In this we seek to address the resemblance between Islamic rules and Western
systems in terms of the criminal protection of IPRs. The significance of tackling this issue at this
particular time is that there have been increasing calls in Western societies for the implementation of
the rules of Share’a in their own Western territories. This article aims to situate this argument within
the course of the criminal protection of IPRs, so as to prove that IPRs are one aspect of Share’a
which does not conflict with the Western principles of protection. The main theme in this article is
to establish that criminal protection of IPRs shall not result in severe physical punishments, but
rather, would generate adequate protection to owners of intellectual creations. It shall be argued that
intellectual theft could not be considered as a conventional theft which could result in the
amputation of hand. Therefore, criminal protection in Islam could be accommodated with protection
in Western societies, and shall not amount to what may be considered –from a Western point of
view– to be severe physical punishment.