وَٱلسَّارِقُ وَٱلسَّارِقَةُ فَٱقۡطَعُوٓاْ أَيۡدِيَهُمَا جَزَآءَۢ بِمَا كَسَبَا نَكَٰلٗا مِّنَ ٱللَّهِۗ وَٱللَّهُ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٞ
[39]. Theft must be proven either by confession or by the testimony of two reliable eyewitnesses, and it must be a deliberate, non‑opportunistic breaking‑and‑entering.
In the Prophet’s ﷺ time a notable woman from the Makhzūm clan committed theft. The Quraysh worried about how to handle the case and asked, “Who will speak to the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ on her behalf?” They chose Usāmah ibn Zayd, the beloved of the Messenger ﷺ, to intercede. Usāmah went to plead for her, but the Prophet ﷺ asked, “Are you interceding regarding one of Allāh’s prescribed punishments?” Turning to the people, he warned them: “O people! Those who came before you were destroyed because when a noble among them stole they pardoned him, yet when a weak person stole they punished him. By Allāh, if Fāṭimah, the daughter of Muḥammad, were to steal, I would cut off her hand.”
