there until his repentance becomes evident. All of this, Malik maintained.

A group of scholars from Medina, however, hold that he should be exiled without interruption, passed from one town to the next until he is finally seized and the prescribed penalty—execution, crucifixion, or the amputation of his right hand and left foot—is carried out.

These are the rulings for anyone who spreads corruption on earth by terrorizing travelers, even if he has shed no blood. Should he kill, he is killed in retaliation for the life he took; none of the victim’s heirs may pardon him.

Once these ḥudūd have been enforced, the highwaymen bear no further liability for what they have consumed, unless they are solvent—in which case they are treated exactly like thieves. Whatever property is found in their possession is returned to its rightful owner.

If they repent before the authorities overpower them, the discretionary penalties in which the ruler may choose are waived. Retaliation (qiṣāṣ) nevertheless remains due to anyone whose relative was slain, and here the heir is free to pardon them. In addition, they must reimburse whatever wealth they have taken from people, for human claims do not fall away; payment is binding on them in hardship and in ease alike.

Any Muslim property the ruler recovers from the highwaymen must be safeguarded and publicly announced. Whoever comes forward with an accurate description and identifying marks acceptable to the ruler is to swear an oath, after which the property is returned to him. If the claimant is a local resident, it is advisable for the ruler to take a guarantee equivalent to what he receives, lest someone with a stronger claim appear later. A stranger, however, is not burdened with such a guarantee; once he has sworn, his goods are handed over to him.

Whoever kills another person for his wealth—whether at home or on a journey, on land or sea, in safety or in fear—incurs the same ruling as a highwayman. According to Malik, the ruler has discretion with regard to him exactly as described above, whether the slain was Muslim or non-Muslim, slave or free; for anyone who kills a slave or a non-Muslim during his highway robbery is executed for the corruption he has wrought on earth.

And whoever administers a narcotic or poison in—