Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, cilt.21, sa.46, ss.21-40, 2025 (TRDizin)
This study, based on a qualitative research method and literature review, aims to critically examine the act
of ghulul—considered one of the most significant types of crime against public property in Islamic criminal
law—from both a classical fiqh perspective and within the context of contemporary public law principles.
Historically defined as secretly taking from war booty, the central problem of this research is to question
the extent to which this concept is sufficient to explain modern crimes like corruption, embezzlement, and
bribery that arise within today’s complex financial and administrative structures. This study argues that the
concept of ghulul should be examined not just as a legal act, but also as a multidimensional crime
representing an infringement on public rights with ethical and moral dimensions. It systematically analyzes
the topic through the fundamental sources of Islamic law, including the Holy Quran, authentic hadiths, and
the works of the established schools of fiqh. The research's core problem is to reveal how Islamic law
establishes a legal and moral framework for its sensitivity to public property and public order under
changing social and legal conditions. The concept of ghulul has been subjected to a conceptual analysis,
distinguishing it from similar crimes such as bribery, embezzlement, and usurpation, within the context of its specific legal boundaries and penal provisions. Furthermore, the study places the evolution of the
meaning of the act of ghulul from its historical context into a theoretical framework of contemporary public
law. In this context, the study provides a detailed analysis of the disagreements among the schools of
thought concerning the worldly and otherworldly punishments for ghulul. It particularly shows that the
severe penalties advocated by the Hanbalis, such as "burning the stolen goods" and "the state head not
leading the funeral prayer," were rejected by the majority of jurists (jumhūr al-fuqahā') on the basis of the
principles of maslahat (public interest), balance, and proportionality. This aims to prove that Islamic
criminal law has a rational and flexible, not an absolutist, structure. One of the original contributions of this
study is to bring to light the parallels between the concept of ghulul and modern public administration and
administrative law regulations. It is emphasized that contemporary practices like the squandering of public
resources, embezzlement, and the misuse of authority for personal gain largely correspond to the crime of
ghulul in fiqh terminology. This approach reveals that ghulul is not just a historical issue but a universal
principle that maintains its validity today in terms of public consciousness, ethical responsibility, and
accountability. The study, in this framework, aims to both offer a conceptual contribution to Islamic law
literature and foster legal and ethical awareness regarding the sanctity of public property.