Chapter: The Prescribed Punishment for Highway Robbers

They are those who confront people with weapons in the open country or in inhabited areas, forcibly taking their property openly rather than by theft, ..............................

His statement, “The prescribed punishment for highway robbers,” indicates that the author regards the punishment for highway robbery as a prescribed legal punishment and that it is obligatory. This is indeed the case, for Allah the Exalted says:

“Indeed, the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive throughout the land spreading corruption is that they be killed, crucified, have their hands and feet cut off on opposite sides, or be banished from the land.” [al-Ma'idah: 33]

Thus, the punishment for highway robbers is among the prescribed punishments that must be carried out.

His statement, “highway robbers”: “robbers” is the plural of “robber,” and a “road” is that which people travel upon on foot and use as a route, such as roads for vehicles, camel tracks, donkey paths, and the like. Highway robbers are those who cut off the road—that is, prevent people from travelling along it—because of their aggression against those who pass by them.

His statement, “They are those who confront people with weapons in the open country or in inhabited areas, forcibly taking their property openly rather than by theft”: they stand on the roads with weapons, whether in the open country or in inhabited areas. It makes no difference whether the weapon is lethal or not; even a stick that can kill is a weapon.

His statement, “in the open country or in inhabited areas”: they are most commonly found in the open country, because inhabited areas contain people who protect others, and there are many people there who prevent the wrongdoing of such individuals. Thus, they are most commonly found in the open country.