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Is it permissible in Islamic Sharia to administer 1500 lashes as a disciplinary punishment (ta'zir), and can a judge exceed ten lashes or eighty lashes in ta'zir?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The jurists differed on the amount of discretionary punishment (ta'zir), holding several opinions. Some believe that it is determined by the prevailing interest and the severity of the crime, and that the ruler (wali al-amr) exercises ijtihad (independent reasoning) in this matter. This is the view preferred by Ibn al-Qayyim and Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, who cited the actions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his Caliphs, as well as the fatwas of scholars, permitting ta'zir to reach the level of execution if the interest necessitates it. Others hold that ta'zir should not reach the level of a prescribed punishment (hadd), or that it should reach the lowest of the prescribed punishments (forty or eighty lashes), or that it should not exceed ten lashes. Ta'zir can be administered through beating, imprisonment, reprimand, and similar methods, and it is left to the discretion of the Imam according to what the need dictates.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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