Hirabah

Arabic term for piracy

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In Islamic law, Ḥirābah (Arabic: حرابة) is a legal category that comprises highway robbery (traditionally understood as aggravated robbery or grand larceny, unlike theft, which has a different punishment.[1] Ḥirābah means piracy or unlawful warfare. It comes from the triliteral root ḥrb, which means “to become angry and enraged”. The noun ḥarb (حَرْب, pl. ḥurūb حُروب) means 'war' or 'wars'.[2]

Moharebeh (also spelled muharebeh) is a Persian language term that is treated as interchangeable with ḥirabah in Arabic lexicons.[3] The related term muḥārib (Arabic: محارب, lit. 'perpetrator of muḥāribah') has been translated by English-language Iranian media as "enemy of God".[4][5][6] In English-language media sources, moḥarebeh in Iran has been translated variously as "waging war against God,"[7] "war against God and the state,"[8] "enmity against God."[9][5] It is a capital crime in Saudi Arabia and Iran.

## Scriptural basis

[edit]

A verse from the Quran, surah al-Ma'idah 5:33, is known as "the ḥirāba verse" (āyat al-ḥirāba),[10] specifies punishment for "those who wage war against God and His Messenger and strive to spread disorder in the land":[1]

> The punishment of those who wage war against God and His Messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter; [Quran 5:33]

The verbal noun form (i.e. ḥirāba) is frequently used in classical and modern books of Islamic jurisprudence, but neither the word ḥirāba nor the root verb ḥaraba occurs in the Quran.[11] (Yuḥāribūna is the form used in Quran 5:33-4.)

According to early Islamic sources, the verse was revealed after the expedition of Kurz bin Jabir Al-Fihri: some members of the Arabian tribe of the Banu Urayna feigned conversion to Islam to steal Muslims' possessions and killed a young shepherd sent to teach them about the faith. Given the broad and strong language of the verse, however, various state representatives beginning with the Umayyad Caliphate have asserted that it applied to rebels in general.[12]

The original meanings of the triliteral root ḥrb are to despoil someones wealth or property, and also fighting or committing sinful act. The Quran "refers to both meanings" in al-Baqara 2:279 and Al-Ma'ida 5:33-34.[13]

## Crime

[edit]

According to Islamic scholar Khaled Abou El Fadl, ḥirāba means "waging war against society" and in Islamic jurisprudence traditionally referred to acts such as killing noncombatants ("the resident and wayfarer"), "assassinations, setting fires, or poisoning water wells," crimes "so serious and repugnant" that their perpetrators were "not to be given quarter or sanctuary anywhere."[14]

The crime is sometimes lumped together with fasād fil-ʾarḍ "spreading corruption in the land",[15][16] which is mentioned alongside waging "war against Allah and His Prophet" in 5:33-34.

In addition, the Maliki judge Ibn 'Arabi, relates a story in which a group was attacked and a woman in their party raped. Responding to the argument that the crime did not constitute hiraba because no money was taken and no weapons used, Ibn 'Arabi replied indignantly that "hirabah with the private parts" is much worse than hiraba involving the taking of money, and that anyone would rather be subjected to the latter than the former.[17]

Though the terminology uses the term zina, nonetheless, they are two categorically different crimes as rape is treated as a hirāba crime by the judge and prosecuted based on circumstantial evidence (medical evidence, any number of witnesses, and other forensic evidence). In other words, very similar to how it is treated in contemporary Western law. It is fornication and adultery by mutual consent, or zina bil-ridha, which retain their classical hadd punishments from the Qur'an and sunnah, provided there are four witnesses (absent which they too default to tazir, subject to discretionary punishments such as fining, imprisonment, or lashes). Nonetheless, gang rape or public rape, such as the sort that occurs during war, is still traditionally considered ḥirāba as that is more in line with its classical definition as a war crime or crime against civilization and society.[18]

## Punishment

[edit]

In keeping with the Quranic verse 5:33 quoted above, "most classical [Islamic] jurists" held that the penalty for muḥāribah was crucifixion (تصليب), cross-amputation (amputation of right hand and left foot) or being banished from the land. (نفى).[19][20]

According to Sadakat Kadri the crimes of waging `war against God and His apostle` (Muḥāribah) and spreading `disorder in the land` (fasad fi-l-ard) were originally punished either by exile or some combination of double amputation, beheading, and crucifixion (what Kadri calls "Islam's equivalent of the hanging, drawing and quartering that medieval Europeans inflicted on traitors"). This was the only capital penalty permitted rulers by the Quran (in the case of murder the killer's fate was in the hands of the victim's next of kin not the judge)[21] during the early years of Islam "when enemies of the faith and political rebels often looked frighteningly similar" the crime had broader application including apostasy from Islam but was "gradually narrowed" to apply only to "highway robbery in the open county."[22]

The choice of crucifixion and its method is subject to "complex and contested rules" in classical jurisprudence.[23] Most scholars required crucifixion for highway robbery combined with murder, while others allowed execution by other methods.[23] The main methods of crucifixion are:

* Exposure of the culprit's body after execution by another method, ascribed to "most scholars"[23][24] and in particular to Ibn Hanbal and Al-Shafi'i;[25] or Hanbalis and Shafi'is.[26]
* Crucifying the culprit alive, then executing him with a lance thrust or another method, ascribed to Malikis, most Hanafis and most Twelver Shi'is;[23] the majority of the Malikis;[24] Malik, Abu Hanifa, and al-Awza'i;[25] or Malikis, Hanafis, and Shafi'is.[26]
* Crucifying the culprit alive and sparing his life if he survives for three days, ascribed to Shiites.[24]

Most scholars limit the period of crucifixion to three days.[23]

## In current legal systems

[edit]

### Iran

[edit]

See also: Capital punishment in Iran

In Iran, hirabah is known as moharebeh and is translated variously in English-language media as "waging war against God,"[7] "war against God and the state,"[8] or "enmity against God."[9][5] The charge is levied against people who commit acts against the government. Another related crime is Mofsede-fel-arz, which is "spreading corruption on the earth", which can be applied for political crimes such as treason. Iran's judiciary system has also used another related crime, Baghy, which is translated to "armed rebellion against the Islamic government",[27] especially against protesters during the 2022 Mahsa Amini protests.[28]

In 2022, dozens have been charged with moharabeh for their involvement in the Mahsa Amini protests, and at least four people have been executed.[29][30][31] Human rights organizations have condemned the use of "sham trials designed to intimidate protestors" and the "chilling use of the death penalty in rush trials."[32]

The term is widely used by Iran's Islamic Judiciary, citing Sharia law, and is "usually used against those who take up arms against the state,"[9] and usually carries the death penalty. The term is used in articles 183 to 196 of Iran's criminal law. The cases that fall under this term typically require involvement in armed criminal activities, e.g: taking up arms for terrorism and disruption of public safety (article 183), membership in groups conducting armed uprising (article 186), supporting groups planning to overthrow the government by force using weapons and explosives (article 187), accepting critical posts in a Coup d'etat government. Articles 190-191 state that a judge can give a person convicted under one of these crimes capital punishment. Peaceful and unarmed opposition to government does not fall under this term. Typical convicts under the term are members of armed ethnic separatist groups, members of armed drug trafficking groups, and people involved in armed robbery.[33]

According to Human Rights Watch, "at least nine people" convicted of moharebeh by Islamic Revolutionary Courts for "their alleged ties to armed opposition groups" were executed in 2014.[34]

Between the end of early days of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, when scores of former officials of the Shah and others were arrested and executed for moharebeh,[35] and the beginning of the 2009 election protests, executions for moharebeh were rare, and usually applied against members of armed opposition/terrorist groups, Kurdish separatists, or common criminals.[36]

In recent years, Iranians executed after being charged with Moharebeh include Majidreza Rahnavard (2022), Mohsen Shekari (2022), Mohammad-Reza Ali-Zamani (2010), Arash Rahmanipour (2010), and Ehsan Fatahian (2009). Others accused, charged or convicted of Moharebeh include Adnan Hassanpour, whose death sentence for Moharebeh was overturned in 2008 on appeal, and Zeynab Jalalian, whose death sentence was commuted to life in prison. Shia cleric Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi, known for preaching that religion is separate from politics, was reportedly charged with Moharebeh in 2007 by Iran's Special Court for the Clergy,[37] but had his sentence reduced to 11 years in prison after an appeal.

Student demonstrator Mohammad Amin Valian was sentenced to death for Moharebeh in 2009, a sentence overturned by an appeals court in March 2010.[38] In March 2010, the 76-year-old former dean of Tehran University, Mohammad Maleki, was charged with it for alleged "contact with unspecified foreign groups and working to undermine the Islamic system."[36] He was later convicted of lesser charges. Abdolreza Ghanbari, a university lecturer living in Pakdasht, was arrested in the wake of 2009 Ashura protests and convicted in 2010 of “Moharebeh through ties with hostile groups [against] the regime”. A request for pardon of the death sentence was rejected on 28 February 2012.[39]

In a February 2011 televised address before a group of clerics in the city of Qom, hard-liner cleric Ahmad Khatami accused reformist presidential candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi of Moharebeh as "leaders of sedition."[40] This was not followed up with any charges against the two by the Iranian judiciary.

Abdolfattah Soltani, an Iranian attorney and member of Center for Defense of Human Rights has argued that under Articles 86 and 89 of the Islamic Punitive Laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the accused must "either have engaged in armed confrontation or he must have been a supporter or a member of an armed group and must have committed effective [deliberate] actions on behalf of that organization.", conditions that have not been met by defendants such as Valian, who threw stones at militia members.[41]

According to journalist (Brian Murphy), the Iranian Islamic regime's use of moharebeh against 2009 election protesters has "opened deep rifts between ruling clerics and Islamic scholars questioning how an idea about safeguarding Muslims can be transformed into a tool to punish political protesters." Ayatollah Mostafa Mohaghegh Damad has reportedly sought to "rally clerics to oppose the use of moharebeh charges against political protesters."[36]

In 2019, an Iranian Quran interpreter has called for the punishment of those protesting, based on Quran Surah 5:33.[42]

In December 2022, Iranian soccer player Amir Nasr-Azadani faces possible execution, according to reports; the world footballers' union expresses 'shock' and 'sadness'. Nasr-Azadani was accused of being a member of an "armed group" involved in the killing of three security officers during protests in the central Iranian city of Esfahan, the city's Chief Justice Asadullah Jafari said, as reported by the state agency IRNA this Sunday.[43]

In the report, Jafari said Nasr-Azadani had been charged with Baghi, or rioting against the authorities, and has been in custody since November 27, but no sentence has yet been issued.[44]

By late 2022, at least 43 Iranians had been sentenced to death for moharebeh or mofsed-e-filarz due to their purported involvement in the Mahsa Amini protests.[45] The first of their executions occurred on 8 December, when Mohsen Shekari was hanged after being convicted of moharebeh due to allegations that he nonfatally injured a Basij militiaman.[46] Four days later, Majidreza Rahnavard was publicly executed after being convicted of moharebeh due to allegations that he was involved in two murders of two "volunteer" Basij militiamen during a protest.[47] On 7 January 2023, Iran executed Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini after they were convicted of mofsed-e-filarz, in connection to their alleged involvement in the protests.[45][48] Amnesty International accused Iran of extracting false confessions from those condemned to death for moharebeh or mofsed-e-filarz in connection with the protests, subjecting them to torture, and depriving them of their right to a fair trial.[49][50][46]

### Nigeria

[edit]

The penalty for hirabah in Nigeria is death if a life is taken during the offense. Additionally, the Zamfara penal code (in effect in the North of Nigeria) provides that if life and property are taken during the commission of hirabah, the penalty is crucifixion.[51][52]

### Saudi Arabia

[edit]

In Saudi Arabia, Hirabah is defined as "Armed Robbery". To prove hirabah, two witnesses must testify or there must be a confession. In addition, an offender can still escape the death penalty if he "repents before he is arrested and willingly places himself in the hands of the authorities."[53][54]

## See also

[edit]

* Fasad
* Jihad
* Judicial system of Iran
* Mofsed-e-filarz
* Muslim attitudes towards terrorism

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Javed Ahmad Ghamidi, Mizan, The Penal Law of Islam, Al-Mawrid Archived 2007-01-27 at the Wayback Machine
2. ^ Crane, Robert D., “Hirabah versus Jihad”, IFRI.org (Islamic Research Foundation International, Inc., 2006)
3. ^ Amin (2014), p. 133.
4. ^ Daragahi, Borzou (29 January 2010). "Iran executes 2 alleged government opponents". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
5. ^ a b c "Trial of 16 Ashura riot detainees begins in Iran". Tehran Times. 31 January 2010.
6. ^ "Maritime Space: Maritime Zones and Maritime Delimitation" (PDF). Retrieved 11 December 2017.
7. ^ a b Fathi, Nazila (2 February 2010). "Iran, With Opposition Protests Continuing, Executes More Prisoners". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
8. ^ a b Iran: Kurdish Activist Executed 10 November 2009
9. ^ a b c "Turkmenistan". Retrieved 11 December 2017.
10. ^ El Fadl, Khaled Abou (2006). "Rebellion". In Jane Dammen McAuliffe (ed.). Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān. Vol. 4\. Brill. p. 364\. "Q 5:33 [...] The verse (known as āyat al-hirāba)"
11. ^ Amin (2014), p. 133. "Neither the word hirabah nor the root verb haraba occurs in the Quran, although the verbal noun form (i.e. hirabah) is frequently used in classical and modern books of Islamic jurisprudence."
12. ^ El Fadl, Khaled Abou (2006). "Rebellion". In Jane Dammen McAuliffe (ed.). Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān. Vol. 4\. Brill. p. 364.
13. ^ Amin (2014), pp. 132–133.
14. ^ Abou El Fadl, Khaled, The Great Theft: Wrestling Islam from the Extremists, by Khaled Abou El Fadl, Harper San Francisco, 2005, p.242
15. ^ Kadri (2012), p. 219\. "Exposure from a cross is a punishment that the Qur'an authorizes for anyone who has '[made] war against God and His apostle' or 'spread disorder in the land.' ... Most classical jurists had construed their definition with commensurate care, establishing a thousand or so years ago that they referred specifically to banditry in open country: a uniquely destabilizing threat to civil order in a premodern society."
16. ^ Dawoody, Alexander R. (22 August 2016). Eradicating Terrorism from the Middle East: Policy and Administrative Approaches. Springer. ISBN 9783319310183.
17. ^ Webb, Gisella - Windows of Faith: Muslim Women Scholar-Activists in North America p.130
18. ^ Muhammad Taqi Usmani - The Islamization of Laws in Pakistan: The Case of Hudud Ordinances Archived 2012-10-21 at the Wayback Machine
19. ^ Affi, Ahmed; Affi, Hassan (2014). Contemporary Interpretation of Islamic Law. Troubador Publishing Ltd. p. 109\. ISBN 9781783067596. Retrieved 9 November 2015. "... most classical jurists ... believe that the penalty for those who wage on God and His Apostle shall be that they are crucified, be subjected to cross-amputation or be banished from the earth."
20. ^ Kadri (2012), p. 218\. "Exposure from a cross is a punishment that the Quran authorizes for anyone who has '[made] war against God and His apostle' or 'spread disorder in the land.' It served historically to humiliate rather than kill, but it could be combined with execution, because the holy book acknowledged those crimes -- uniquely -- as capital offenses."
21. ^ Kadri (2012), p. 219.
22. ^ Kadri (2012), p. 241.
23. ^ a b c d e Vogel, F.E. (2012). "Ṣalb". In P. Bearman; Th. Bianquis; C.E. Bosworth; E. van Donzel; W.P. Heinrichs (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd ed.). Brill. doi:10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_6530.
24. ^ a b c Peters, Rudolph (2006). Crime and Punishment in Islamic Law: Theory and Practice from the Sixteenth to the Twenty-First Century. Cambridge University Press. pp. 37–38.
25. ^ a b "تصليب". الموسوعة الفقهية (Encyclopedia of Fiqh) (in Arabic). Vol. 12\. وزارة الأوقاف والشئون الإسلامية في دولة الكويت. 1988.
26. ^ a b "حرابة". الموسوعة الفقهية (Encyclopedia of Fiqh) (in Arabic). Vol. 17\. وزارة الأوقاف والشئون الإسلامية في دولة الكويت. 1988.
27. ^ Rahiminejad, Esma’il; Safarkhani, Mohaddetheh (1 May 2014). "Study of Baghy in Imami Jurisprudence and Iranian Law". Islamic Law. 11 (40): 105–133\. ISSN 1735-3270.
28. ^ "۱۱ نماینده آلمانی کفالت سیاسی معترضان پرونده "خانه اصفهان" را بر عهده گرفتند". ایران اینترنشنال (in Persian). Retrieved 31 December 2022.
29. ^ "Mohsen Shekari: Iran carries out first execution over protests". BBC News. 8 December 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
30. ^ Hafezi, Parisa (12 December 2022). "Iran carries out second execution linked to wave of popular protests". Reuters. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
31. ^ Fassihi, Farnaz (7 January 2023). "Iran Executes 2 Men Arrested in Protests". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
32. ^ "Iran: Chilling use of the death penalty to further brutally quell popular uprising". Amnesty International. 16 November 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
33. ^ "Iranian Criminal Law (Persian)". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
34. ^ "World Report 2015: Iran". Human Rights Watch. 11 January 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
35. ^ More commonly theses offenders were sentenced to death for committing a related violation of Islamic law, mofsed-e-filarz, or "spreading corruption on earth".
36. ^ a b c Iran calls political opponents enemies of Islam By BRIAN MURPHY (AP) 9 March 2010| accessed 14 March 2012
37. ^ Arbitrary arrest/ fear for safety/possible prisoners of conscience/medical concern/torture and ill-treatment, amnesty.org, 10 August 2007
38. ^ Iran court upholds death for opposition activist By ALI AKBAR DAREINI (AP) 3 March 2010, accessed 4 March 2011
39. ^ "Iran: Stop the execution of Abdolreza Ghanbari". labourstart.org. 2012. Archived from the original on 14 September 2012.
40. ^ Iran opposition leader ready to 'pay any price', by ALI AKBAR DAREINI, AP, 16 February 2011, accessed 4 March 2011
41. ^ Abdolfattah Soltani: “According to law and Sharia, throwing stones or breaking windows do not constitute ‘moharebeh’”| ICHRI| 9 February 2010
42. ^ Bahrampur, Abolfazl (2 December 2019). "Iranian Quran Expert Bahrampur On National TV: Protesters Should Be Slaughtered Or Have Their Feet And Hands Chopped Off On Alternate Sides; If We Kill 10,000 Of Them, It Will Not Be An Exaggeration". MEMRI. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
43. ^ Fatima, Sakina (14 December 2022). "Iran's footballer Amir Nasr-Azadani to face execution over anti-hijab protests: Report". The Siasat Daily. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
44. ^ "Who is Amir Nasr-Azadani, the Iranian footballer facing execution over hijab protests?". The Indian Express. 14 December 2022. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
45. ^ a b Mahmood, Zahid; Alkhaldi, Celine; Elbagir, Nima (23 December 2022). "Exclusive: Iranian footballer is among dozens facing execution while the West is distracted by Christmas, supporters fear". CNN. Archived from the original on 10 January 2023. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
46. ^ a b "Iran Starts Executing Protesters With First Hanging". Iran International. 8 December 2022. Archived from the original on 8 December 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
47. ^ "Majidreza Rahnavard: Iran carries out second execution over protests". BBC News. 12 December 2022. Archived from the original on 13 December 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
48. ^ Fassihi, Farnaz (7 January 2023). "Iran Executes 2 Men Arrested in Protests". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 10 January 2023. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
49. ^ "Urgent Action: 28 PEOPLE RISK EXECUTION IN RELATION TO UPRISING (Iran: UA 103.22)". Amnesty International USA. 2 December 2022. Archived from the original on 12 December 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
50. ^ "Iran executes first known prisoner arrested in protests". Middle East Online. 12 August 2022. Archived from the original on 8 December 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
51. ^ PEIFFER (2005), p. 532.
52. ^ Ruud PETERS, ISLAMIC CRIMINAL LAW IN NIGERIA 4 (2003), supra note 33, at 24. T
53. ^ PEIFFER (2005), p. 509.
54. ^ Safia Safwat, Offences and Penalties in Islamic Law, 26 ISLAMIC Q., 1982, p.296

Sources

* Amin, ElSayed (2014). Reclaiming Jihad: A Qur'anic Critique of Terrorism. Kube Publishing. ISBN 9780860375982. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
* Kadri, Sadakat (2012). Heaven on Earth: A Journey Through Shari'a Law from the Deserts of Ancient Arabia ... Macmillan. ISBN 9780099523277.
* PEIFFER, ELIZABETH (2005). "THE DEATH PENALTY IN TRADITIONAL ISLAMIC LAW AND AS INTERPRETED IN SAUDI ARABIA AND NIGERIA". William & Mary Journal of Women and the Law. 11 (3): 507–539. Retrieved 9 November 2015.

## Further reading

[edit]

* "The War on the Word 'Jihad'", by Guy Raz
* "Making Sense of Jihad vs. Hirabah (Terrorism)", by the Islam Project
* "Hirabah versus Jihad: Rescuing Jihad from The al Qaeda Blasphemy", by Jim Guirard

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