the sins is extreme; some of them permit it, since Abū Bakr al-Siddīq—may Allah be pleased with him—ordered that some apostates be burned (1). Likewise, Alī ibn Abī Tālib—may Allah be pleased with him—burned the extremists who claimed that he was divine (2). Others prohibit it because it is reported that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—forbade burning those whom he had ordered to be burned (3) (4).

If armed robbers brandished their weapons in a built-up area—not in the open country—in order to seize property, it has been said that they are not legally classed as brigands but are akin to snatchers and open plunderers, because the intended victim can obtain help if he cries out to the people. Most scholars, however, hold that the same ruling applies to them in built-up areas and in the open country. This is Mālik’s position according to the well-known report from him, as well as the position of al-Shāfiī, most of Ahmad’s companions, and some of Abū Hanīfa’s companions. Indeed, they are even more deserving of punishment in a built-up area than in the open country, because a built-up area is a place of security and tranquility and a place (5) where people support and assist one another. Their daring to attack there therefore entails greater ferocity in their aggression (6) and in overpowering others. Moreover, they rob a man in his own home of all his property, whereas a traveler generally carries only some of his property with him.

This is the correct view, especially with regard to these organized gangs whom the common people in