Hisbah

Hisbah (Arabic: حسبة‎‎ ḥisbah) is an Islamic doctrine which means "accountability". Hisbah is the divinely-sanctioned duty of the ruler (government) to intervene and coercively "enjoin good and forbid wrong" in order to keep everything in order according to sharia (Islamic law). The doctrine is based on an expression from the Quran (الأمر بالمَعْرُوف والنَهي عن المُنْكَر). Clear procedures are required to be followed in order to enact punishment under sharia, however Al-Jama'a al-Islamiyya (considered a terrorist organization) suggest that it is the sacred duty of all Muslims, not just rulers.

The Hisbah has the following major aspects:

For example, in Saudi Arabia, the state establishment responsible for hisbah is the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, or Hai'a.

In a minority of Islamic states, namely Saudi Arabia, Sudan, the Aceh province of Indonesia and Iran, there is an establishment of Islamic religious police. In some places, it is state-established; in others, it is independent of the state.

Hisbah doctrine has been invoked by Islamic prosecutors in cases of apostasy and acts of blasphemy. For example, in Egypt, Nasr Abu Zayd, a Muslim scholar "critical of old and modern Islamic thought" was prosecuted under the doctrine when his academic work was held to be evidence of apostasy.

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