Although he beheads up to sev­en peo­ple a day, Saudi Arabia’s lead­ing exe­cu­tion­er, 42-year-old Muhammad Saad Al-Beshi, says that he leads a nor­mal life and is car­ry­ing out God’s will. Using a sword giv­en to him as a gift by the gov­ern­ment, Al-Beshi has per­formed pub­lic exe­cu­tions since 1998 and has since trained his son, Musaed, to also become an exe­cu­tion­er. ​“An exe­cu­tion­er’s life, of course, is not all killing. Sometimes it can be ampu­ta­tion of hands and legs. I use a spe­cial sharp knife, not a sword. When I cut off a hand I cut it from the joint. If it is a leg the author­i­ties spec­i­fy where it is to be tak­en off, so I fol­low that,” Al-Beshi says. Although the major­i­ty of exe­cu­tions are even­tu­al­ly car­ried out, Al-Beshi must first go to the vic­tim’s fam­i­ly to ask for­give­ness for the crim­i­nal, who may then be spared the sword. He states, ​“I always have that hope, until the very last minute, and I pray to God to give the crim­i­nal a new lease of life. I always keep that hope alive.” A self-described fam­i­ly man, Al-Beshi says that his pro­fes­sion does not keep him from lead­ing a nor­mal life among fam­i­ly and friends and that he sleeps very well at night. He notes, ​“They aren’t afraid of me when I come back from an exe­cu­tion. Sometimes they help me clean my sword.” 

(Arab News, June 5, 2003). See ​“Witness to an Execution” for the per­spec­tive of those involved in U.S. executions.

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