It's been a long time since I looked into who is using Sharia concerning this so I asked my friend Grok about who is beheading these days.
In Islam, the punishment of beheading (known as "qatl bi al-sayf" or execution by sword) is prescribed in classical Islamic law (Sharia) only for a very limited set of grave crimes classified as ḥudūd (fixed punishments ordained by God in the Quran) or qiṣāṣ (retaliatory punishment). These punishments are almost never carried out in most Muslim-majority countries today, but they remain on the books in a handful of states that apply strict interpretations of classical fiqh (e.g., Saudi Arabia, Iran under certain circumstances, and formerly the Taliban or ISIS).
The offenses for which classical Islamic jurisprudence explicitly allows or requires death by beheading are:
- Intentional murder (qiṣāṣ) Quran 2:178 and 5:45 allow the family of a murder victim to demand execution of the killer (“a life for a life”). In the four major Sunni schools and in Shia law, the default method of execution for qiṣāṣ murder cases is beheading with a sword (unless the victim’s family requests a different method or forgives the killer).
- Ḥirāba (brigandage, highway robbery, or terrorism that involves killing) Quran 5:33 prescribes for “those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive to spread corruption in the land” one of four punishments: execution, crucifixion, amputation of opposite hand and foot, or exile. When execution is chosen, classical jurists (Hanbali, Maliki, Shafi’i, and many Hanafis) specify beheading as the method.
- Adultery by a married person (zinā al-muḥṣan) The punishment of stoning to death (rajm) is applied in classical law for married adulterers based on hadith, not the Quran directly (the Quran prescribes flogging). However, some modern strict regimes and historical practice sometimes substituted or conflated beheading for stoning in certain zinā cases, though stoning is the majority classical ruling.
- Apostasy (ridda) combined with rebellion or treason Pure apostasy (leaving Islam) carries the death penalty in classical rulings of all four Sunni schools and in Ja’fari Shia law, but many scholars historically required a waiting period and did not always enforce it. When the death penalty is applied, beheading is the usual method. (Note: a large number of modern Muslim countries and scholars reject the death penalty for simple apostasy.)
- Blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad (sabb al-rasūl) In Hanbali, Maliki, and Shafi’i schools (and some Hanafis), insulting the Prophet is a capital offense punishable by beheading, even for non-Muslims in some interpretations.
Countries or groups that have carried out beheadings in recent decades citing Islamic law:
- Saudi Arabia (for murder, terrorism/ḥirāba, large-scale drug trafficking, and sometimes sorcery/adultery)
- Iran (occasionally, though hanging is now more common)
- Islamic State (ISIS) and al-Qaeda affiliates (frequently, for apostasy, blasphemy, homosexuality, sorcery, etc.)
- Taliban (both in the 1990s and again after 2021, though firing squads are also used)
In almost all other Muslim-majority countries (Indonesia, Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, Pakistan, Malaysia, etc.), beheading is not practiced and capital punishment, when it exists, is carried out by hanging or firing squad.
So, under the strictest interpretations of classical Islamic law actually enforced in a few places today, you can have your head cut off for intentional murder, terrorist acts that involve killing, certain cases of adultery, apostasy combined with hostility, or blaspheming the Prophet. In practice, only Saudi Arabia routinely uses beheads people for these offenses in the 21st century.
