| Answer:
A Muslim scholar, Javed Ahmad Ghamidi, has
defined Muhārabah in his work ‘Penal Law of Islam’ in the September 1999 issue
of the journal in the following words:
Muhārabah means that an individual or a group of individuals take the law into
their own hands and openly challenge the system of justice which in accordance
with the Sharī‘ah is established in a piece of land. Consequently, under an
Islamic government, all those criminals who commit rape, take to prostitution,
become notorious for their ill-ways and vulgarity, become a threat to honorable
people because of their immoral and dissolute practices, sexually disgrace women
because of their wealth and social status, or rise against the government in
rebellion, or create a law and order situation for the government by causing
destruction, by becoming a source of terror and intimidation for people, by
committing mass murder, plunder, dacoity or robbery, by indulging in hijacking
and terrorism and by committing other similar crimes are criminals of Muhārabah,
and spreading such disorder in society.
Jihād, on the contrary, in Islamic religious literature stands for striving and
struggling for uplifting the word of God. It can be applied to every level of
the struggle in the way of Allah. Participation in the armed conflict with the
enemies (usually termed as Qitāl in the Holy Qur’ān) is the consummation of the
act where one sacrifices his life to please his Lord.
While Muhārabah is the gravest of the crimes in an Islamic society, Jihād is the
most cherished act among the believers.
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