The Penalty of Imprisonment and the Rights of Prisoners in Islam and the West: A Comparative Study

Abstract

Imprisonment is a restriction of human liberty; Punishment of imprisonment is accepted form in Islamic and modern western world. Evidences of imprisonment are found in Quran and the Sunnah as during the life time of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), people used to be detained in the mosque. First jail was established during the time of Caliph Ali, in Islamic History. Islam allows to impose imprisonment on accused and convicted offenders and imprisonment even can be for a short time or in some cases it might be for life time. Islam considerers imprisonment as a discretionary punishment; the judge has an option to exercise punishment of imprisonment against any person if he thinks better for the reformation of any criminal.  Islamic teachings urge to provide prisoners with other rights as food, clothing, education and medical treatment in case of any health-related issue along with healthy environment for residing. Initially, in the west there was no concept of imprisonment, first time jail was established in 1552 in the UK. In the beginning prisoners were deprived of basic rights as proper residence, food, clothing and sanitation. In addition to it, they were maltreated by jail authorities. In 18th century, the reforms were introduced in the western world where new laws were made in favor of prisoners and prisoners were divided into different categories on which different facilities were provided to them. Imprisonment is considered as a primary punishment; it is being exercised against all sort of criminals whether it is in accordance with their nature of crimes or not.