Continuation of the explanation of the author's statement: "And it is a condition that what is stolen be respected property"
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The Shaykh : The hand of a thief is not amputated for his theft. For example, if he steals a free young boy who comes to a child found at his family's door and takes him and sells him, is his hand amputated? No. Why? Because he is not property. And if there is a young slave of the same age, and he steals both, is his hand amputated? Yes. For what? For the slave, not for the free boy. Why? Because the slave is property, and the free boy is not property.
The questioner : He is killed for it.
The Shaykh : No, he is not killed until he is killed for it. The point is that his hand is not amputated because he is not property. Now, if he steals a girl who is wearing gold jewelry, then property and non-property have come together in the case. Is his hand amputated or not? The school of thought (madhhab) says his hand is not amputated. Why? Because there is a factor permitting and a factor prohibiting. The factor permitting amputation is the theft of the jewelry, and the factor prohibiting it is the theft of the girl, because she is free. Some scholars said that his hand is amputated for stealing the young boy and the young girl who is wearing jewelry. They said that what he stole, he stole as property; he did not steal it except to sell it, so he stole it as property. He is dealt with according to his intention, not the opposite of his intention, but according to his intention. As long as he stole it as property, we amputate your hand so that you do not return to such an act. Free people are more precious to their families than slaves. If one were to ask the father of this child who was stolen along with his slave, "Which do you prefer to be stolen, your son or your slave?" What would he say? His son? No, he would not say his son. He would say, "My slave is dearer to me." Even if there were a hundred slaves, it would not matter, but my child, I do not want him to be stolen. However, the rule supports what the school of thought held, because he is not property. But he must be given a severe discretionary punishment (ta'zir) that deters him and others like him from this act. The punishment may reach a level more severe than amputating the hand. He may be one of those who spread corruption on earth, about whom Allah said:[Al-Ma'idah 5:33]
The questioner : He is killed for it.
The Shaykh : No, he is not killed until he is killed for it. The point is that his hand is not amputated because he is not property. Now, if he steals a girl who is wearing gold jewelry, then property and non-property have come together in the case. Is his hand amputated or not? The school of thought (madhhab) says his hand is not amputated. Why? Because there is a factor permitting and a factor prohibiting. The factor permitting amputation is the theft of the jewelry, and the factor prohibiting it is the theft of the girl, because she is free. Some scholars said that his hand is amputated for stealing the young boy and the young girl who is wearing jewelry. They said that what he stole, he stole as property; he did not steal it except to sell it, so he stole it as property. He is dealt with according to his intention, not the opposite of his intention, but according to his intention. As long as he stole it as property, we amputate your hand so that you do not return to such an act. Free people are more precious to their families than slaves. If one were to ask the father of this child who was stolen along with his slave, "Which do you prefer to be stolen, your son or your slave?" What would he say? His son? No, he would not say his son. He would say, "My slave is dearer to me." Even if there were a hundred slaves, it would not matter, but my child, I do not want him to be stolen. However, the rule supports what the school of thought held, because he is not property. But he must be given a severe discretionary punishment (ta'zir) that deters him and others like him from this act. The punishment may reach a level more severe than amputating the hand. He may be one of those who spread corruption on earth, about whom Allah said: