Analysis of the Non- Retroactivity Principle and its Foundations in the Islamic Legal System

According to a principle commonly adopted in all modern legal systems‪,‬ recent laws do not apply to previous cases. In other words‪,‬ it is not possible to re‪-‬prosecute individuals as new laws come to pass‪.‬ This principle is known as the non‪-‬retroactivity principle in the criminal justice system‪. The very principle can also be inferred from various Quranic verses and Hadith including the Jab regulations (crimes committed by the pre-Islamic subject), Ibaha principle (legal indifference) and the disapproval of Bila-bayan punishment (without making regulations clarified). Moreover‪,‬ some contemporary Islamic scholars have proposed exceptions to this principle based on some other verses in the Quran‪.‬ These new propositions are often dismissed or ignored by the Imamiah school and not included in their juratory sources beyond perhaps the revelation circumstances‪.‬ In this article we have attempted to identify‪,‬ discuss and critique the foundations of this principle in the Islamic law and work out the applicable cases‪.