What is the required severity of the whip used to flog a slave for defamation compared to a free person?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Ḥudūd (Prescribed Penalties)
Primary text
If the number of lashes is forty (the lesser amount), the whip used should be less severe than the one used for flogging a free person. This principle dictates that as the penalty itself lessens, the instrument of punishment also lessens; the whip for drinking offenses is lighter than for defamation, and the whip for defamation is lighter than for Zina.
Supporting text
It is also suggested that the slave and the free man should use the same whip, as the punishment for the slave is halved, and this division cannot be fully realized without parity in the implement used for the lashing.