three dirhams, or merchandise whose value equals either of those amounts.

Al-Shāfiʿī held that the niṣāb is one-quarter of a gold dinar, or its equivalent in silver or goods, and many scholars shared this view—among them ʿĀʾishah, ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, al-Awzāʿī, al-Layth, and Abū Thawr.

Abū Ḥanīfah, his companions, and Sufyān al-Thawrī maintained instead that the niṣāb is ten minted dirhams, or their equivalent in gold or goods.

Imām Aḥmad and Mālik argued from the report recorded by Aḥmad and Muslim in which the Prophet ﷺ said, “The thief’s hand is not to be cut off except for one-quarter of a dinar or more.”

At that time a quarter-dinar equaled three dirhams, and a full dinar was twelve dirhams, as reported by Aḥmad from Ibn ʿUmar.

Likewise, in the hadith under discussion, Ibn ʿUmar relates that the Prophet ﷺ “ordered amputation for a shield (mijan) whose value was three dirhams.”

Al-Shāfiʿī and the majority cited the aforementioned hadith—“Amputation is not carried out except for one-quarter of a dinar or more”—treating gold as the principal measure to which the niṣāb is referred.

This does not conflict with the hadith of Ibn ʿUmar, for the value of three dirhams in that era was exactly one-quarter of a dinar, the exchange rate then being twelve dirhams to the dinar.

Abū Ḥanīfah and his followers adduced as evidence the narration in the two Ṣaḥīḥs that the Prophet ﷺ amputated for a shield; however, the price of that shield is disputed. Among the versions is the report transmitted by al-Bayhaqī and al-Ṭaḥāwī from Ibn ʿAbbās stating: “The price of a shield in the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was ten dirhams.”

Although this narration conflicts with what is found in the two Ṣaḥīḥs—that its value was three dirhams—caution is required in matters that permit the severing of a protected limb. Hence this higher valuation should be acted upon, for it is the safer course.