cases of dacoity, the punishment may be only imprisonment.
Theft is the next punishable crime spoken of in the Holy Qur’ān: “And (as for) the man and the woman addicted to theft, cut off their hands as a punishment for what they have earned, an exemplary punishment from Allāh, and Allāh is Mighty, Wise. But whoever repents after his wrongdoing and reforms, Allāh will turn to him (mercifully). Surely Allāh is Forgiving, Merciful” (5:38, 39). The cutting off of hands may be taken metaphorically, as in qaṭa‘a lisāna-hū (lit., he cut off his tongue) which means he silenced him (LA.). But even if taken literally, it is not necessary to cut off the hands for every type of theft, and this is a fact which all jurists have recognized. As stated above, in the case of dacoity four grades of punishment are mentioned, ranging from death or crucifixion to mere imprisonment. It is evident that theft is not as serious a crime as dacoity, and hence the minimum punishment for it could not be severer than the minimum punishment for dacoity, which is imprisonment, the next higher being the cutting off of hands. Evidently what is meant is that whereas the maximum punishment, for dacoity is death, the maximum punishment for theft is the cutting off of the hand. Therefore it is for the judge to decide which punishment will suit a particular case. The state of society may sometimes demand the maximum punishment, even in less serious cases, but there are several circumstances which go to show that the maximum punishment of the cutting off of hands may ordinarily be reserved for habitual thieves. Firstly, the minimum punishment for dacoity, having already been mentioned in v. 33, may also be taken as the minimum punishment for the much less serious offence of theft, and this would meet the ends of justice. Secondly, the cutting off of hands, being a punishment for the more serious offences falling under dacoity, should also be reserved for the more serious offences falling under theft, and the offence of theft generally becomes more serious when it becomes habitual. Thirdly, the punishment of cutting off of hands, in cases of theft, is called an exemplary punishment and such punishment could only be given in very serious cases, or when the offender is addicted thereto and the milder punishment of