Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "Do you not see that it became evident to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) about some people that they had committed theft (from the spoils) in the path of Allah, yet he (peace and blessings be upon him) did not punish them? Had (discretionary) punishment been binding like a hadd punishment, he (peace and blessings be upon him) would not have left them, just as the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) cut off the hand of a woman of (a) noble (family), and when intercession was made with him (peace and blessings be upon him) concerning her, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'If so-and-so, (that is,) a noble woman, had stolen, I would have cut off her hand.'"
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الأشربة والحد فيها / Q17552
Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) obtained spoils of war, so he (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) to call out three times that whoever has anything should hand it all in. The people brought (what they had). Then he took out the fifth from it. Meanwhile a man brought a rein made of hair, by which time the spoils had already been distributed. He (peace and blessings be upon him) asked him: "Did you hear Bilal's call?" He said: Yes. He (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "Then why did you not bring it earlier?" He made an excuse, so he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Now I will not accept it; you will have to bring it on the Day of Resurrection."
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الأشربة والحد فيها / 17552
Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: A man touched a woman (intimately) without intercourse. He came to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), who regarded it as a very great sin; then he came to Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), who did the same; then he came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and (the narrator said:) I do not know whether he regarded it as grave or not. Then this verse was revealed: "Establish prayer at the two ends of the day and in the early hours of the night; indeed, good deeds remove evil deeds." [Surah Hud: 114] The man said: "O Messenger of Allah! Is this only for me?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "It is for whoever of my Ummah acts upon it."
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الأشربة والحد فيها / 17553
Ibn Jurayj and Ibn Abi Sabrah said: Two men insulted each other in the presence of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), and he said nothing to them; they insulted each other in the presence of Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), and he punished them to discipline them.
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الأشربة والحد فيها / 17554