سنن نسائي
Nasai
كتاب قطع السارقThe Book of Cutting off the Hand of the Thief
بَابُ : امْتِحَانِ السَّارِقِ بِالضَّرْبِ وَالْحَبْسِChapter: Making A Suspected thief Admit to His Crime By Beating and Detaining Him.
Hadith 4878
اُردوEn
أَخْبَرَنَا إِسْحَاق بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ ، قَالَ : حَدَّثَنَا بَقِيَّةُ بْنُ الْوَلِيدِ ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي صَفْوَانُ بْنُ عَمْرٍو ، قَالَ : حَدَّثَنِي أَزْهَرُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ الْحَرَازِيُّ ، عَنْ النُّعْمَانِ بْنِ بَشِيرٍ أَنَّهُ : " رَفَعَ إِلَيْهِ نَفَرٌ مِنْ الْكَلَاعِيِّينَ ، أَنَّ حَاكَةً سَرَقُوا مَتَاعًا فَحَبَسَهُمْ أَيَّامًا ، ثُمَّ خَلَّى سَبِيلَهُمْ فَأَتَوْهُ ، فَقَالُوا : خَلَّيْتَ سَبِيلَ هَؤُلَاءِ بِلَا امْتِحَانٍ وَلَا ضَرْبٍ ، فَقَالَ النُّعْمَانُ : مَا شِئْتُمْ , إِنْ شِئْتُمْ أَضْرِبْهُمْ ، فَإِنْ أَخْرَجَ اللَّهُ مَتَاعَكُمْ فَذَاكَ , وَإِلَّا أَخَذْتُ مِنْ ظُهُورِكُمْ مِثْلَهُ ، قَالُوا : هَذَا حُكْمُكَ ؟ ، قَالَ : هَذَا حُكْمُ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ , وَرَسُولِهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْه وَسَلَّمَ " .
´It was narrated from An-Nu'man bin Bashir that:` a group of the Kala'iyin complaned to him about some people who had stolen some goods, shoe detained them for several days, and then he let them go. They came and said: "You let them go without any pressure (to make them admit to their crime) or beating?" An-Nu'man said: "What do you want? If you wish, I will beat them, and if Allah brings back your goods thereby, all well and good. Otherwise I will take retaliation from your backs (by beating you) likewise." They said: "is this your ruling?" He said: "This is the ruling of Allah and His Messenger "(Daif)
Related hadith on this topic
Explanation & Benefits
Hafiz Muhammad Ameen
(1) It is not correct for the verifier of the book to declare the chain of this narration as weak. According to him, the reason for weakness is that there is doubt regarding Azhar bin Abdullah’s hearing from Hazrat Nu’man bin Bashir, but he has not mentioned any evidence for this doubt. The fundamental principle is that when a trustworthy (thiqa) or reliable (saduq) narrator reports with “an” (i.e., using the word “from”) and he is not accused of tadlis (concealing the directness of transmission), then his narration will be considered as based on hearing (sama’). And no one has called Azhar a mudallis (one who practices tadlis). Perhaps for this reason, Shaykh al-Albani and other scholars have graded this narration as hasan (good).
(2) In this chapter, the “thief” refers to a person upon whom the accusation of theft is made, but there is neither any witness nor is the stolen property recovered from him. Such a person, against whom there are indications of being a thief, can be detained for the purpose of investigation. If he confesses or the stolen property is recovered from him, then the punishment for theft becomes obligatory upon him. If nothing is proven, then he should be released, as is established from the conduct of Hazrat Nu’man bin Bashir radi Allahu anhu. Furthermore, it is not permissible to beat him, because through beating, even an innocent person can be made to confess. To beat an innocent or merely suspected person is oppression. However, it is correct that the truth be elicited with wisdom and prudence, or by intimidating him, etc., the reality may be ascertained.
(2) In this chapter, the “thief” refers to a person upon whom the accusation of theft is made, but there is neither any witness nor is the stolen property recovered from him. Such a person, against whom there are indications of being a thief, can be detained for the purpose of investigation. If he confesses or the stolen property is recovered from him, then the punishment for theft becomes obligatory upon him. If nothing is proven, then he should be released, as is established from the conduct of Hazrat Nu’man bin Bashir radi Allahu anhu. Furthermore, it is not permissible to beat him, because through beating, even an innocent person can be made to confess. To beat an innocent or merely suspected person is oppression. However, it is correct that the truth be elicited with wisdom and prudence, or by intimidating him, etc., the reality may be ascertained.
Source: Sunan Nasa'i: Translation and Benefits by Shaykh Hafiz Muhammad Amin Hafizullah, Page: 4878
Shaykh Umar Farooq Saeedi
Benefits and Issues:
To beat or physically punish an accused or suspect for the purpose of investigation is a matter of scholarly disagreement among the jurists (fuqaha).
The Hanafis and Shafi‘is deny its permissibility, as it is possible that the person is in reality innocent, and thus punishing him would be oppression. However, the Malikis consider it permissible.
In any case, the judge (qadi) or ruler should investigate in light of the circumstances and conditions, just as during the Battle of Badr, the Companions (radi Allahu anhum) beat a slave of the Quraysh and tried to extract information from him.
(Sahih Muslim, Book of Jihad, Chapter: The Battle of Badr, Hadith: 1779)
To beat or physically punish an accused or suspect for the purpose of investigation is a matter of scholarly disagreement among the jurists (fuqaha).
The Hanafis and Shafi‘is deny its permissibility, as it is possible that the person is in reality innocent, and thus punishing him would be oppression. However, the Malikis consider it permissible.
In any case, the judge (qadi) or ruler should investigate in light of the circumstances and conditions, just as during the Battle of Badr, the Companions (radi Allahu anhum) beat a slave of the Quraysh and tried to extract information from him.
(Sahih Muslim, Book of Jihad, Chapter: The Battle of Badr, Hadith: 1779)
Source: Sunan Abu Dawood – Commentary by Shaykh Umar Farooq Saeedi, Page: 4382
