1072 – Rāfiʿ ibn Khadīj (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ declare, “No hand is to be cut off for (the theft of) fruit, nor for kathar.” It was related by the authorities mentioned earlier, and was likewise authenticated by al-Tirmidhī and Ibn Ḥibbān⦗1⦘.

Authenticity of the ḥadīth:
The ḥadīth is ṣaḥīḥ. It was recorded by Aḥmad, Abū Dāwūd, al-Nasāʾī, Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī, and Ibn Abī Shaybah through several chains from Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd, from Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Ḥibbān, from Rāfiʿ ibn Khadīj, and all the transmitters in its isnād are trustworthy. Al-Ṭaḥāwī said: “The scholars have unanimously accepted the text of this ḥadīth.” Al-Tirmidhī and Ibn Ḥibbān also graded it sound.

Vocabulary:
• “The mentioned authorities”: Aḥmad and the four Sunan compilers.
• thamar (sing. thamrah): produce that is still hanging on the date-palm before it is picked.
• kathar – with a fatḥah on the kāf and the third-letter thāʾ: the palm’s pith (jumʿār), the soft core at its centre (as explained in al-Nihāyah).

Points derived from the ḥadīth:
1 – It has been shown that a condition for amputating the thief’s hand is that the theft be from a secure place (ḥirz). If he steals from other than a ḥirz, the hand is not cut; and, as mentioned previously, what constitutes a ḥirz is determined by local custom,