maryam Fathabadi 2

1 "Assistant Professor, Department of Fiqh and Foundations of Law, Razavi University of Islamic Sciences, Mashhad, Iran (Corresponding Author): Dr.farzaneh@razavi.ac.ir

2 M.A. Student in Fiqh and Islamic Law, Razavi University of Islamic Sciences, Mashhad, Iran: maryamfath210@gmail.com

https://doi.org/10.22034/farzv.2025.467238.2017
Abstract
The principle of proportionality between crime and punishment, as one of the manifestations of criminal justice, has consistently attracted the attention of scholars in fiqh and law. It is considered a key criterion of justice and recognized as a legal, rational, and religious principle as old as human civilization. Its significance in realizing justice is so profound that legal scholars view adherence to this principle as a true embodiment of criminal justice and acknowledge its acceptance across all criminal law systems.
Proportionality between crime and punishment is also among the governing principles of Islamic penal sanctions and can be viewed as a result of God’s legislative justice. The foundation of this study, conducted through a descriptive-analytical method, focuses on a narration from Imam al-Ridā (A) that may be regarded as one of the bases of criminal justice within the framework of proportionality. In this narration, the Imam explains the reasoning behind the prescribed punishments for two ḥadd crimes: theft and non-muḥṣan fornication. His explanation reveals different forms of proportionality between offense and punishment, grounding this narration as a jurisprudential foundation for the principle of proportionality.

Keywords

Imam al-Ridā (A), proportionality between crime and punishment, criminal justice, justice, Razavi teachings

Subjects

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