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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books 180 Questions Enquiries About Islam Volume Two: Various issues Is the Punishment of Amputation of the Hands, Rough and Violent? ==================================================================== Before answering this question it is essential to mention the conditions which govern the punishment of amputation of a thief's hand.

From the entire collection of Islamic traditions, it can be inferred that there are numerous requirements, which have to be fulfilled, in order that this Islamic punishment is put into execution, and failing which, initiating this punishment is not permissible. Some of these requirements are as follows: • The item that is stolen should possess a value of at least one-fourth of a dinar.[^1] • It should have been stolen from a secured place such as a house, a shop, internal pockets etc.

●The theft should not have taken place during famines and droughts, when the people are suffering from hunger and possess no means. • The thief should be sane and an adult, and should have committed the act out of his own choice and free will. • This ruling shall not be applicable in the case of a father, who steals from the property of his son, or a partner, who does so from the property of the partnership. • Stealing fruits from the trees of a garden has also been exempted from this ruling.

●Every instance, in which there exists a likelihood of error on the part of the thief that he may have mistaken other's property as his own, is exempted this ruling. • In addition to the above, there are some other conditions, which have been mentioned and explained in books of jurisprudence.

The above should not be mistaken to mean that theft is prohibited and unlawful only when all the above conditions gather together; in Islam, theft in every form, in every measure and in every way is prohibited and unlawful. What is meant by the above conditions is that only under such circumstances can this penalty be put into execution.

The measure in which the hand should be amputated It is popular amongst our jurists that on the basis of the traditions of the Ahlul Bayt (a.s.) only the four fingers of the right hand must be amputation and not more - unlike the Sunnite jurists, who have stipulated more than this. Is this Islamic penalty rough and violent?

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