Definition & Punishment

**1. Definition:** **Linguistically:** Derived from "haraba" (حَرَب) meaning to take all one's property. **Legally:** Going out to take property, kill, or terrorize - by force (mukābarah), relying on one's power, away from inhabited areas. Also called: **Qat' al-Tariq** (highway robbery/cutting the road). --- **2. Punishment of Highway Robbers:** The basis for punishing highway robbers is Allah's saying: "Indeed, the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and spread corruption in the land is that they be killed, or crucified, or their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides, or they be exiled from the land" [Al-Ma'idah: 33]. **The punishment varies according to the crime:** | Crime | Punishment | |-------|------------| | **Killed AND took property** | Killed AND crucified (to make an example), no pardon allowed by consensus | | **Killed but didn't take property** | Killed only (no crucifixion) | | **Took property but didn't kill** | Hand AND foot cut from opposite sides simultaneously | | **Only terrorized** (no killing or theft) | Exiled from the land, pursued, not allowed to settle in any town | This graduated punishment is based on understanding "or" (أو) in the verse as indicating **distribution according to crime**, not mere choice - as reported from Ibn Abbas.