Rape Punishment in Islam

Rape Punishment in Islam.
Several months from today, I happened to be listening to Dr Zakir Naik lectures on Rape, in discussion it was mentioned with the highest rate of the crime taken place in America. People have the misconception that is anyone rapes, the Islamic law says you should put him or her to death straight away. Not only this misconception people hold against Islam, but also the misconception that the punishment for rape in Islam is alleged to be "backwards" in the 21st century, in this era. The problem is, these people lack correct knowledge about Islam and I would mainly blame the media for this.
The punishment of rape in Islam can be found in the following authentic Hadith:
Abu Dawud, Book 38, Number 4366:
"Narrated Wa'il ibn Hujr: When a woman went out in the time of the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) for prayer, a man attacked her and overpowered (raped) her. She shouted and he went off, and when a man came by, she said: That (man) did such and such to me. And when a company of the Emigrants came by, she said: That man did such and such to me. They went and seized the man whom they thought had had intercourse with her and brought him to her. She said: Yes, this is he. Then they brought him to the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him). When he (the Prophet) was about to pass sentence, the man who (actually) had assaulted her stood up and said: Apostle of Allah, I am the man who did it to her. He (the Prophet) said to her: Go away, for Allah has forgiven you. But he told the man some good words (AbuDawud said: meaning the man who was seized), and of the man who had had intercourse with her, he said: Stone him to death. He also said: He has repented to such an extent that if the people of Medina had repented similarly, it would have been accepted from them."
As you can see, the man confesses that he has raped and is to be stoned to death. Moreover, scholars have said that if a rapist confesses or if witnesses are given against the rapist, he is to be put to death. Let us read:
"Ibn 'Abd al-Barr (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
The scholars are unanimously agreed that the rapist is to be subjected to the hadd punishment if there is clear evidence against him that he deserves the hadd punishment, or if he admits to that. Otherwise, he is to be punished (i.e., if there is no proof that the hadd punishment for zina may be carried out against him because he does not confess, and there are not four witnesses, then the judge may punish him and stipulate a punishment that will deter him and others like him). There is no punishment for the woman if it is true that he forced her and overpowered her, which may be proven by her screaming and shouting for help. End quote.
Al-Istidhkaar, 7/146."
Sources: www.islam-qa.com www.islamonline.net

The "hadd" punishment refers to the death penalty. This can be applied if the rapist admits that he raped a person or if the person has witnesses and strong proof against him. But, if the rapist doesn't have strong evidence or any evidence against him and does not own up to raping, then the judge is allowed to offer a punishment that will act as a deterrent for others. So, the death penalty of the rapist is not applied in all scenarios. Moreover, it is worth noting that the victim of rape is not allowed to get any punishment, and there is no Islamic text which says this.
So, if a person who rapes another and proof is given against him or if the person confesses, the Islamic law says that the person should be put to death. People who claim this is as barbaric punishment; they fail to realize that this law is so strict that all it will do is prevent people from raping. If one person is put to death for raping, do you know that this will act as a strong deterrent for others raping, so they will think dozens of time before raping an innocent being. If you apply man made laws, rape will remain high which is what we see today. Let us look at some of the statistics of the so called "most advanced country."
Here I shall add the statistics:
USA Rape Statistics:
● In 1990 in USA, 1 in 15 rape victims became pregnant as a result of being raped. (Statistics on Sexual Violence Against Women: A Criminological Study, 1990.) (*)
● In 1994 at USA on average, every 45 seconds a rape took place (U.S. Department of Justice, 1994). (*)
● Since every 45 seconds a rape took place in USA in 1994, that means in 1994 in USA, 700,800 rapes took place.
● According to National Crime Victimization Survey Bureau of Justice (U.S. Department of Justice) in the year 1996 alone everyday on an average 2,713 rapes took place.
● According to National Crime Victimization Survey Bureau of Justice (U.S. Department of Justice) in the year 1996 that means every 32 seconds 1 rape took place in USA.
● In 2004 in USA, every 90 seconds (every 1 minute and 30 seconds) 1 rape took place. (*) (According to Amnesty International and a report entitled: Stop Violence Against Women).
● According to National Institute of Justice & Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, 17.7 million American women have been victims of attempted or completed rape in 1998. (*)
● In 2007, every 2 minutes, someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted, according to U.S. Department of Justice's National Crime Victimization Survey 2007. (*)
● Since every 2 minutes a rape took place in USA in 2007, that means in 2007 in USA, 262,800 rapes took place.
UK Rape Statistics:
● In 2006 at UK, roughly 85,000 women were raped each year. (
● In 2006 at UK, on average 232 women were raped every day (85,000 divided by 365).
● In 2006 at UK, on average only 800 (0.9%) persons were convicted in rape crimes out of the 85,000 which took place. (That means if you rape 106 times, chances you'll get convicted is ONCE).
● In 2003/2004 in UK, the overall cost to society of sexual offences was estimated: 8.5 billion, with each rape costing over �76,000. (*)

If the Islamic law of rape was applied to these countries before all these rapes took place, the statistics would not have been as high as they evidently are. People would be used to not expecting rape to occur, had these countries applied the Islamic law of rape before these raped occurred. But because they have their own man made laws, they are used to hearing people being raped so much, that each rape case is not worth reporting in the media. In addition, applying the Islamic law for rape would only decrease rapes from occurring, which is clearly beneficial for humanity. I am aware that rape may not stop 100%, if the Islamic law for rape is applied in these countries. They maybe some sick people who may rape, knowing that they would be put to death. But hypothetically, if the Islamic law of rape was implemented in these countries and a few people still raped others, it is preferable to put to death these few rapists to prevent 1000's of others raping?
Or is it preferable to offer a light punishment for rapists (life the western world do) and have 1000's of others being raped, money being wasted and lives being shattered? Which one would you prefer? You be the judge. Anyone can see that killing the few rape victims with the Islamic death penlty law will prevent:

> 1000's of others from being raped
> will prevent 1000's of dollars/pounds/euros etc being wasted
> will save investigation time
> will prevent several lives being shattered
> will prevent many rapists going scotch free to rape again
In contrast, the man made laws which the western countries adopt evidently show us via statistics that these things are occurring in the west, because the the punishment for rape is too light. In addition, some of those who do rape don't even get the punishment in western countries! They relax their own law, and expect people to abide by the law. The statistics show us this is not the case, because if you have your own law to start off with and on top of that relax the law, people will break the law and will get used to breaking the law you set.
In contrast, the Islamic law prevents all of this from occurring, because the punishment acts as a barrier, it acts as a preventative shield from others being raped. As a result, if there are less people being raped, less money will be wasted, less lives will be shattered and the rapists would have no chance to escape from jail to start raping again. Of course, applying this law alone (death penalty for raping) in western countries will be less effective as compared to following this law and others parts of the Islamic law: i.e. a woman should wear Hijab in front of non family members, etc. That is why if you follow the complete Islamic law, the rape stats will diminish.
People may argue that in Saudi Arabia, women are prevented from report rapes and that they are gone unnoticed sometimes. If this occurs in certain Islamic countries, you CANNOT judge and analyze an entire religion based on what the followers do. Just because people are not allowing women to report rapes or they are not taking action against rapists, that does not mean that this reflects the Islamic law. The things which countries do which contradicts the Hadiths and Quran (Islamic law), this does NOT reflect the Islamic law. The Islamic law allows women to report rapes, so no-one can stop you from doing that in an Islamic country. If countries do that, then they are not following the Islamic law. Moreover, there is not a single country that follows 100% of the Islamic law. Who's fault is that? Not the religion of "Islam," it is the fault of the followers and those who have the authority. If they don't follow the Islamic law, there is bound to be disorder and disharmony.
The Islamic law is there to follow, but those who prevent women from reporting raped or those who let rapes do unnoticed, the are not following the Islamic law at all, because the Islamic law explicitly allows you to report rapes and condemn the rapists. To conclude, the the death penalty in Islamic law ONLY applies if rapists are proved guilty or own up. This punishment only prevents others from being raped. In addition, those rapists who don't have proof against them nor own up to it, the rapist may have a punishment depending on the judge, depending on the implications and other complex factors.