Overall meaning:
A woman from the clan of Banū Makhzūm used to borrow people’s belongings through deception and then deny having them. On one occasion she borrowed some jewellery, denied it, and it was found in her possession. When news of this reached the Prophet ﷺ, he resolved to carry out Allah’s prescribed penalty and have her hand severed, even though she was a woman of standing from one of Quraysh’s most illustrious families.
Quraysh became anxious for her sake and for the ruling that was about to be enforced. They discussed whom they might send as an intermediary to the Prophet ﷺ to plead on her behalf, and they found no one more suitable than Usāmah ibn Zayd, for he was beloved and close to the Prophet ﷺ. Usāmah therefore spoke to him.
The Prophet ﷺ grew angry with him and said in rebuke, “Are you interceding concerning one of Allah’s limits?”
He then rose and addressed the people, explaining the gravity of such intercession, for through it the limits set by Allah are suspended. Because many of them were affected by the issue, he told them that the very cause of the destruction of those before us, both in their religion and in their worldly life, was that they applied the penalties to the weak and poor while exempting the strong and wealthy. Chaos then spread among them, evil and corruption became rampant, and Allah’s wrath and punishment rightfully befell them.
The Prophet ﷺ—truthful and trustworthy—then swore that if this act had been committed by the foremost woman of all women, his own daughter Fāṭimah—may Allah protect her from such a thing—he would still carry out Allah’s ruling upon her. May Allah bless him and grant him peace.
Lessons derived from the hadith
- It is forbidden to intercede in matters of the ḥudūd, and the intercessor must be reproved, provided this is before the case reaches the ruler. Ibn Daqīq al-ʿĪd said: “The hadith proves that intercession is impermissible once the prescribed penalty has reached the authority, and it underscores the seriousness of showing favouritism to the nobility in matters that are Allah’s exclusive rights.”
I say: limiting the ruling to “before it reaches the ruler” is not drawn from the present hadith but from other texts, such as the report recorded by the compilers of the Sunan and by Aḥmad from Ṣafwān ibn Umayyah: when the Prophet ﷺ ordered that the hand of the man who had stolen his cloak be cut off and intercession was sought for him, he said, “Why did you not do that before you brought him to me?”
As for what should be done before the matter reaches the ruler—should it be reported or left aside? (The discussion continues.)