RELIGION AND SOCIETY

Religion and Society ~ 420 ~ Legal experts everywhere are now coming back to the view that punishment, to be effective, must be severe. A man who knows that he risks a death sentence if he kills someone, is less likely to perpetrate this hideous crime than one who feels that he is only going to be subjected to psychiatric treatment. This was something which was understood and accepted many centuries ago when Islam prescribed the death sentence for willful murder. Even greater was its realism in making it permissible for the heirs, or next of kin of the deceased person to forgive the murderer on the acceptance of blood money. Although the death penalty was meant to extirpate evil from the very roots, it was recognized that measures had also to be taken to prevent the destitution of the surviving members of the deceased’s family. In special cases the state has the right to raise a sufficient amount of money as compensation. Human perceptions had obviously been at fault in determining which laws should remain inviolable. To establish the inviolability of a law, there must be proof of its permanent effectiveness and relevance. No such proof can be offered by purely human