Bayhaqi 17193 — Reports from the Companions on what requires

Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Some people said: We have narrated our view from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). Al-Shafi'i said: I said: Al-Za'afiri narrated it from al-Sha'bi from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), while the companions of Ja'far bin Muhammad informed us from his father that Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Cutting off the hand is for a quarter of a dinar or more," and the hadith of Ja'far from Ali is more worthy of being established than the hadith of al-Za'afiri. He said: We have narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: "The hand is not to be cut off except for ten dirhams." We said: Al-Thawri narrated from Isa bin Abi Azzah, from al-Sha'bi, from Ibn Mas'ud, that "the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) cut off the hand of a thief for five dirhams," and this is closer to being authentic from Abdullah than the hadith of al-Mas'udi from al-Qasim from Abdullah. He said: Then why did you not adopt this? We said: This hadith does not contradict our hadith; if he cut off the hand for three dirhams, he would cut it off for five or more. He said: We have narrated from Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) that he did not cut off the hand for eight dirhams. Al-Shafi'i said: Its narration from Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) is not authentic. Ma'mar narrated from Ata al-Khurasani from Umar (may Allah be pleased with him): "Cutting off the hand is for a quarter of a dinar or more," yet we did not see fit to use it as proof, because it is not established. No one has any proof against the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and the Muslims are obliged to follow his command. Al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The one who differed with us went neither to an authentic hadith, nor to the position of those who abandoned the hadith and acted on the apparent meaning of the Qur'an.
The Shaykh (al-Bayhaqi) (may Allah have mercy on him) said: As for the narration of Dawud al-Awdi al-Za'afiri from Amir al-Sha'bi from Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) about cutting off the hand, I have not yet come across it; his narration is only about the minimum dowry, and the scholars of his time rejected it from him. If he also narrated it about cutting off the hand, then it is munkar (rejected), and one like Dawud is not taken as proof. It has also been narrated from Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) through another, obscure route, and it is weak; one like it is not taken as proof.