- The Book of Theft
When a sane, legally accountable adult steals ten dirhams, or property worth ten dirhams—whether the coins are minted or unminted—from a ḥirz (a place customarily regarded as secure) to which he has no lawful access, the prescribed amputation becomes obligatory.
The slave and the free person are equal in this ruling.
Amputation is established by a single confession or by the testimony of two witnesses.
If several people collaborate in a theft and the share taken by each of them reaches ten dirhams, their hands are cut off; if anyone’s share is less than that, no amputation is applied.
No amputation is carried out for items considered trivial and commonly available in the Abode of Islam—such as wood, reeds, grass, fish, birds, and game—nor for things that spoil quickly, like fresh fruit, milk, meat, melons, fruit still on the tree, or unharvested crops.
Likewise, there is no amputation for intoxicating beverages; nor for birds; nor for stealing a muṣḥaf (written copy of the Quran), even if it is ornamented; nor for a golden cross; nor for chess pieces or backgammon; nor for one who steals a free child, even if the child is wearing jewelry.
There is no amputation for stealing an adult slave, though it is imposed for stealing a young slave.
No amputation is imposed for any notebooks save accounting ledgers.
There is no amputation for stealing a dog, a hunting leopard, a tambourine, a drum, or a flute.
Amputation is carried out for stealing teak, spears, ebony, or sandalwood; and if utensils or doors have been fashioned from wood, stealing them likewise incurs amputation.
No amputation applies to a male or female embezzler, to a grave-robber, to one who seizes property openly, or to a pick-pocket.
The hand of one who steals from the public treasury is not cut off, nor of one who takes from property in which he has a share, and—