First, then, I am to tell you that the Mahometans are a people amongst
whom the science of jurisprudence is much studied and cultivated; that
they distinguish it into the law of the _Koran_ and its authorized
commentaries,--into the _Fetwah_, which is the judicial judgments and
reports of adjudged cases,--into the _Canon_, which is the regulations
made by the emperor for the sovereign authority in the government of
their dominions,--and, lastly, into the _Rawaj-ul-Mulk_, or custom and
usage, the common law of the country, which prevails independent of any
of the former.
In regard to punishments being arbitrary, I will, with your Lordships'
permission, read a passage which will show you that the magistrate is a
responsible person. "If a supreme ruler, such as the Caliph for the time
being, commit any offence punishable by law, such as whoredom, theft, or
drunkenness, he is not subject to any punishment; but yet if he commit
murder, he is subject to the law of retaliation, and he is also
accountable in matters of property: because _punishment_ is a right of
God, the infliction of which is committed to the Caliph, or other
supreme magistrate, and to none else; and he cannot inflict punishment
upon himself, as in this there is no advantage, because the good
proposed in punishment is that it may operate as a warning to deter
mankind from sin, and this is not obtained by a person's inflicting
punishment upon himself, contrary to the rights of the _individual_,
such as the laws of _retaliation_ and of _property_, the penalties of
which may be exacted of the Caliph, as the claimant of right may obtain
satisfaction, either by the Caliph impowering him to exact his right
from himself, or by the claimant appealing for assistance to the
collective body of Mussulmans.
Pages:
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271