Prohibition of Torture
Hadith 49, Allah tortures those who torture the people in this life (Muslim)
Commentary
A: Imam Nawawi mentioned that this is narrated in respect to the harming of people without right, such as torture, and is not meant generally such as the implementation of qisaas and Hudood and so on.
B: It is prohibited in all the schools of thought to torture people on the basis of suspicion for the sake of information, and the attribution of such an opinion to Imam Malik is a false one and the details can be found in the relevant books which include detailed discussions regarding regarding maslaha. Rather when suspicious of someone they should be left until clear evidence is provided (see hadith 23 where the woman under suspicion was left alone and not coerced to admit to what she was well known for).
C: However, the ruler is permitted to jail someone for a limited period of time, but this is only for a chance to investigate the accusations brought against them and should not be used to put pressure upon them or keep them held indefinitely, in accordance with the sound narration found in Tirmidhi that the Prophet (SAW) jailed someone for a day due to an accusation, and then freed him.
D: There is no difference in the hadith regarding whether the torturer is a disbeliever or not, the words used are general and so fall upon anyone who carries out torture whatever their personal belief.
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