What happens to the penalties for highway robbers who repent before being apprehended?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Highway Robbers
Primary text
If highway robbers repent before they are apprehended (min qabl an tuqdar 'alayhim), all mandatory penalties—killing, crucifixion, amputation, and exile—are dropped. However, they remain liable for compensatory rights pertaining to human beings, such as Qisas for lives or wounds, and financial compensation (gharamah) or Diyah for property or injuries where Qisas is not established, provided the victims or their heirs do not pardon them. This is based on the exception stated in Quran 5:34.
Supporting text
If they repent only after being apprehended, none of the Hadd penalties are waived, due to the explicit wording of Quran 5:34, which limits the exception to repentance before capture. Repentance after capture is presumed to be motivated by fear of applying the Hadd rather than sincere repentance, and there is no longer a need to encourage their return from corruption since they have been overpowered.