as with His words:

“And they ask you about the spirit. Say, ‘The spirit is of my Lord’s command.’”

And His words:

“And establish prayer at the two ends of the day and in the early hours of the night. Indeed, good deeds do away with misdeeds.”

The same applies to other verses revealed in Mecca: an occasion subsequently arose in Medina that called for the same address, so they were revealed a second time—the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, then said:

“Rather, we shall be patient.”

In Sahīh Muslim, Burayda ibn al-Husayb, may Allah be pleased with him, reported:

“Whenever the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, sent a commander at the head of a detachment or an army, or on an errand of his own, he would instruct him personally to fear Allah Most High and to treat the Muslims accompanying him well. Then he would say: ‘Go forth in Allah’s name, in Allah’s cause. Fight those who disbelieve in Allah. Do not misappropriate the spoils, act treacherously, mutilate, or kill a child.’”

If they brandish weapons to seize property in a built-up area rather than in the open country, some scholars have said that they are not classed as brigands, but rather as snatch-thieves and plunderers, because help can reach the victim if he calls upon people for assistance.

Most scholars, however, hold that the same ruling applies to them in built-up areas and in the open country. This is the well-known position reported from Mālik, and the position of al-Shāfi‘ī, most of Ahmad’s followers, and some of Abū Hanīfa’s followers. Indeed, they deserve punishment even more in built-up areas than in the open country, because built-up areas are places of safety and tranquillity, where people support and help one another. Their daring to commit such acts there indicates the severity of their armed aggression and use of force. Moreover, they rob a man of all his property in his own home, whereas a traveller