5:38

Salaam all,

This is 5:38



5:38
Waalssariqu waalssariqatu faiqtaAAoo aydiyahuma jazaan bima kasaba nakalan mina Allahi waAllahu AAazeezun hakeemun

The Aya says:
And the thief, male and female, then amputate the hands of the two, pay back by what they earned, deterrence from Allah. And Allah is dominantly strong, wise.

My personal note:

The term SARIQ has in it’s linguistic meaning the suggestion that the person stole something that was reasonable protected. So, it is does not necessarily apply to picking something from a relatively public space as the side of the road or even an open field and this is the understanding of the Muslim scholars, that the punishment should apply to stealing something that is protected or even hidden and so on. If force and violence was used then the rules of the aya 5:33 apply.

According to the majority of Muslim scholars, stealing should exceed a certain minimum for the punishment to be fulfilled but there is a minority opinion that will establish the punishment for even a very very small amount of theft.

The order is addressed to the plural, but the understanding is that the implementation is upon the person in authority and not to the mob or society. So, the role of the society is to take such a person to the ruler/judge and so on and then that person performs the punishment or orders it. It is also understood that the people in the society have the option not to take this person to the ruler or judge, if they felt that this person repented and is not going to do it again.

The Aya contains also the intent and reasoning for the punishment and here it gives two main reasons:

1- Jaza= pay back and therefore, the suggestion that this is the just punishment for the crime.
2- Nakal= Deterrance/ making an example that should be avoided. So, here is the suggestion that part of the wisdom of the ruling is to let others who may contemplate such a crime understand that this is what they may end up with and therefore, hopefully it will deter them from doing it.

The Aya ends with two attributes of Allah that are relevant to this ruling. It is the combination of strength, dominance and resistance to pressure as well Wisdom. Those attributes fit in well with this punishment.

Translation of the transliterated words:

Waalssariqu: and the male thief/ the male who steals
Note: WA is a letter that links what is before with what is after. This link is through inclusion, either one is included in the other or they are all included in the bigger sentence or bigger picture. WA often corresponds with “and/ addition” but the more encompassing meaning is in inclusion one in another or all in a bigger picture or sentence. ALSSARIQU is derived from the root S-R-Qaf and it means stealing what is reasonably protected. ALSSARIQ is the male thief.

Waalssariqatu: and the female thief
Note: WA is a letter that links what is before with what is after. This link is through inclusion, either one is included in the other or they are all included in the bigger sentence or bigger picture. WA often corresponds with “and/ addition” but the more encompassing meaning is in inclusion one in another or all in a bigger picture or sentence. ALSSARIQATU is derived from the root S-R-Qaf and it means stealing what is reasonably protected. ALSSARIQATU is the female thief.

faiqtaAAoo: then cut (plural)/ amputate
Note: FA means then or therefore or so. IQTaAAoo is derived from the root Qaf-TTa-Ain and it means cutting as a conceptual meaning which can be very concrete or differently. In this sentence, it is used more to mean make go away or disappear. IQTaAAoo is an order or a request addressed to a group of people. It means cut. In this context, it carries the notion of amputate.

Aydiyahuma: tha hands of the two.
Note: AYDIYAHUMA is derived from the root Y-D and it means hand. It is also used conceptually for anything that shares features or functions of hands or the upper arm. AYDIYA means hands of. HUMA means the two of them.

Jazaan: compensation/ pay backNote: JAZAO is derived from the root J-Z Y and it means compensation for action that can be good or bad. JAZAAN is compensation or pay back.

Bima: by what/ with what/ in what
Note: Bi denotes that what comes after is a tool and/or an object or an association with an action that was mentioned. If it is an object of the action then it makes it stronger. MA means what
Kasaba: the two earned/ gained
Note: the root is K-S-B and it means earning or collecting. KASABA is an action that is completed and that is derived from the root. It means: the action of earning or collecting happened by the subject (dual form).

Nakalan: an example to avoid/ deterrence
Note: the root is N-K-L and it means to avoid something or doing something due to fear. NAKAL is what makes one avoid something due to fear. Therefore NAKAL can be understood as an example to avoid or a deterrence of some sort..
Mina: fromAllahi: Allah
waAllahu: and Allah
AAazeezun: Dominantly strong/ dominant
Note: the root is Ain-Z-Z and it means the hard earth that will not yield under the rain and therefore, will make the rain water flow rather than seep or cause the earth to erode. It is used for entities that are strong and defeat pressure, basically the combination of strength and dominance.
hakeemun : Wise/ steering
Note: the root Ha-K-M and it means the steer that steers the animal. This word is used for ruling and judging as well as other meanings that contain steering as part of the concept. HAKEEM means wise or the steering. The steering means the entity that steers in the best way

Salaam all and have a great day.

Hussein