Hirabah

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