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Open assault by force (mukabara)

المُكَابَرَة

Mukabara means overpowering and defying. In the jurists' usage it is one aspect of highway robbery (hiraba): an open seizure of property, killing or intimidation that relies on force far from help. In general it takes the rule of hiraba. On the theft limb, the Hanafis require cutting the hand for a night-time mukabara in a house but not a daytime one in town, while the Malikis exempt one who takes by force and claims ownership. The Shafi'is and Hanbalis treat a group that breaks into a house at night and prevents help as highwaymen. 1 2

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Prophetic Era
Region
Global / Diaspora
Review
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Crime and punishment

Summary

Mukabara means overpowering and defying. In the jurists' usage it is an aspect of highway robbery (hiraba): an open seizure of property, killing or intimidation that relies on force, far from help. 1

Ruling

Mukabara takes the rule of hiraba in general. The Mudawwana holds that whoever overpowers a man for his property with a weapon in an alley, or enters his womenfolk's quarters in a town, is judged as a highwayman. Killing in such a case is a discretionary punishment. 1

Mukabara and the theft limb

The Hanafis require cutting the hand for one who overpowers a man at night and takes his goods, because help at night seldom reaches the householder, but not for a daytime mukabara in a town, where help usually comes. The Malikis treat the one who takes by force as exempt if he claims ownership or admits usurpation, and liable to cutting if he takes from a secure place and then claims ownership. The Shafi'is and Hanbalis treat a group who break into a house at night and prevent the owner calling for help as highwaymen, in the sounder Shafi'i view. 2

People and things also explored

Habs (imprisonment and detention)· Hadr (blood and value wasted: no retaliation, no compensation)· Harisa (a superficial wound)· Hashima (a head wound that breaks the bone: its compensation)· Cauterising the stump (hasm)· Hija' (satire and insult in verse: its rules)· Hirabah (highway robbery)· Guarding (hirasa)

Sources

  1. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.14920
  2. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.14921
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Open assault by force (mukabara)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/mukabara/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

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Wing

Ideas

Beliefs, concepts, sciences and schools, explained in plain words. Related

Habs (imprisonment and detention)

In the technical sense habs is holding a person back, preventing him from acting for himself and going about his affairs. Jurists agree that it is lawful. Most treat it as a branch of discretionary punishment (ta'zir), used either as a penalty or to secure a suspect, and most set no upper limit on its length, leaving that to the judge. It may be open-ended or for life, and it ends with death, repentance or the pardon of the person wronged. Jurists also set rules for women, ambiguous and juvenile detainees, the prisoner's transactions, maintenance and oaths, the prohibited forms of discipline, and the jailer's qualities and the state's duty to oversee prisons.