Dear respected Shaykh, assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Should a person who has committed a crime hand himself over for punishment? هل أطلب إقامة الحد علي

Praise be to Allah, and may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family and his companions. Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. As to what follows: In response to your question, we say: It is not imperative for a person to disgrace himself so that the punishment may be carried out on him. Rather, a person should screen himself with Allah’s screening (i.e., if his sin is not discovered he should not publicize it),  strive to reform his actions, and stay away from things which cause him to fall into sin. As for what was transmitted about the Ma’iz (may Allah be pleased with him) and the woman from the Ghaamid tribe (may Allah be pleased with her) that they committed adultery and went to the Prophet (peace be upon him) to be punished; that is because they chose for themselves to be purified of their sins in this world. This is not compulsory. The apparent action of the Prophet (peace be upon him) indicates that he did not like that. Dr. Khalid al-Mosleh   29/03/1425 H