Rights of Prisoners in Islam

اسلام میں حقوق مسجونین

Abstract

The word Al-Sijn ''السجن'' is an Arabic word and the dictionary refers to the place where criminals are imprisoned. This word appears nine (9) times in Surah Yusuf, which means imprisonment. Sijn refers to a certain place and it is a place where prisoners are bound, like Hazrat Umar (R. A) bought a house in Makkah for four thousand dirhams and turned it into a prison. There are many hadiths about prisoners, in which the Prophet (SAW) issued different orders depending on the circumstances and events. A careful study shows that prisoners have many rights during their imprisonment, which includes religious, physical, moral, social, residential, and academic rights. which are different in each country and place. Islam has separate orders for women, children, adult, and minor prisoners. Islam emphasizes education and training and reformation of prisoners in prison. In the beginning of Islam, there was no system of separate prisons for prisoners. In the later periods, special jails were built, which started from the time of Hazrat Umar (RA) and When Hazrat Ali (R.A) Became caliph, he constructed first regular prison which was given the name "Nafay". The Second prison was "Mukhaiyas". Further improvements were made in the periods of the later Caliphs.