ḥadd

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Ḥadd (Arab.; hadda, ‘determine’; often in pl., ḥudūd). A boundary or limit set by God, in Qurʾān of laws laid down, e.g. on fasting (2. 187), divorce (2. 229 f.). It came to mean unalterable punishments, especially stoning or beating for sexual intercourse outside the permitted relationships (zināʾ); beating for false accusations of adultery, or for drinking intoxicants; cutting off of the hand for theft.

Among Sūfīs, ḥadd (but more often the part. maḥdūd) refers to the finiteness of humans in contrast to God.