Cross-amputation

Cross-amputation (Arabic: قطع من خلاف) is one of the Hudud punishments prescribed under Islamic jurisprudence (Sharia law) and involves cutting off the right hand and left foot of the alleged transgressor.^[1][2] The scriptural authority for the double amputation procedure is in the Quran (surah 5: 33-34) which stipulates:

"The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and strive with might for mischief through the land is execution or crucifixion, or cutting of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land. As for the thief, male or female, cut off their hands and feet from opposite ends in recompense for what they have committed."^[3]

Cross amputation survivors, Adam Ismaeel (left) and Ibrahim Osman (right), of the September 1983 Laws in Sudan, pictured in 1986

The right hand is always amputated during administration of the punishment regardless of whether the victim is right- or left-handed. This is because the Muslim faith decrees that the right hand should be used for clean purposes such as writing or eating, while the left is reserved for unclean tasks, such as cleaning following defecation. By removing the right hand as part of the punishment, the victim is subsequently forced to use his or her 'unclean' left hand for tasks such as eating, and this added humiliation or indignity is regarded as part of the punishment.^{[citation needed]}

Practice

The punishment, typically used for highway robbery (hirabah, qat' al-tariq) and civil disturbance against Islam, is usually carried out in a single session in public, without anaesthetic and using a sword.^{[citation needed]} In some countries mentioned below doctors attend the amputations to manage blood loss and pain by administering tourniquets, analgesic medication and bandaging. The punishment is practised in Islamic countries such as Saudi Arabia;^[4] Sudan;^[5] Somalia;^[6] Mauritania, the Maldives;^[7] Iran;^[8] and Yemen. ^[9]

References

1. Tarabella, Marc. "Parliamentary question | VP/HR - Cross-amputation in Yemen | E-011050/2013 | European Parliament". www.europarl.europa.eu. Retrieved 2023-08-07.
2. Peters, Rudolph (2005). Crime and Punishment in Islamic Law: Theory and Practice from the Sixteenth to the Twenty-First Century. Cambridge University Press. p. 166. ISBN 978-0-521-79226-4.
3. "The Quran, sura 5, verse 33". www.perseus.tufts.edu.
4. "Saudi Arabia: King urged to commute "cross amputation" sentences". Amnesty International. 2011-12-16. Retrieved 2023-08-07.
5. "Sudanese man sentenced to cross amputation for committing armed robbery – African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies".
6. Rice, Xan (20 October 2010). "Somali schoolboy tells of how Islamists cut off his leg and hand". The Guardian.
7. "Shariah Punishments in the Islamic Republics of Mauritania and Maldives, and Islamic State of Yemen". academic.oup.com.
8. Pannier, Bruce. "Criminals Lose Hands And Feet As Shari'a Law Imposed". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty.
9. Staff, Newsweek (8 July 2010). "The World's Most Barbaric Punishments". Newsweek.