is that the “hand” to be amputated is the palm beginning at the wrist. Consensus has even been reported on this point. The noble verse merely mentions cutting the hand, and in unrestricted usage the word “hand” refers only to the palm; the Sunnah then clarifies this, for Allah the Exalted says: “then wipe your faces and your hands” and the Prophet ﷺ wiped only his palms.

The majority further hold that the first member to be severed is the right hand; Ibn Masʿūd even recited, “…then cut off their right hands.” Should he steal a second time, the left foot is cut; if he steals again, the left hand; and if he steals yet again, the right foot. This is the view of the majority, and their proofs are set out in the more extensive works.

Chapter: Denouncing intercession in the prescribed penalties and forbidding it (1)

Hadith 352

ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported:
“Quraysh were greatly troubled about the case of the Makhzūmī woman who had committed theft. They said, ‘Who will speak to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about her?’ They added, ‘No one will dare except Usāmah ibn Zayd, the beloved of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.’

Usāmah spoke to him, and the Prophet ﷺ said, ‘Are you interceding concerning one of the limits set by Allah?’

He then rose and delivered a sermon, declaring, ‘Those before you were ruined because, when a person of high rank among them stole, they let him go, but when a weak person stole, they carried out the penalty upon him. By Allah, were Fāṭimah the daughter of Muhammad to steal, I would cut off her hand.’”

In another wording: “There was a woman who used to borrow goods and then deny them, so the Prophet ﷺ ordered that her hand be severed.”

Lexical notes
• “Ahammahum”: caused them concern or anxiety.
• “Al-Makhzūmiyyah”: Fāṭimah bint al-Aswad ibn ʿAbd al-Asad, niece of Abū Salamah. Banū Makhzūm is one of the eminent clans of Quraysh, known as “the flower of Quraysh.”
• “Who will speak…?”: that is, who will intercede for her so that her hand will not be cut.
• “Ḥibbu Rasūlillāh”: with a kasrah on the ḥāʾ, meaning “the beloved one.”
• “Wa-aymu llāh”: with the hamzah pronounced and the mīm ḍammah; it is a singular noun, hence its hamzah is a hamzah of qatʿ. In the present sentence it stands as a subject whose predicate is omitted, understood as “by my oath” or “by my solemn pledge.”