763 – Samura ibn Jundub (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “The hand is responsible for whatever it takes until it returns it.” Narrated by Ahmad and the Four, and al-Hakim declared it authentic.⦗1⦘

Status of the hadith:
The report is defective, because the link between al-Hasan and Samura is conveyed with the ambiguous ‘an- ‘ana formula. In al-Talkhīs Ibn Ḥajar notes that Ahmad, al-Nasaʾī, Ibn Mājah, and al-Hakim all transmit it through al-Hasan from Samura, yet scholars differ over whether al-Hasan ever heard directly from him.
Al-Tirmidhī judged the hadith “good and sound,” whereas al-Hakim said, “Its chain is authentic according to al-Bukhārī’s criteria.” That verdict applies only when al-Hasan explicitly states, “Samura related to me.” Since here he merely says “from Samura,” the chain is not sound; for this reason al-Hāfiẓ (Ibn Ḥajar) classified it as defective in al-Talkhīs.

Vocabulary and commentary:
• “ʿalā al-yad” (upon the hand): although the word yad literally denotes the limb, here it means either an actual hand or a figurative one—namely, any form of control over another person’s property without right.
• “mā akhadhat” (whatever it has taken): mā is a relative pronoun functioning as the subject, while “ʿalā al-yad” is its predicate; the implicit pronoun that should refer back is omitted. The sense is: whatever the hand has taken becomes a liability upon its owner. Responsibility is attributed to the hand because it is the instrument of appropriation.