And it is one of the two opinions of al-Shafi'i, due to the saying of Allah the Almighty: {The adulteress and the adulterer, lash each one of them with a hundred lashes}. This is general, covering [both the repentant and others]. And He Almighty said: {And the thief, male and female, cut off their hands}. Furthermore, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) stoned Ma'iz and al-Ghamidiyyah, and cut the hand of the one who confessed to theft, and they came as repentant individuals seeking purification through the infliction of the hadd punishment. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) called their act repentance, as he said regarding the woman: "She has indeed repented with a repentance that, if it were divided among [seventy of] the people of Medina, it would suffice them." And 'Amr ibn Samurah came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and said: "O Messenger of Allah, I stole a camel belonging to the children of such-and-such, so purify me." And the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) carried out the hadd punishment upon them. Moreover, the hadd is an expiation, so it is not dropped by repentance, just like the expiation for an oath or for killing. And because he is under [the authorities'] power, the hadd is not dropped from him by repentance, just like the muharib (highway robber) after he is captured. If we say that the hadd is dropped by repentance, does it drop by mere repentance or by it alongside the rectification of deeds? There are two perspectives: one is that it drops by mere repentance. This is the apparent view of our scholars, because it is a repentance that causes the dropping of the hadd, so it resembles the repentance of the muharib before he is captured. The second is that the rectification of deeds is considered, due to the saying of Allah the Almighty: {If they both repent and rectify, then leave them alone}. And He said: {Whoever repents after his wrongdoing and rectifies, then indeed Allah will turn to him in forgiveness}. According to this view, the passing of a period of time is considered, during which the sincerity of his repentance and the goodness of his intention become known; this is not estimated by a specific duration. Some of the scholars of al-Shafi'i said: the duration for this is one year. This is a setting of a time limit (tawqit) without scriptural authority (tawqif), so it is not permissible.