An Analysis of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Criminal Policy in the Criminalization of Muḥāraba (Terrifying Conflict): Foundational and Operational Challenges

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Mostafa Nasiri

Assistant Professor, Department of Fiqh and Law, Shahid Motahari Seminary and University, Tehran, Iran

10.22067/jfiqh.2024.86395.1729

Abstract

Despite the considerable advances made in the 1292 A.S. / 2013 A.D. Islamic Penal Code compared to earlier legislation, the legislator’s approach to criminalizing offenses against ḥadd-level security still face foundational and operational challenges. The foundational challenges arise from the inadequate use of the capacities of jurisprudence in criminalizing Muḥārabah (Armed Enmity or Terrifying Conflict) in relation to the other ḥadd-based security offenses, namely ifsād fi l-arż and baghī. Although these theoretical shortcomings did not produce significant effects on judicial decision-making, more than a decade after the Code’s enactment, important challenges have surfaced in adjudicating cases of muḥārabah. Some of these challenges are new, whereas others have precedents in the rulings of jurists, yet the law has not addressed them. Examples include ambiguities in cases where the perpetrator’s intent is directed at a specific individual, and the absence of discussion regarding situations in which no direct relationship exists between the perpetrator’s act and public insecurity. The latter category has created concrete difficulties in judicial practice; therefore, they are referred to as operational challenges. The present study identifies the major instances of both types of challenges and proposes pathways for resolving them by drawing upon the opinions of early and later jurists concerning muḥārabah,

Keywords

muḥārabah

crimes against security

legislative ambiguities

jurisprudential challenges in muḥārabah

Subjects

• Criminal jurisprudence

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