Ibn Majah

Benefits and Issues:

➊ The hand is not cut off for the theft of a trivial thing, as is mentioned in other hadiths of this chapter; therefore, this hadith has been interpreted accordingly.

➋ The meaning of this hadith is that a person steals a trivial thing—like an egg or a rope—and is not caught, which encourages him to commit greater crimes, until eventually he steals something valuable and ends up having his hand cut off.

➌ Another explanation of this hadith is that by “egg” (baydah) is not meant a chicken’s egg, but rather a helmet made of iron (khud, helmet), which is also called “baydah” in Arabic and is a valuable item. And by “rope” is not meant an ordinary rope, but rather a large rope used to control a ship’s anchor, which is a valuable thing. However, from the style of the hadith, the first meaning appears to be more correct: that is, how wretched is the person who commits a minor theft, which ultimately leads to the point where his hand is cut off.

➍ The punishment for a thief—cutting off the hand—is mentioned in the Noble Qur’an. See: (Surah al-Ma’idah: Ayah 38)

Hadith Commentary:
(1)
Imam Bukhari rahimahullah has mentioned this hadith at the end regarding the minimum threshold (nisab) for theft. In this, there is an indication that the narration from Aisha radi Allahu anha should be taken as the basis for the nisab of theft: that the thief’s hand should be cut off for stealing at least a quarter dinar or something of equivalent value. This is why, when he first narrated the hadith, he wrote through the authority of Imam A‘mash that “baydah” refers to a helmet made of iron, and people used to understand “rope” as a rope that was worth several dirhams, meaning not an ordinary rope but rather a specific kind of rope is intended. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hudud, Hadith: 6783) (2)
Hafiz Ibn Hajar rahimahullah has transmitted twenty opinions regarding the nisab for theft. According to our inclination, it is most likely that the minimum threshold (nisab) for theft is a quarter dinar or its equivalent value. And Allah knows best. (Fath al-Bari: 12/129, 130)

Hadith Commentary:
By "iron egg" is meant an iron ball resembling an egg, the value of which is at least three dirhams.

Hadith Commentary:
(1)
Ibn Battal has said that it is not permissible to curse sinners by mentioning their names in their presence; rather, it is permissible to curse such evil deeds without specifying names, so that people may refrain from them. Mentioning someone by name may cause them to become despondent and emboldened in committing sin. (Fath al-Bari: 12/99)

(2)
Hafiz Ibn Hajar rahimahullah has mentioned three meanings for "La‘ana Allahu al-sariq" (May Allah curse the thief):
➊ It means to inform, so that the listener does not steal, i.e., Allah has sent His curse upon the thief.
➋ It means supplication, so that the thief refrains from stealing even before committing the act, i.e., may Allah curse the thief.
➌ It does not literally mean a curse, but rather indicates the gravity of the act, i.e., this act is extremely detestable in the sight of Allah. (Fath al-Bari: 12/99)

(3)
The Khawarij have used this hadith as evidence that the hand of a thief should be cut off for every minor or major theft, but this argument is extremely weak. This is because when the noble verse was revealed: "As for the male thief and the female thief, cut off their hands for what they have earned." () the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam made the aforementioned statement in light of the apparent meaning of the verse. Then Allah informed him that the hand is to be cut off for theft of property valued at a quarter of a dinar. That specified amount is the explanation of the generality of the verse, therefore, only that specified amount should be adopted. (Fath al-Bari: 12/100)

(1) "May he be cursed"—that he, in exchange for trivial things, ends up having his precious hand, for which there is no substitute, cut off. What greater loss could there be in this world? Deprivation of the hand, lifelong disability, infamy and disgrace that will never part from him until death, and above all, the displeasure of Allah Ta'ala and deprivation of faith. And what is a curse (la'nat)? It is not permissible to invoke a curse upon someone by name, even if he is a disbeliever, except if he dies upon disbelief or his disbelief is certain. However, it is permissible to mention a major sin and invoke a curse upon its perpetrator (without naming or specifying anyone), as is done in this hadith. A curse is the greatest form of supplication against someone. What is meant is deprivation from the mercy of Allah Ta'ala; for this reason, it can never be for a believer. Even a disbeliever may possibly become a Muslim at some point, so it is not appropriate for him either.

(2) "Egg, rope"—this was said to add emphasis in speech. What is meant is something trivial. Clearly, no matter how valuable worldly wealth may be, it is insignificant compared to the human hand and human dignity; otherwise, a hand cannot be cut off for an egg or a rope. Rather, a fixed limit has been set for theft for which the hand is to be cut, the details of which will come later, insha Allah. Some scholars have interpreted "egg" to mean the helmet worn on the head during battle, which is valuable; for that, the hand can be cut off. And by "rope," they have meant the ropes of ships, which are very thick and expensive. These meanings are also possible, but this would eliminate the eloquence of the speech. The purpose of the statement is to condemn theft, not to detail the rulings of cutting the hand. And Allah knows best.

Takhrij:
«أخرجه البخاري، الحدود، باب قول الله تعالي: ﴿والسارق والسارقة فاقطعوا أيديهما﴾، حديث:6799، ومسلم، الحدود، باب حد السرقة ونصابها، حديث:1687.»©Explanation:
➊ The Zahiris have deduced from this hadith that the punishment of cutting the hand applies to both small and large amounts of wealth, and that there is no specific or fixed threshold (nisab) for it. However, there is no such evidence in this hadith, because the purpose of the hadith is to show how despicable and detestable the act of theft is, that a thief deprives himself of his hand in exchange for such trivial items.
There is no explicit statement here that if he steals a rope or an egg, his hand will be cut off, even if their value does not reach a quarter of a dinar.

➋ From this statement, it also becomes clear that there is no need to interpret this hadith to mean that the thief’s hand will be cut off for stealing an egg, a rope, or such trivial items, on the basis that when he starts picking up such insignificant and worthless things, theft will become his habit, and this habit will eventually embolden him to steal such large things whose value reaches the threshold (nisab) at which the hand may be cut.