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Islamic State Penal Code Promises Crucifixion, Lashing for Unbelievers

Harsh penalties for sodomy, theft, drinking alcohol

AP
December 17, 2014

The Islamic State (IS) has published it own penal code, which harshly penalizes actions such as sodomy and blasphemy with punishments including execution, crucifixion, lashing, and the severing of limbs, among other penalties.

IS (also known as ISIL or ISIS) issued the detailed document as a "warning and a reminder to people living under its rule" that any behavior not in accordance with strict Islamic law will be cruelly punished, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), which translated a copy of the penal code posted at a radical online depot known as the Jihadi Media Platform.

Radical militants associated with IS emphasized that they have a "commitment" to enforce the brutal doctrine "vigilantly," according to MEMRI.

As IS continues to gain strength and devotees, it has staked out bolder and more confrontational policies governing the territory in its control. The release of a formal penal code is a sign that the terror outfit remains committed to regional dominance in the face of ongoing U.S.-led airstrikes.

The death penalty and lashing by whip features prominently into IS’s legal code, which is governed by Sharia law.

"Blasphemy against Allah," for instance, is punishable by death, according to the legal code provided by MEMRI.

Similarly, "blasphemy against the prophet Mohammed" also guarantees death—"even in the accuser repents," according to the code. The same punishment is doled out for blasphemy against Islam.

Adultery also remains a capital crime under IS’ code.

An adulterer will face "stoning until death" if he or she was married at the time and "100 lashes and exile" if unmarried.

Sodomy and, in particular, homosexuality will also be met by death "for the person committing the act, as well as for the one receiving it."

The act of "spying for the unbelievers," which includes all those who do not adhere to IS’s extremist interpretation of Islam, will also result in death.

Murder and stealing will not only be punished by death, but the offender will also be crucified, the code states.

However, not every crime will get the offender murdered by IS.

Theft, for example, will be punished by cutting off an offender’s hand.

Drinking alcohol, which is banned under extreme Islamic law, will be met with 80 lashes.

A person convicted of "slandering" also will be subjected to 80 lashes.

The punishment for stealing, or "banditry" as IS describes it, is "cutting off the right hand and the left leg," according to the penal code.

Published under: Islamic State