In Crime and Punishment in Islamic Law: A Fresh Interpretation, Mohammad Kamali considers problems associated with and proposals for reform of the hudud punishments prescribed by Islamic criminal law, and other topics related to crime and punishment in Shariah. He examines what the Qur'an and hadith say about hudud punishments, as well as just retaliation (qisas), and discretionary punishments (ta'zir), and looks at modern-day applications of Islamic criminal law in 15 Muslim countries. Particular attention is given to developments in Malaysia, a multi-religious society, federal state, and self-described democracy, where a lively debate about hudud has been on-going for the last three decades. Malaysia presents a particularly interesting case study of how a reasonably successful country with a market economy, high levels of exposure to the outside world, and a credible claim to inclusivity, deals with Islamic and Shariah-related issues.Kamali concludes that there is a significant gap between the theory and practice of hudud in the scriptural sources of Shariah and the scholastic articulations of jurisprudence of the various schools of Islamic law, arguing that literalism has led to such rigidity as to make Islamic criminal law effectively a dead letter. His goal is to provide a fresh reading of the sources of Shariah and demonstrate how the Qur'an and Sunnah can show the way forward to needed reforms of Islamic criminal law.

IntroductionPart One: Shariah PerspectivesII. Islamic Criminal Justice: An OverviewIII. Hudud in the Qur'an, Sunnah and FiqhIV. Prescribed Hudud CrimesPreliminary RemarksV. Zina (Adultery and Fornication)VI. Theft (Sariqah)VII. Banditry and Terrorism (Hirabah, also Qat'al-Tariq)VIII. Issues over Apostasy (Riddah)IX. Slanderous Accusation (Qadhf)X. Issues over Wine-Drinking (Shurb)XI. Enforcement of Hudud Punishments: Procedural ConstraintsXII. Philosophy of HududXIII. Discretionary Punishment (Ta'zir)XIV. Judicious Policy (Siysah Shari'iyyah)XV. Just Retaliation (Qisas)XVI. Blood-Money (Diyyah) and Financial CompensationXVII. Doubt (Shubha) and its Impact on PunishmentXVIII. Islam as a Total SystemPart Two: Islamic Criminal Law in MalaysiaIntroductory RemarksXIX. Hudud Bill of Kelantan 1993: An OverviewXX. Hudud and Qisas Bill of Terengganu 2002XXI. Problematics of the Hudud BillsXXII. Hudud Debate Continued: An Update 2012 - 2017Part Three: Islamic Criminal Law in Other Muslim CountriesIntroductory RemarksXXIII. Qanun Jinayat of Aceh, IndonesiaXXIV. Shariah Penal Code of Brunei DarussalamXXV. Islamic Criminal Law in Saudi ArabiaXXVI. Shariah Punishments in the Islamic Republic of AfghanistanXXVII. Islamic Republic of PakistanXXVIII. Islamic Republic of IranXXIX. Republic of NigeriaXXXII. Republic of SudanXXXIII. Islamic Republic of Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Maldives and Islamic State of YemenXXXIV. Libya, United Arab Emirates and QatarXXXV. Conclusion and RecommendationsGlossaryBibliographyIndex