theft, for testimony in such cases is rarely forthcoming. Consequently, the offense is treated with great seriousness and its punishment has been made especially severe, serving as the most effective deterrent against it. The Muslims are unanimously agreed that—generally speaking—the thief’s hand is to be severed.

4 – The first two hadiths show that the threshold for amputation is one-quarter of a gold dinar, or its equivalent value of three silver dirhams; the opinions of the jurists concerning this nisab will be presented shortly.

5 – Ibn Daqiq al-ʿId stated that value (al-qīmah) and purchase price (ath-thaman) are, in fact, distinct. Therefore, if the market value differs from the price for which the owner originally bought the item, only the current value is taken into account.

6 – The scholars have stipulated conditions for cutting off the thief’s hand; some were mentioned earlier, and the most important of the remaining ones are:
a) The stolen property must have been removed from a secure place ordinarily used to safeguard such items. What counts as security varies with the type of property, the locale, and the ruling authority, and ultimately rests on customary practice. Hence, there is no amputation for stealing property that was not kept in a customary place of safekeeping.
b) All doubt must be eliminated. Thus, there is no amputation when the thief has a share in the property—such as a son stealing from his father, a father from his son, a poor person taking from a charitable endowment for the poor, or theft from jointly owned property.
c) The act of theft must be established, either by a legally valid confession from the thief or by the testimony of two upright witnesses.

7 – This lofty ruling embodies profound legislative wisdom. Indeed, the prescribed penalties as a whole are a mercy and a blessing, for human society always contains individuals whose souls incline toward harming others—unsettling them and terrifying them with respect to their lives, honor, and property. If these criminals are not restrained by discipline and punishment, conditions become chaotic and travel routes unsafe. Out of His mercy, Allah has ordained penalties proportionate to such crimes so that the offenders may be deterred