The moral element of crime and the effect on penalties of retaliation in the legal thought of shafi school

This study entitled "The Moral Element of Crime and the Effect on Penalties of Retaliation in the Legal Thought of Shafi School" examined the development of the concepts related to the moral element that must be present to constitute a crime. This study consists of an introduction and three chapters. In the first chapter (introduction), the subject, purpose, method and sources of the study are mentioned. The information about the concept of crime, the classification of crimes and the general elements of constituting a crime (legal, material, illegality and moral elements) in terms of Islamic criminal law are briefly described in the second chapter. In the third chapter, the concept of moral element (mens rea) according to Islamic criminal law is comprehensively described. In particularly, criminal responsibility and culpability required in the occurrence of moral element are also examined. The last chapter of this study detailed the role of moral element in determining types of crime and punishment or responsibility of the offender, especially in the murder and bodily injury crimes according to the legal thought of Shafi School. Moreover, in order to better understand the terms of moral element of these crimes, the thoughts of other schools are also mentioned, if deemed necessary. In order to consider one's action as a crime, generally there must be four elements: Legal, material, illegality and moral elements. If one of these elements is missing, the action occurred cannot be counted as a crime and a person cannot not be punished. Especially moral element, it played a significant role in distinguishing types of crime and determining and identifying the offender's responsibility.