Assignment: Islamic Laws and Mentally Incapacitated Person. By Dr Adil Ahmad Khan
Definition of Mentally Incapacitated Person:
A person whose mental illness, intellectual disability, or cognitive impairment prevents them from understanding, reasoning, or making informed decisions about their actions, rights, or responsibilities.
OR
A person is considered mentally incapacitated if a severe mental disorder impairs their reasoning and judgment to the extent that they cannot appreciate the nature or wrongfulness of their actions.
Islamic Laws and Mentally Incapacitated Person:
In Islamic Laws, legal accountability depends on two conditions: maturity (Bulugh) and sound intellect (Aql). A person who is mentally incapacitated, due to mental illness or intellectual disability and doesn’t understand actions whether right or wrong, is therefore considered outside the scope of full legal and religious obligations.
The Quran emphasizes that accountability is tied to capacity and ability:
“Allah does not burden a soul beyond that it can bear” (Quran Surah Al Baqarah 2: Ayat 286).
The Prophet (PBUH) explicitly exempted the mentally incapacitated from legal responsibility:
“The pen has been lifted from three: from the child until he reaches puberty, from the sleeper until he awakens, and from the insane until he regains sanity.” (Abi Dawud Hadith 4403, Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 1423).
This hadith is a cornerstone in Islamic law, establishing that insanity or severe cognitive impairment removes legal and moral liability.
In Pakistan, Islamic law recognizes that a person is not criminally liable for an act committed while suffering from a severe mental disorder that prevents them from understanding the nature or wrongfulness of their actions. The legal concept of ‘insanity’ serves as a defense, and the law mandates that medical boards determine the mental health of accused individuals, with special protections in place to prevent the execution of mentally incapacitated individuals.
Actus Reus and Mens Rea:
In Islamic legal principle both Actus Reus (deliberate intent or guilty act) and Mens rea (guilty mind or criminal intent for an offense) are necessary for a person to be held criminal, Only Actus Reus an act does not make a person guilty unless their mind is also guilty is central in Islamic Laws. If a mental disorder prevents the presence of the required guilty mind (mens rea), then no criminal liability can be established.
Types of Insanity:
Insanity is of three types: absolute/continuous (permanent insanity), intermittent (alternating), and partial (e.g. dementia). If insanity is continuous at the time of the act, the person is not accountable. If insanity is intermittent, liability depends on the state at the moment: one must prove the disorder was active when the offense occurred; if the offender was lucid then, he is held fully responsible. (This mirrors Western “insanity defense” principles.) Islamic law also names related states: dahish (sudden confusion or temporary delirium) and ʿaṭah (congenital mental retardation/dementia), which likewise may preclude punishment. Islamic law fully embraces mens rea: “there is no crime if there is no criminal intention”. A person who, due to mental illness or defect, cannot form intent or distinguish right from wrong is not guilty of a crime.
Criminal Responsibility and Insanity Defense
In modern forensic psychiatry, a defendant’s criminal responsibility is evaluated in terms of mens rea (intent, understanding) and capacity to understand the wrongful nature of acts. Islamic law similarly emphasizes Aql (soundness of mind). If a person was insane (unable to distinguish right from wrong or understand consequences) at the time of act, they are not held criminally responsible under Shariah. The classic categories of hudud and qisas do not apply unless sanity is present.
Competency to Stand Trial / Legal Capacity
Forensic assessments also consider whether a person is competent to participate in legal proceedings — understanding charges, following court process, instructing counsel. Islamic jurisprudence implicitly supports this: someone who is insane cannot be held accountable, cannot validly execute legal transactions (including defense), cannot be a witness or give binding statements during insanity. Thus, competency and capacity correspond closely with the teachings about majnun.
Civil Capacity and Consent
In most modern legal systems, a person must have the mental ability (called capacity) to make important decisions—for example, criminal acts, to sign a contract, to marry, or to agree to medical treatment. If someone cannot understand or make such decisions, the law may treat those acts as invalid and the person as insane.
Islamic law (Shariah) has a similar approach. Actions done during a period of insanity can be treated as void. Contracts or gifts given while a person is legally incapacitated may be cancelled, and a guardian can be appointed to look after the person’s affairs.
This is important for medical care. If a person cannot understand the information or choose for themselves, they usually cannot give valid consent; in that case a family member or guardian may make decisions on their behalf.