An Intrinsic Sharīʿa-Based Approach to Reducing Ḥudūd Capital Punishments in Iran

Iran’s criminal laws are based on Islamic law (sharīʿa) in accordance with its Constitution. In recent years, Iran has been among the countries with the highest execution rates worldwide.

Most of these executions are linked to ḥadd-based punishments. This has led some intellectuals and foreign observers to believe that the high execution rate is due to laws grounded in sharīʿa. To reduce executions, they have proposed abandoning sharīʿa. However, such an approach does not align with the values of an Islamic society. Shīʿa jurisprudence, with its inherent capacity, such as the diversity of fatwās and authoritativeness of the consensus provides an opportunity. It allows for a significant reduction in executions without partially or entirely departing from sharīʿa.

For many years, Iran has ranked among the countries with the highest number of executions globally. Based on statistics published by Amnesty International in recent years, despite some legal reforms aimed at reducing the death penalty, Iran has consistently remained among the nations with the highest number of executions. The number of executions relative to the country’s population of 85 million confirms that Iran holds the highest execution rate per capita globally. According to Amnesty International, based on reports from official Iranian organizations, there were 972 officially recorded executions in Iran in 2024, 853 in 2023, and 576 in 2022. By contrast, in 2014, the number of executions stood at 289, illustrating a significant increase in recent years. Amnesty International has consistently claimed that the actual number of executions exceeds the figures officially reported.

A widely held and credible view regarding the Iranian judiciary is that, in the Islamic Republic, politics plays a significant role in judicial processes. This means that political considerations can influence the speed of case proceedings, the type and severity of punishments, and that certain political cases are prosecuted under other criminal charges. Specific examples have also been cited to demonstrate the influence of politics in legal cases. While this perspective cannot be entirely dismissed—and in some instances, such politicization does indeed occur—observations suggest that, although political cases tend to be more prominently represented and publicly amplified, in many cases there is no trace of political motivation, and ordinary individuals are executed. Many of those executed come from impoverished, everyday families and have been sentenced to death for crimes such as possession of narcotics. What is particularly noteworthy is that, whether in cases where political elements are present or in those where they are absent, executions are carried out with reference to Islamic law. Even at the stage of criminalizing political actions, religious justifications are invoked.

Bibliographic Information

Title: An Intrinsic Sharīʿa-Based Approach to Reducing Ḥudūd Capital Punishments in Iran

Author(s):  Mohsen Borhani & Mohammadamin Radmand

Published in: Journal of Islamic Law, Vol 6 No 1 (2025): Volume 6 Spring 2025

 Language: English

Length: 37 Pages

An Intrinsic Sharīʿa-Based Approach to Reducing Ḥudūd Capital Punishments in Iran