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Draft:Smuggling of Goods

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Smuggling of Goods denotes the illicit transportation of merchandise in violation of transportation laws and legal prohibitions. Within Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), this phenomenon is classified as one of the new issues (masā'il al-mustaḥdatha). Jurists deem the smuggling of goods haram (forbidden) owing to the detriment it inflicts upon society. This ruling is grounded in Quranic verses and specific jurisprudential rules (qawāʿid al-fiqhiyya), including the Rule of No Harm (Lā Ḍarar), the Rule of Preservation of System (Ḥifẓ al-Niẓām)—which necessitates the maintenance of social order—and the Rule of Prohibition of Aiding in Sin (Ḥurmat al-iʿāna ʿalā l-ithm).

Jurists (faqīhs) regard the smuggling of goods as impermissible due to its contravention of the laws of the Islamic Republic. Concerning the trafficking of goods that are inherently haram in Islam, such as alcoholic beverages or drugs—substances whose trade and consumption are strictly proscribed—jurists have decreed Ta'zir (discretionary punishment) for perpetrators.

Mujtahids hold divergent views regarding the proceeds derived from smuggling. While some consider the income Halal (lawful), provided the commodity itself is not religiously prohibited, others deem both the act of aiding smugglers and the income generated thereof to be religiously forbidden. Under the laws of the Islamic Republic, smuggling constitutes a criminal offense punishable by discretionary penalties, including imprisonment, flogging, and monetary fines.

Semantics and Status

Lexicographically, smuggling (qāchāq) is defined as the illegal buying and selling of goods.[1] According to Muhammad Ja'far Jafari Langroudi, a prominent jurist and legal scholar, smuggling entails the transportation of goods from one location to another in violation of transportation laws and regulations, specifically contravening legal prohibitions; this includes the import or export of permitted goods without the payment of customs duties.[2] It is further asserted that smuggling encompasses any illicit activity related to the import, export, purchase, sale, transportation, or storage of goods.[3]

Smuggling is categorized as one of the emerging topics in Fiqh, a subject upon which jurists have primarily opined through their istifta'at (responses to legal inquiries).[4]

Fiqh Ruling on Smuggling

Jurists consider the smuggling of goods impermissible due to its violation of the laws of the Islamic Republic.[5] According to a fatwa by Sayyid Ali al-Sistani, contravening laws enacted for the interest (maṣlaḥa) of society is likewise impermissible.[6] In cases involving the smuggling of goods that are inherently forbidden in Islam—such as alcoholic beverages or drugs, the purchase, sale, and consumption of which are prohibited—jurists have ruled that offenders are subject to Ta'zir.[7]

Under the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran, smuggling is classified as a crime. To combat this illicit activity, discretionary punishments (taʿzīr), including flogging, imprisonment, suspension of licenses, and monetary fines, have been prescribed.[8]

Arguments and Documentation for the Prohibition

Scholars of jurisprudence have deemed smuggling haram based on the Rule of No Harm (Lā Ḍarar).[9] According to the author of the thesis "The Fiqh Ruling on Smuggling Lawful Goods in Islamic Countries," the smuggling of goods is haram due to the detriment it causes to the populace and society, a conclusion supported by both Individual Fiqh and Governmental Fiqh. This ruling is substantiated by Quranic verses, narrations, the judgment of reason, and the Sira of the Rational Ones (Sīra al-ʿUqalā). It is further supported by specific jurisprudential rules, including the Rule of Preservation of System (Ḥifẓ al-Niẓām) and the prohibition of its disruption, the Rule of Prohibition of Aiding in Sin (Iʿāna ʿalā l-ithm wa l-ʿudwān), the Rule of Nafy al-Sabil (Negation of Way), the Rule of Prohibition of the Introduction to the Haram (Muqaddima al-Ḥarām), and the Rule of No Harm.[10]

Situational Ruling

There is no consensus among jurists regarding the Situational Ruling (ḥukm waḍʿī) of smuggling—specifically, whether the income derived thereof is Halal or haram. Some jurists, while regarding smuggling as impermissible in terms of the injunctive ruling (ḥukm taklīfī), consider the resulting income Halal provided the smuggled commodity is not religiously prohibited.[11] In contrast, another group posits that the utilization of wealth obtained through smuggling is illegitimate. They deem such income to be contrary to the Sharia and the laws of the Islamic Republic. According to this view, aiding smugglers is impermissible; furthermore, if smuggling inflicts damage upon the economy and culture of society, it must be avoided. Moreover, utilizing the property of smugglers or accepting bribes in this context is considered a double sin.[12]

Notes

  1. ↑ See: Dihkhudā, Lughat-nāma-yi Dihkhudā, under the word "Qāchāq"; ʿAmīd, Farhang-i Fārsī-yi ʿAmīd, under the word "Qāchāq"; Muʿīn, Farhang-i Fārsī-yi Muʿīn, under the word "Qāchāq".
  2. ↑ Jaʿfarī Langrūdī, Termīnūlūzhī-yi ḥuqūq, 1384 Sh, p. 510.
  3. ↑ Farhang Dalīr, Aḥkām-i qāchāq wa barrasī-yi kharīd wa furūsh-i kālā-yi qāchāq, 1393 Sh, p. 23.
  4. ↑ Muʾassasa-yi Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif-i Fiqh-i Islāmī, Farhang-i fiqh, 1382 Sh, vol. 6, p. 34.
  5. ↑ Khumaynī, Istiftāʾāt, 1392 Sh, vol. 10, pp. 622-623; Khāminiʾī, Ajwibat al-istiftāʾāt, vol. 2, p. 172; Gulpāygānī, Majmaʿ al-masāʾil, 1409 AH, vol. 2, p. 13; Fāḍil Lankarānī, Jāmiʿ al-masāʾil, 1383 Sh, vol. 1, p. 268; Tabrīzī, Istiftāʾāt-i jadīd, 1385 Sh, vol. 2, pp. 244-245.
  6. ↑ "Pursish wa pāsukh: Qānūn". Pāygāh-i Iṭṭilāʿ-rasānī-yi Āyatullāh Sīstānī.
  7. ↑ Gulpāygānī, Majmaʿ al-masāʾil, 1409 AH, vol. 3, p. 209.
  8. ↑ "Qānūn-i mubāraza bā qāchāq-i kālā wa arz". Sāmāna-yi Millī-yi Qawānīn wa Muqarrarāt-i Jumhūrī-yi Islāmī-yi Īrān.
  9. ↑ See: Siyādat, Ḥukm-i awwaliyya wa thānawiyya-yi fiqhī-yi imḥā-yi kālā-yi qāchāq, 1397 Sh, pp. 51-68.
  10. ↑ Qāsimīzādagān, Ḥukm-i fiqhī-yi qāchāq-i kālā-yi ḥalāl dar kishwarhā-yi Islāmī, 1397 Sh, pp. 67-143.
  11. ↑ See: Tabrīzī, Istiftāʾāt-i jadīd, 1385 Sh, vol. 2, p. 245; Bahjat, Istiftāʾāt, 1386 Sh, vol. 3, p. 219.
  12. ↑ Ṣāfī Gulpāygānī, Jāmiʿ al-aḥkām, 1417 AH, vol. 2, p. 123; Khāminiʾī, Ajwibat al-istiftāʾāt, vol. 2, p. 172; Makārim Shīrāzī, Al-Fatāwā al-jadīda, 1385 Sh, vol. 3, p. 170.

References

  • ʿAmīd, Ḥasan. Farhang-i Fārsī-yi ʿAmīd. Tehran, Intishārāt-i Amīrkabīr, 1381 Sh.
  • Bahjat, Muḥammad Taqī. Istiftāʾāt. Qom, Nashr-i Daftar-i Āyatullāh Bahjat, 1386 Sh.
  • Dihkhudā, ʿAlī Akbar. Lughat-nāma-yi Dihkhudā. Tehran, Muʾassasa-yi Intishārāt wa Chāp wa Nashr-i Dānishgāh-i Tihrān, 1378 Sh.
  • Fāḍil Lankarānī, Muḥammad. Jāmiʿ al-masāʾil. Qom, Nashr-i Amīn, 1383 Sh.
  • Farhang Dalīr, Mahdī. Aḥkām-i qāchāq wa barrasī-yi kharīd wa furūsh-i kālā-yi qāchāq. Qom, Intishārāt-i Qalam-i Jawān, 1393 Sh.
  • Gulpāygānī, Sayyid Muḥammad Riḍā. Majmaʿ al-masāʾil. Qom, Dār al-Qurʾān al-Karīm, 1409 AH.
  • Jaʿfarī Langrūdī, Muḥammad Jaʿfar. Termīnūlūzhī-yi ḥuqūq. Tehran, Intishārāt-i Ganj-i Dānish, 1384 Sh.
  • Khāminiʾī, Sayyid ʿAlī. Ajwibat al-istiftāʾāt. Beirut, al-Dār al-Islāmiyya, n.d.
  • Khumaynī, Sayyid Rūḥ Allāh. Istiftāʾāt-i Imām Khumaynī. Tehran, Muʾassasa-yi Tanẓīm wa Nashr-i Āthār-i Imām Khumaynī, 1392 Sh.
  • Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Al-Fatāwā al-jadīda. Qom, Nashr-i Madrasa-yi Imām ʿAlī (a), 1385 Sh.
  • Muʾassasa-yi Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif-i Fiqh-i Islāmī. Farhang-i fiqh muṭābiq-i madhhab-i Ahl al-Bayt (a). Supervised by Sayyid Maḥmūd Hāshimī Shāhrūdī. Qom, Muʾassasa-yi Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif-i Fiqh-i Islāmī, 1382 Sh.
  • Muʿīn, Muḥammad. Farhang-i Fārsī-yi Muʿīn. Tehran, Intishārāt-i Zarrīn, 1380 Sh.
  • "Pursish wa pāsukh: Qānūn". Pāygāh-i Iṭṭilāʿ-rasānī-yi Āyatullāh Sīstānī. Accessed: September 12, 2025.
  • Qāsimīzādagān, Muḥammad Jawād. Ḥukm-i fiqhī-yi qāchāq-i kālā-yi ḥalāl dar kishwarhā-yi Islāmī. Level 4 Thesis in Fiqh and Principles. Qom, Markaz-i Mudīrīyat-i Ḥawzahā-yi ʿIlmiyya-yi Qom, 1397 Sh.
  • "Qānūn-i mubāraza bā qāchāq-i kālā wa arz". Sāmāna-yi Millī-yi Qawānīn wa Muqarrarāt-i Jumhūrī-yi Islāmī-yi Īrān. Posted: April 19, 2022. Accessed: September 12, 2025.
  • Ṣāfī Gulpāygānī, Luṭf Allāh. Jāmiʿ al-aḥkām. Qom, Daftar-i Tanẓīm wa Nashr-i Āthār-i Ḥaḍrat-i Āyatullāh Ṣāfī Gulpāygānī, 1417 AH.
  • Siyādat, Raḥmatullāh. Ḥukm-i awwaliyya wa thānawiyya-yi fiqhī-yi imḥā-yi kālā-yi qāchāq. Tehran, Mīrāth-i Farhīkhtigān, 1397 Sh.
  • Tabrīzī, Jawād. Istiftāʾāt-i jadīd. Qom, Nashr-i Surūr, 1385 Sh.
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