Cauterising the stump (hasm)

الحسم

Hasm (cauterising) means, in the lexicon, cutting, and in law dipping the stump of a cut hand or foot in boiling oil or searing it with a heated iron so that the veins close and the bleeding stops. ¹ The Hanafis and Malikis, and one Shafi'i view, treat it as obligatory since the penalty must deter and not destroy; the sounder Shafi'i view and the Hanbalis treat it as recommended. ^{1 2}