Is the requirement for a legal corporal punishment (Hadd or Ta'zir) that the strike must cause pain?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Expiations
Primary text
It is required that a strike mandated by Islamic law, whether Hadd or Ta'zir, must cause pain in order to be valid. This is because, by custom, the intention behind such a strike is to inflict pain. Therefore, the oath is not fulfilled by a strike that does not cause pain, just as in the case of mandated physical punishments.
Supporting text
Malik holds this view. Al-Shafi'i states that fulfillment occurs even without pain because the term 'strike' encompasses both painful and non-painful actions, thus fulfilling the name of the act.