Hudood Ordinances were a promulgation of four different ordinances and were imposed on 10 th

February 1979 as a part of “Islamization” policies of the military President, Zia ulHaq. These ordinances
were a revision to Pakistan’s criminal law system, the British Era’s Pakistan Penal Code, adding new
criminal offences of fornication and adultery along with the introduction of new punishments as well
which included amputation, whipping and stoning to death. By establishing these ordinances, Zia aimed
to bring Pakistan’s legal system closer to the principles of Islam by implementation of Shariah laws and
enforcement of punishments stated in the Holy Quran and Sunnah for criminal statues bearing on sex-
related crimes (zina) and theft along with, introduction of laws through the vehicle of the ordinances
bearing on prohibition and gazf (false accusation of zina).In the light of Islamic Shariah, each of these
ordinances had established degree of distinctions between tazir (non-hadd) and hadd crimes as
prescribed in the Quran and Sunnah, in regards to punishments and other legal requirements like the
proof and evidences of the crime. Tazir punishments had lesser requirements of proof and had lighter
punishments, whereas the Hadd punishments needed greater proof and thus had harsher punishments
in case of offense.

Moreover, in case of hadd offense for theft, according to the property ordinances, required two adult
male witnesses, who were free from major sins and were present at the place of theft and witnessed the
theft of property which was worth greater than a fixed nisaab of 4.457 grams of gold. If all the
requirements of proof were fulfilled, then the amputation of right hand at wrist would take place of the
thief. Initially Shariah Benches were established in the High Courts, for hearing the appeals in the cases
of Hudood Ordinances. Later, in Junes 1980, an independent federal Shariah Courts was introduced
which was given the powers to stand against the convictions in case of legitimate appeals under the
Hudood Ordinance Cases. It was an exclusive jurisdiction, which checked whether the rulings were in
accordance to Holy Quran and Sunnah. However, the decisions of FSC could further be appealed to the
Supreme Court’s Shariah Appellate Bench. Majority of appeals in case of Hudood Ordinances were in
FSC, and an approx of ten percent were appealed in the Supreme Court.

Under the ordinances, tazir punishments often involve flogging and hudod punishments could include severe
punishments like stoning to death. The Hudood Ordinances was a collection of theft ordinance, zina
ordinance, whipping ordinance, qazf ordinance, and alcohol. We will study the Hudood Ordinances in detail
below and would analyze their successes and failures.

Offences Against Property (theft) ordinance

 Offences Against Property (theft) liable to hadd punishment must be
o theft of goods worth greater than the nisab level, which was anything worth more than
4.457 grams of gold
o The place of theft was being protected, and wasn’t left unguarded.
o There must be legal evidences or confession of two adult male Muslim witnesses who
weren’t known for any major sins and were present at the place of theft at that time.
 Punishment for "offences against property (theft) liable to hadd":
o first offence: amputation of his right hand from the joint of the wrist.
o second offence: amputation of his left foot up to the ankle.
 o third offence: imprisonment for life.
 Offences against Theft liable to tazir:
 Anyone who committed theft but it didn’t qualify for hadd or
o for which there isn’t a confession or evidence provided by two qualifying Muslim adult male
witnesses who were present at the place, or
o for which 'hadd' may not be imposed or enforced under this Ordinance;
 Punishment for theft liable to tazir: as stated in the Pakistan Penal Code (Act XLV of 1860).
For a theft/robbery which was liable to hadd, the right hand of the robber and his left foot should be
amputated by a surgeon.

Zina (extramarital) Ordinance

The Zina ordinance refers to rape, adultery and fornication. This ordinance was the most controversial of
the four ordinances, as it had several discrete categories of sexual offences and had severe punishments
for each of the following:

 Zina which is liable to hadd; punishable by

o stoning to death of the adulterer
o public whipping of 100 lashes of a fornicator
 zina which is liable to tazir; punishable by
o imprisonment of up to ten year
 zina-bil-jabr which is liable to hadd;
 zina-bil-jabr which is liable to tazir;
Furthermore Zina offenses included the following:

 kidnapping
 sodomy
 enticement
 attempted rape
 abetment of zina crime
 deceitful marriage
 conspiracy to engage in prostitution
Under the hudood ordinances, there was a strict rule for the eyewitnesses that there should be "at least four
Muslim adult male sane witnesses", about whom "the court was satisfied", and that "they were known as
truthful persons and abstained from major sins (kabair)" (known as tazkiyah al-shuhood). Because of this
inflexible standard, none of the accused was ever been found guilty and stoned to death in Pakistan, and
punishments have been awarded only under the Tazir provision of the Hudood Ordinance.
This ordinance also abolished Pakistan's constitutional rape law.
The 2006 Act amended the rape clause from the Zina Hudood Ordinance and instead inserted sections 375
and 376 in Pakistan Penal Code to replace it, which concerned the Rape and laws about its Punishment.

Qazf Ordinance
Qazf Ordinance is the offence in case of false accusation of Zina (discussed earlier) with an intention to
defame someone, which can either be in the case of not being able to present four Male Witnesses or if the
witnesses do not qualify in front of the court or have produced false evidence of rape or zina. These are
considered as the false accusation of rape and can either be verbal or written. Qazf Ordinance also qualify in
the cases when the accused confesses himself in the court or atleast two, truthful, non-sinner Muslim Man
testify for the accused in front of the court.

 Punishment of Qazf which qualifies as Hadd is whipping 80 stripes to the accused.

 Qazf which qualifies as Tazir applies whenever
o Proof is not available of Qazf,
o Accused committed Qazf against any of their descendants,
o If the victim passes away during the proceedings of the case.
 Punishment of Qazf which qualifies as Tazir could be whipping of 80 stripes, imprisonment for upto 2
years and in some cases, hefty fines.
Prohibition (alcohol) Order
Prohibition Order was the offence of producing, importing, selling, owning, consuming or even possessing of
Alcohol.

 Either Imprisonment of up to five years, or flogging of up to 30 stripes, including hefty fines were
imposed in case of one importing, producing or selling the Alcohol.
 Either Imprisonment of up to two years, or flogging of up to 30 stripes, including hefty fines were
imposed in case of one owning or possessing Alcohol.
 Hadd for drinkers included Muslim Adult Man who took intoxications like liquor, if they confessed
themselves or if two Muslim Adult Males testified against him. These drinkers were lashed with 80
stripes.
 drinkers who qualified tazir included
o Non Muslims residing in Pakistan and drinking.
o Non Muslims, who weren’t residing in Pakistan, but were drinking out in public.
o Muslims for whom there wasn’t enough evidence or testimony of two Adult Muslim Males.
The Punishment for them included three years of imprisonment, or thirty stripes or in some cases,
both.
 Owning and Possessing of any other non life saving drugs like cocaine and heroin were also subject
to hefty fines, flocking and imprisonment.
Whipping Ordinance
The Whipping Ordinance was there to legalize the punishment of whipping and its execution.
This ordinance specified the material of the whips and their measurements in order to standardize the
process. The Convict was to examined medically before being whipped to check his health conditions and to
make sure that whipping doesn’t kill the offender. It may be delayed in cases of illness of offender, and
pregnancy. It also included that the stripes should not be on the delicate parts of the offender, his head and
his chest and must not tear apart his skin.