• al-mijan, pronounced with a short i after the m: a shield—an iron implement used in war to protect the head from weapon blows.

Points derived from the hadith:
This noble hadith sets out in detail the ruling on taking dates that belong to someone else, a detail that accords with sound transmitted evidence. It may be summarized as follows:

1. First situation: A person passes by dates hanging on the palms, fruit still on the tree, or livestock whose milk is still in their udders, and he eats or drinks only what meets his immediate need without carrying anything away. This is permitted, because owners of orchards and herds customarily allow such conduct, and customary permission is equivalent to verbal permission.

2. Second situation: A person picks dates from the palms or fruit from the tree and then takes them away. This constitutes taking another’s property without his consent. He must pay compensation in kind or in value and is liable to a discretionary punishment determined by the judge, but no amputation, because the property was not taken from its secure place of safekeeping.

3. Third situation: A person removes produce that has already been stored in the drying yard (jarīn) or on the threshing floor (baydar), and the quantity taken reaches the legal threshold that triggers the ḥadd for theft. Since he has taken the nisāb from its place of safekeeping, the prescribed penalty is the amputation of his hand.

This ruling is reinforced by the report recorded by Aḥmad and al-Nasā’ī from ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb, from his father, from his grandfather, in which the Prophet ﷺ said: “Whoever takes anything from their drying yards, when what he takes equals the price of a shield, his hand must be cut off.”