Is it permissible for the Imam to rule with castration as a form of disciplinary punishment for harassers?
It has been previously explained that the punishment for this act is ta'zir (discretionary punishment), which the Imam determines. Scholars have mentioned various types of physical ta'zir: execution, lashing, imprisonment, and banishment (exile). However, none of them mentioned ta'zir by castration, and we do not consider it permissible due to the prohibitions against it and its being unlawful for human beings. It also contradicts the wisdom behind Islamic punishments, as "the cutting of the tongue, nor killing, was legislated for lying, nor castration for adultery, nor the execution of the soul for theft." It is stated in Hanafi texts regarding the punishment for sodomy that they "discussed ta'zir in terms of lashing, throwing him from a high place, imprisoning him in the foulest place, and other things, except for castration and amputation [of the penis]. Lashing is the soundest."
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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