And this is more appropriate, because driving them away is expelling them to a place where they will [continue to] commit highway robbery and harm people; therefore, imprisoning them is better. Abu al-Khattab reported from Ahmad another narration, the meaning of which is that their exile is the Imam's pursuit of them, and if he captures them, he shall discipline them with what will deter them. Our argument is the manifest meaning of the verse, for exile is driving away and distancing, while imprisonment is holding, and the two are mutually exclusive. As for their exile to a non-specified place, it is because of His saying, the Exalted: {or they be exiled from the land}. This encompasses their exile from all of it. What they have mentioned is invalidated by the exile of the adulterer, for he is exiled to a place where it is possible that adultery might be committed by him. Our companions did not mention the duration of their exile, so it is possible that its duration is estimated by the time in which their repentance appears and their conduct becomes good. It is also possible that they are exiled for a year, like the exile of the adulterer.

1598 - Issue: He said: (If they repent before they are captured, the hadd punishments of Allah the Almighty are dropped from them, and they are held accountable for the rights of human beings, regarding lives, wounds, and property, unless they are pardoned for them.)

We do not know of any disagreement among the scholars regarding this. Malik, al-Shafi'i, the scholars of opinion (ashab al-ra'y), and Abu Thawr held this view. The basis for this is the saying of Allah the Almighty: {Except for those who repent before you overpower them, so know that Allah is Forgiving, Merciful}. Accordingly, the mandatory punishment of killing, crucifixion, cutting, and exile is dropped from them, and the law of retaliation (qisas) remains upon them regarding lives and wounds, as well as monetary compensation (gharama) and blood money (diyah) for that which has no retaliation. As for if he repents after he is captured, no part of the hadd punishments shall be dropped from him, because of the saying of Allah the Almighty: {Except for those who repent before you overpower them}. He made the hadd obligatory upon them, then made an exception for those who repent before being captured; therefore, whoever is other than them remains subject to the general ruling, and because when he repents before being captured,