Assessing the Feasibility of Recognizing “Verbal Taʿzīr (taʿzīr-i guftārī)” as a Form of Taʿzīr in Imāmī Fiqh and Iranian Law

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Mojtaba Javidi ¹

Faramarz Fakhr maani ²

¹ Associate Professor, Department of Fiqh and Islamic Law, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran

² PhD Candidate, Department of Fiqh and Islamic Law, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran

10.22067/jfiqh.2025.91495.1893

Abstract

Taʿzīrī responses vary widely and diversely according to the circumstances of the individual in time and place. This diversity is grounded in the principle of personal responsibility in punishment and considerations of public interest. The present study asks whether Imāmī Fiqh and Iranian law can recognize a distinct form of taʿzīr known as “verbal taʿzīr”. Imāmī jurists have adopted two broad positions on this issue: some do not classify verbal responses as taʿzīr, whereas others regard them as instances of taʿzīr. The present study explores this issue using the descriptive-analytical method. Findings indicate that based on Qurʾānic verses and Hadiths, verbal taʿzīr can indeed be recognized as a form of taʿzīr. Depending on the characteristics of the offender, it may encompass a range of levels, including notification, admonition, exhortation, reprimand, and threatening. The legislator has sporadically identified measures such as exhortation, written and oral admonition, reprimand, and warning in various provisions of the laws currently in force. However, in light of the Qurʾānic and traditional foundations, verbal taʿzīr should not be confined to these cases; rather, it should be used more extensively and in a more organized manner in taʿzīrī laws and regulations.

Keywords

verbal taʿzīr

notification (iʿlām)

reprimand

threat

exhortation

Subjects

• Jurisprudence and criminal law

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