lands. And if such a threat applies to someone who merely shifts the boundary markers of a plot, then what of the person who seizes the whole property and overruns it—may Allah protect us? Such a one is even more entitled to the curse and to being expelled from Allah’s mercy. We see people who trespass on the land of others, seize it without right, claim it as their own, and even bring false witnesses to testify for them so that judgment is issued in their favor. They fall under the curse, and on the Day of Resurrection they will arrive with that land fastened around their necks; we ask Allah for safety in front of His servants.

Among the instances of this curse is that the Prophet ﷺ cursed the thief: he steals an egg and his hand is cut off; he steals a rope and his hand is cut off. A thief is a person who secretly takes property from its secure place—coming by night or when people are heedless, unlocking doors and stealing. If such a thief steals the amount that triggers the penalty—a quarter of a dinar, or its equivalent in silver or goods—his right hand is to be amputated at the wrist, in obedience to Allah’s words: “As for the male thief and the female thief, cut off their hands as recompense for what they have earned, a deterrent from Allah; and Allah is Almighty, All-Wise.” No distinction is to be made whether the thief is noble or lowly, male or female, for the Prophet ﷺ ordered that the hand of a woman of the Makhzūm clan—who would borrow items and then deny them—be cut off. This weighed heavily on Quraysh, and they sought someone to intercede with the Messenger ﷺ. They approached Usāmah ibn Zayd to plead for the punishment to be lifted. The Prophet ﷺ then addressed the people, saying, “The very thing that ruined those before you was that…”