due to what has preceded. Ibn al-Mundhir said: Ahmad said: I hope there is no cutting punishment for him, because people are permitted to enter it. If a person entrusted his property to another in the mosque, and it was stolen, if the one entrusted had been negligent in its care and observation, he is liable for damages provided he had accepted the responsibility of guarding it and had responded to the request. If he did not respond but remained silent, no liability (74) is incurred upon him because he did not accept the bailment (istida') nor did he take possession of the property. There is no cutting punishment for the thief in either situation because it is not secured (hirz). If he did guard the property by his observation and proximity to it, and it was stolen, he bears no liability, and the thief is subject to the cutting punishment because he stole from a secured place. This differs from property in a bathhouse, as guarding it there is not possible; for people place their garments next to the garments of others, and it is confusing for the bathhouse attendant to identify the owner of the garments, making it impossible for him to prevent (75) their taking due to his lack of knowledge regarding the owner.

Section: The security (hirz) of a house wall consists of it being constructed within the house, if it is located in a populated area or if it is in the wilderness and has a guardian. If someone takes a nisab (the minimum amount for cutting) from parts of the wall or its wood in this state, his cutting punishment is mandatory, because the wall serves as a secure place for what is behind it, and thus it is a secure place for itself. If he demolishes the wall but does not take any of it, there is no cutting punishment (76) for him regarding it, just as if he had destroyed property within a secure place (77) but did not steal it. If the house is in a state that it does not serve as a secure place for what is inside it—such as a house in the wilderness that has no guardian—there is no cutting punishment for one who takes something from its wall, because if it is not secure for what is inside it, it is even less so for itself. As for the door of the house, if it is installed in its place, it is secured whether it is closed or open, because this is how it is guarded, and its thief is subject to the cutting punishment if the house is secured in the manner we have mentioned. As for the doors of chests within the house, if the door of the house is closed, they are secured whether they are open or closed (78); if the house door is open, they are not secured unless they are closed or there is a guardian in the house.