Muwatta Imam Malik (Riwayat Yahya)

It is narrated from Muhammad bin Yahya bin Haban that a slave stole a date palm sapling from a man's garden and planted it in his master's garden. The owner of the sapling went out searching for his sapling, found it, and complained about the slave to Marwan bin Hakam. Marwan summoned the slave, imprisoned him, and wanted to cut off his hand. The slave's master went to Rafi' bin Khadij and informed him of the situation. Rafi' said: I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say: "The hand shall not be cut off for fruit nor for a sapling." The man said: Marwan has seized my slave and wants to cut off his hand. I wish that you would come with me and relate this hadith to Marwan. Rafi' went with the man to Marwan and asked: Have you seized this man's slave? Marwan said: Yes. Rafi' asked: What will you do with the slave? Marwan said: I will cut off his hand. Rafi' said: I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say: "The hand shall not be cut off for stealing fruit or a sapling." Upon hearing this, Marwan ordered that the slave be released.

It is narrated from Saib bin Yazid that Abdullah bin Amr bin Hadrami brought his slave before Sayyiduna Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) and said: "The hand of this slave of mine should be cut off; he has committed theft." Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) asked: "What did he steal?" He replied: "He stole my wife's mirror, which was worth sixty dirhams." Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Let him go, his hand will not be cut off; he was your servant and he stole your property."

It is narrated from Ibn Shihab that a person came to Marwan bin Hakam who had snatched someone’s property. Marwan wanted to cut off his hand, then he sent a person to Sayyiduna Zaid bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) to ask about this issue. He said: The hand of a snatcher should not be cut off.

Abu Bakr bin Muhammad bin Amr bin Hazm caught a Nabati (a resident of Nabat, which is a village in the land of non-Arabs) who had stolen iron rings, and he imprisoned him in order to cut off his hand. Amrah bint Abdur Rahman sent her freed slave woman, whose name was Umayyah, to Abu Bakr. Abu Bakr said: That freed slave woman came to me while I was sitting among people. She said: Your aunt Amrah has said, "O my nephew! You have caught a Nabati for a small thing, and you want to cut off his hand." I said: Yes! She said: Amrah has said that there is no cutting (of the hand) except for a value of a quarter dinar or more. So I released the Nabati.

Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said that if a slave confesses to a fault for which there is bodily harm, it is valid; he will not be accused of making a false confession in order to harm his master.

Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said that if someone confesses to a fault for which the compensation must be paid by the master, then such a confession will not be considered valid.

Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said that if a laborer or any other person lives among people and comes and goes, then he steals something of theirs, there is no cutting (of the hand) for him, because he is like a betrayer, and there is no cutting for a betrayer.

Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said that if a person takes something as a loan and then denies it, there is no cutting (of the hand) upon him. Its example is like when someone has a debt upon another and he denies it, then there is no cutting (of the hand) upon him.

Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said: In our view, the ruling is agreed upon that if a thief enters a house and gathers belongings but does not take them out, then the punishment of amputation is not applied to him. Its example is like a person who is presented with wine to drink, but he does not drink it, so the prescribed punishment is not applied to him. And another example is that a person sits with a woman for the purpose of intercourse, but then does not have intercourse with her, meaning he does not insert his organ into her private part, so the prescribed punishment is not applied to him.

Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said: In our view, it is agreed upon that there is no cutting (of the hand) for snatching, even if the value of the item is a quarter dinar or more.