Hirabah (highway robbery)

Hirabah, which most jurists call highway robbery (qat' al-tariq), is the act of taking to the road, to take property or to kill or terrify, openly and by force, with no help near at hand; the Malikis add an assault on honour. ¹ It is a grave sin and a fixed penalty by consensus; the Qur'an calls its perpetrators those who wage war on God and His messenger and run about the land in corruption, and the penalty is killing, crucifixion, cutting of hands and feet on opposite sides, or banishment from the land. ^{1 2 3} Hirabah differs from rebellion (baghy), which is revolt under an interpretation, while the highwaymen act without one; it differs from theft by openness, and from usurpation by the use of force. ^{1 2} The majority require the highwayman to be a legally bound adult; the Hanafis and Hanbalis require arms, counting stones and sticks as arms, while the Malikis and Shafi'is require only coercion and dominance. ^{3 4 5} For the Hanafis, manhood is required, while Abu Yusuf would penalise men who join a woman in the act. ^{4 5} An accessory who supports the act is treated as the perpetrator by the Hanafis, Malikis and Hanbalis, and disciplined by the Shafi'is. ^{5 6} The penalty is a fixed penalty that a pardon cannot remove, and repentance before capture removes it. ^{5 6}

One who kills and takes property is killed and crucified; one who only takes property has his right hand and left foot cut off; one who terrifies the road without killing or taking anything is banished from the land. ⁷ The Shafi'is and Hanbalis read the verse as stating the penalty for each kind of crime, not as a choice; the Hanafis hold that for one who kills and takes property the ruler chooses among cutting, killing and crucifixion, and Malik leaves the choice to the interest of the ruling. ^{7 8} On banishment, the Hanafis hold it to be detention until repentance, the Malikis removal from his town to a distant place, al-Shafi'i detention or exile, and the Hanbalis dispersal. ^{9 10} On crucifixion, the Hanafis and Malikis allow crucifying the living and then killing him; the Shafi'is and Hanbalis prefer killing and then crucifying, leaving the body for three days. ^{10 11} The Hanafis hold that the highwayman does not pay for goods consumed after the penalty, while the majority hold him liable. ^{11 12} Highway robbery is proved by confession or two just witnesses; repentance before capture removes the penalty, but not the rights of persons. ¹²