Question about stealing

Assalamu’Alaykum

One must understand that the laws of punishment that Allaah has set for mankind is by means of prevention.

There are conditions like they have stated, someone who stole food is not under that category. If someone steals food, the leader of that community will be put into question because in Islam the Khalifa is responsible for the people. That is why we have Zakaat and Baytul Maal, the House of Wealth, that money belongs to the people to feed shelter and clothe them.

There are other conditions; just some examples are such as;

· The property stolen needs to be a certain limit.
· It cant be something that is already disliked in the Deen, like wine
· The item has to be from a place where it was put away, like a safe not lying around.
· The owner has to ask for his property back. If he doesn’t then they can’t cut the hand of the thief….
· And of course the theft has to be witnessed by 2 “qualified” witnesses or the thief confesses to it twice.

format_quote Originally Posted by Allah-creation

don't you think its too harsh to cut someones hand for stealing. Cant he atleast be given the option to either go to jail or get his hand cut off. If its part of religion to cut off the hands of stealers, then can you show me any hadih or Qur'an verse that states that?

Should I laugh or cry?

Muslim. yeah ok

you have not read or if you did read you did not understand a word of any post above you.

Personal Property*

Towards Eradicating Oppression

By IOL Team

Allah, the Creator of all, knows that people love to gather material possessions, and that much of their efforts are for the sake of gathering the various material means of the world. As such, Islam does not oppose human nature, as it was fashioned by Allah, and allows for personal possessions though they may be a great deal of all the wealth in the world.

Islam is more concerned with ensuring the rights of others’ personal property, and preventing all forms of stealing, usurpation, and extortion. In fact, the severity of the Islamic punishment for stealing, when certain conditions are met and certain extenuating circumstances cannot be found, is an example of Islam’s strong concern with eradicating such forms of oppression completely from society.

The Islamic ideal is based upon absolute justice on the personal as well as the societal level. If a person strives hard and earns wealth that is subsequently stolen by another or usurped by the state, this is the ultimate in injustice. Furthermore, if such arbitrary seizures of private property are pervasive in society, they will remove the incentive for people to work for personal financial advancement, undermining the basis of material societal development itself. For these reasons, the Islamic model is highly concerned with preventing injustice by protecting the rights of people to their personal property.

The true Muslim realizes that the wealth in his or her possession is in actuality in the possession of Allah. The Muslim is merely a temporary agent who manages the property and who will be held accountable for how he or she disposes of it. If one uses it for good ends, such as the rectification of the self, of others, or of society, one will be rewarded in this world and in the next. On the other hand, if one uses it for less noble ends, one will either be punished in the next world or by being denied blessings in the fruits of one’s labors in this world. The Islamic system has established fundamental rules governing work and inheritance, the two main means of acquiring wealth. It stipulates that a worker’s wages should be paid before the sweat has dried from his body – a law applied in a general sense to eradicate oppression against the lower classes.

Islam has also made unlawful the monopolization of things necessary for the functioning of society. Wells and other sources of water, for instance, are unlawful to use and monopolize as personal property, thereby eliminating another potential for oppression. It is also considered a great act of charity to dig a well, or even plant a tree for public benefit.

Islam does not look favorably upon a situation in which a society’s wealth is concentrated in the hands of a select few. Thus, it seeks to facilitate the trickling down of money from the rich to those below them. In addition to the yearly mandatory zakah, there exist numerous Prophetic Hadiths that strongly encourage additional, voluntary charity by the affluent.

When the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) came to Medina, he encouraged the wealthier supporters to financially aid the poor Emigrants. Then, when war booty fell to the lot of the Muslims, he would divide the wealth according to economic condition – the poor segments of the Muslims would receive larger portions. Through such measures, he sought to reduce the gap between rich and poor.

Islamic inheritance laws aim to distribute the deceased person’s money throughout a family, thereby limiting the potential of powerful family dynasties to oppress those they disfavor by denying them a portion of the estate. Children, spouses, grandchildren, siblings, and more distantly related men and women alike are all potentially eligible to receive shares of the inheritance, though their portions differ depending on their proximity to the deceased and the identity of the other heirs.

* Taken with permission from Introduction to Islam
More Articles:

Property Rights in Islam -An Introduction to Religion and Economics - Personal Property - Islamic Economics - Freedom of Economic Activity

In the Name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,

The different penalties are not prescribed by Shariah in order to inflict harm on people and make them suffer, rather the Shariah concept for imposing penalties for various crimes is that they prevent harm, destruction and anarchy in the society.

Allah Most High says:

"In the law of retaliation there is (saving of) life to you, O you men of understanding" (Surah al-Baqarah, 179).

penalties being imposed are not to make an individual suffer, rather to create a better society as a whole, the Shariah laid down certain strict rules and conditions in order for the punishment to be established or enforced. These strict conditions can be seen in all the penalties that have been imposed.

with theft and stealing certain conditions have been laid down for the penalty to be imposed. If the conditions are met, only then will such a penalty be enforced.


CONDITIONS FOR THE PENALTY OF THEFT

The following are the conditions which must be met in order to establish the penalty of theft:

1) The one who steals is sane

2) He has reached puberty

3) He steals equivalent to the amount (nisab) or more. The Nisab was one Dinar or ten Dirhams (i.e. 4.374 grams of gold). The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said:
"There is no cutting (of hands) for stealing that is less then ten Dirhams" (Musnad Ahmad).

Hazrat Aisha (Allah be pleased with her) reports that
"The hands were not cut in the time of the Messenger of Allah for stealing worthless things" (Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah).
Hazrat Aisha (Allah be pleased with her) narrates that:

"The hand of a thief was not cut off during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give peace) except for stealing something equal to a shield in value" (Sahih al-Bukhari, 6792, & Sahih Muslim, 1685).
A shield was worth one Dinar at that time, as narrated by Ibn Abbas in Sunan Abu Dawud & Sunan Nasa'i.

4) He steals the article from a place that meets the requirements of security and safeguarding. This security is considered when the article is safeguarded by a guard or by it being locked in a place.

5) The article is in the ownership of another person

6) There is no confusion in it (as to whether he took it by way of theft or for some other reason).

7) It was stolen secretly (not by force, etc…).
If any of the above conditions are not met, then the penalty of theft will not be established.

Allah Most High says:

"As to the thief, male of female, cut off his or her hands. A punishment by way of example, from Allah, for their crime" (Surah al-Ma'idah, 38).
As far as the evidence and testimony is concerned, stealing will be established by self admittance once or by the testimony of two adult males. The witnesses will be asked the details of the incident, as not to make an error.

A person's hand is not amputated when he steals less than the equivalent of 4.374 grams of gold, from place that does not meet the requirements of security, something that is useless, something that is in general ownership such as water in the river, sticks from the wood, etc…, food that rots very quickly such as milk, meat, fruits, etc…, articles that are unlawful due to the possibility that one had an intention of getting rid of it, such as musical instruments.

THE PENALTY

The penalty for the one who steals (when the above conditions are met) is that his/her right hand is amputated. If a person steals a second time, his left foot is amputated; if a third time, then he will be imprisoned until he repents, but no further amputation will take place.

The above are some of the important aspects relating to the penalty of theft. It has been primarily based on the famous Hanafi work al-Ikhtiyar li ta'lil al-Mukhtar.

And as always Allah knows best.

Muhammad ibn Adam
Darul Iftaa
Leicester, UK

Assalamu'Alaykum

Here is your proof from the Quran and Sunnaah


Qura'an

“And (as for) the male thief and the female thief, cut off (from the wrist joint) their (right) hands as a recompense for that which they committed, a punishment by way of example from Allaah. And Allaah is All Powerful, All Wise”
[al-Maa’idah 5:38]

Hadith

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The hand should be cut off for (the theft of) a quarter of a dinar or more.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, al-Hudood, 6291)

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) cursed the thief because he is a corrupt element in society, and if he is left unpunished, his corruption will spread and infect the body of the ummah. He (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, “May Allaah curse the thief who steals an egg and has his hand cut off, or steals a rope and has his hand cut off.” (al-Bukhaari, al-Hudood, 6285).


What indicates that this ruling is definitive is that fact that a Makhzoomi noblewoman stole at the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and Usaamah ibn Zayd wanted to intercede for her.

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) became angry and said, “Do you intercede concerning one of the hadd punishments set by Allaah? Those who came before you were destroyed because if a rich man among them stole, they would let him off, but if a lowly person stole, they would carry out the punishment on him. By Allaah, if Faatimah bint Muhammad were to steal, I would cut off her hand.” (al-Bukhaari, Ahaadeeth al-Anbiyaa’, 3216)


Regarding law, that is the Law of Islam which was established by Allaah.

Allaah says:

“Do they then seek the judgement of (the days of) Ignorance? And who is better in judgement than Allaah for a people who have firm Faith”
[al-Maa’idah 5:50]

Assalamu'Alaykum


Sharia law is Islamic Law and yes it is part of Islam. No one is allowed to legislate meaning make Laws for mankind except for Allaah. And even as Muslims we do not want anyone to make laws for us except the one who created us, who has the right to tell me what to do and what not to do? My creator Allaah. He knows his creation he alone has the right to pass a law.

format_quote Originally Posted by Allah-creation

My question is it part of religion to cut people hands for stealing. your answer is that it is part of law, you didn't say it is part of religion. I am ignorant and want to learn, please don't make it difficult on me. To be honest with you i don't appreciate you comments to me, What do you mean should i cry? If your going to continue your rudeness i appreciate you never reply to my posts. Instead of being rude you should have patience, your negative comments only makes thing worse.

What do you mean should i cry?

because a computer literate "Muslim" is ignorant of very basics of Islaam!

being autistic concentrates my mind on issues to the point of obsession.

"It is not for a believer, man or woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decreed a matter
that they should have any option in their decision."
Quran [33:36]

question:

My friend says that getting your hand cut off due to stealing is part of religion, even if it is only once. I disagreed with him and i doubt if it true. Does anyone know if its true or not?

question answered:

it is part of law with many exceptions

for example you cant go around will nilly choping off hands of childern the starving or the retarded.

the case of sane adults is different.

anyway first eliminate cuase of theft (hunger etc.) before issuing the punishment.

^Yes. That is the general ruling which comes under the prescribed punishment for stealing in Islamic jurisprudence. But it isn't applied in all cases, such as where there is doubt or if someone steals from his father's, or his son's property, as each has a right in the property of the other.

Some other cases of stealing are also exempt from punishment of amputation.

Assalamu’Alaykum

One must understand that the laws of punishment that Allaah has set for mankind is by means of prevention.

There are conditions like they have stated, someone who stole food is not under that category. If someone steals food, the leader of that community will be put into question because in Islam the Khalifa is responsible for the people. That is why we have Zakaat and Baytul Maal, the House of Wealth, that money belongs to the people to feed shelter and clothe them.

There are other conditions; just some examples are such as;

· The property stolen needs to be a certain limit.
· It cant be something that is already disliked in the Deen, like wine
· The item has to be from a place where it was put away, like a safe not lying around.
· The owner has to ask for his property back. If he doesn’t then they can’t cut the hand of the thief….
· And of course the theft has to be witnessed by 2 “qualified” witnesses or the thief confesses to it twice.

answers disputed/denied/ Islaam labelled harsh/proof demanded

don't you think its too harsh to cut someones hand for stealing. Cant he atleast be given the option to either go to jail or get his hand cut off. If its part of religion to cut off the hands of stealers, then can you show me any hadih or Qur'an verse that states that?

^^ opinions asked for and alternative to Islaamic law suggested when "It is not for a believer, man or woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decreed a matter

that they should have any option in their decision."
Quran [33:36]

this thread does not belong here

it needs to be moved to islam basics or jurisprudence

and it is not a disgrace if some one wants to ask a question and to learn

we all need to ask questions to get the answers that forms our knowledge.