What is the explanation of the hadith: “May Allah curse the thief who steals an egg and has his hand cut off, and who steals a rope and has his hand cut off”?
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The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : We mentioned this in the lesson on al-Dali'.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : And what else should I do?
The questioner : Under certain circumstances.
The questioner : Did we not answer regarding the hadith of the egg?
The Shaykh : The scholars have two opinions on this: either the egg refers to the helmet worn by a warrior to deflect arrows, and the rope refers to a rope of value, such as a ship’s rope; or it means that this thief steals an egg, which makes theft seem trivial in his mind, and then he steals what reaches the nisab, and his hand is cut off. This second interpretation reconciles the various hadiths. As for the opinion that this is an exaggeration, it does not hold, because the Lawgiver established a ruling that the hand is cut off. The correct view is that it is to be understood as one of these two meanings. In my view, the second is closer to the truth, because the first involves some degree of contrivance or distance from the apparent meaning.
The Shaykh : We mentioned this in the lesson on al-Dali'.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : And what else should I do?
The questioner : Under certain circumstances.
The questioner : Did we not answer regarding the hadith of the egg?
The Shaykh : The scholars have two opinions on this: either the egg refers to the helmet worn by a warrior to deflect arrows, and the rope refers to a rope of value, such as a ship’s rope; or it means that this thief steals an egg, which makes theft seem trivial in his mind, and then he steals what reaches the nisab, and his hand is cut off. This second interpretation reconciles the various hadiths. As for the opinion that this is an exaggeration, it does not hold, because the Lawgiver established a ruling that the hand is cut off. The correct view is that it is to be understood as one of these two meanings. In my view, the second is closer to the truth, because the first involves some degree of contrivance or distance from the apparent meaning.