``The principles of criminal law include many of
the ultimate ideas of Western civilization.''
(Jerome Hall) These principles refined in the last
few centuries in the Western world have
governed the criminal law of Pakistan since her
birth. In the last two decades or so, the criminal
law in Pakistan has undergone some change.
Major crimes are now governed by the provisions
of Islamic law. This means that two sets of
principles, one based on divine law and the other
on positive law, are operating at the same time in
the realm of criminal law. The need to understand
the principles of Islamic criminal law in addition
to those of Western law is, therefore, immense.
This book attempts to meet this need.