the child and the person of unsound mind. Our position is that she is subject to the hadd punishment for theft, so the ruling of highway robbery is binding upon her just as it is upon the man, and she differs from the child and the person of unsound mind. Furthermore, she is a legally responsible person (mukallaf) upon whom qisas (retaliation) and other hadd punishments are binding; therefore, this hadd punishment is binding upon her, just as it is upon the man. Once this is established, if she commits the act of killing or taking property, the ruling of highway robbery is established for those who are with her, because they are auxiliaries to her. If someone other than her commits that act, the ruling for it is established for her, because she is an auxiliary to him, exactly like the man.

If the dhimmis (protected non-Muslims) commit highway robbery, or if a dhimmi is with the Muslim highway robbers, is their covenant (ahd) violated by that? There are two reports regarding this. If we say their covenant is violated, their blood and wealth become lawful in all circumstances. If we say their covenant is not violated, we judge them according to how we judge the Muslims.

Section: When the highway robbers take property and the hadd punishments of Allah the Almighty are implemented upon them, if the property is still existing, it is returned to its owner. If it is lost or non-existent, the liability (daman) for it becomes obligatory upon the one who took it. This is the school of al-Shafi'i. The implication of the statement of the scholars of opinion (ashab al-ra'y) is that if it is lost, they are not obligated to pay for it, similar to their statement regarding stolen goods when the thief has had his hand cut off. The basis for both schools is what has previously been mentioned regarding theft. Liability is mandatory upon the taker, not the auxiliary, because the obligation of liability is not a hadd punishment, so it does not attach to anyone other than the direct perpetrator, as in the cases of usurpation (ghasb) and plunder (nahb). Even if the highway robbers repented before being apprehended, and there were rights of humans attached to them, such as qisas and liability, these would be specific to the primary perpetrator, not the auxiliary, for this reason. If liability were required in theft, it would attach to the primary perpetrator, not the auxiliary, for the reasons we have mentioned. And Allah knows best.

Section: When hadd punishments are combined, they fall into one of three categories. The first category is that they are purely for the sake of Allah the Almighty, and they are of two types: one of them is when there is killing involved in them, such as if one steals, commits adultery while being married (muhsan), drinks wine, and kills during highway robbery. In this case, he is killed, and the rest drop.