❖ Punishment of the Highway Robber (Muḥārib): Choices, Locations, and Juristic Differences
Written by: Imran Ayoob Lahori
◈ Authority of the Ruler in Punishment
The ruler has the discretion to impose whichever punishment he deems most beneficial. This applies to anyone who commits robbery on roads or in cities with the intention of spreading corruption in the land.
Allah says:
أَن يُقَتَّلُوا أَوْ يُصَلَّبُوا أَوْ تُقَطَّعَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَأَرْجُلُهُم مِّنْ خِلَافٍ أَوْ يُنفَوْا مِنَ الْأَرْضِ [المائدة: 33]
“That they be killed, or crucified, or that their hands and feet be cut off on opposite sides, or that they be exiled from the land.”
This verse grants the ruler the authority to choose one punishment. In the absence of the ruler, his appointed representative may also enforce it, since no evidence in Qur’ān or Sunnah prohibits this.
The apparent meaning of the verse also indicates that the ruler may choose only one of these punishments.
Reference: الروضة الندية: 617/2 – 618
◈ Location of the Crime: City or Outside?
There is a difference of opinion regarding whether muḥārabah applies to robbers inside cities as well as outside:
- Imām Abū Ḥanīfah (RA): Robbers inside cities are not considered muḥāribīn.
- Imām Mālik (RA): Two narrations:
① If the robbery occurs three miles or more outside the city, he is a muḥārib; less than that, he is not.
② There is no difference between inside or outside the city. - Imām al-Shāfiʿī (RA), Imām Abū Yūsuf (RA): Preferred Imām Mālik’s second view (no distinction between city and outside).
Reference: نيل الأوطار: 614/4
Preferred Opinion (الراجح): The Qur’ān makes no distinction between city and non-city; thus, muḥārabah applies in both cases.
Reference: السيل الجرار: 370/4
◈ If Muḥāribīn Are a Group
- Imām al-Shāfiʿī (RA): Each person is punished according to his own crime.
- Imām Abū Ḥanīfah (RA): All are punished equally.
Reference: نيل الأوطار: 614/4
