Then he was brought for the fifth time, and he said, "Kill him." He said: So we took him and killed him, then we dragged him and threw him into a well. It was narrated by Abu Dawud (5). From Abu Hurayrah, may God be pleased with him, that the Prophet (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said regarding the thief: "If he steals, cut his hand, then if he steals, cut his foot, then if he steals, cut his hand, then if he steals, cut his foot" (6). This is because the left [hand] is cut as retaliation (qawad), so it is permissible to cut it for theft, just like the right one. Furthermore, this is the action of Abu Bakr and Umar, may God be pleased with them. The Prophet (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Follow the two who come after me: Abu Bakr and Umar" (7).

As for us, [we rely on] what Sa'id narrated: Abu Ma'shar told us, from Sa'id ibn Abi Sa'id al-Maqburi, from his father, who said: I was present when Ali ibn Abi Talib, may God be pleased with him, was brought a man whose hand and foot had already been cut and he had stolen again. He said to his companions: "What is your opinion regarding this?" They said: "Cut him, O Commander of the Faithful." He said: "I would be killing him then, and he is not liable to be killed. With what would he eat his food? With what would he perform ablution for prayer? With what would he perform ghusl (full body washing) from his state of impurity? With what would he attend to his needs?" So he returned him to prison for some days, then released him. He consulted his companions again, and they gave the same answer as their first one, and he said to them the same as he said the first time, so he lashed him severely and then let him go (8). It was also narrated from him that he said: "I am too ashamed before God not to leave him a hand with which to strike and a foot upon which to walk" (8).

This is because cutting both hands causes the loss of the benefit of the species, so it is not prescribed as a hadd (punishment), just like killing. Furthermore, if it were permissible to cut both hands, the left would have been cut in the second instance, as it is a tool for striking just like the right. However, it was not cut due to the harm inherent in cutting it, because that is equivalent to destroying him; for he would be unable to perform ablution, nor perform ghusl, nor clean himself after defecation (istinja'), nor protect himself from impurity, nor remove it