Answering HWS on 'cutting the hands of the thief' (5:38-39)

hws said... 

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i like your views. but would like to ask your views on 5:38-39.

the popular argument is the line of; whoever repents..

the claim is: the verse makes clear whoever commits theft but repents after and makes amends, then this is acceptable to God, thus no punishment can be administered in this case.

but one can also argue that one CAN repent even after the hand has been cut.

my line of thinking is those that are NOT caught and repent is inferred rather than those that are caught that wishes to repent. besides, how can you gauge one who repents anyway?

i believe in the verse of 5:38-39 in being taken literally. what are your views?

thanks 
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Wednesday, December 23, 2015 3:42:00 PM 
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My comments : I received the above from a commenter HWS. Thank you HWS. 

As a reader of the Quran, for me all the questions about the Quran must be answered from inside the Quran as well. 

Before that, to digress a little, some of you send comments asking for evidence that "god" revealed or wrote the Quran. I keep saying that the Quran only mentions Allah.  
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I dont know what is your idea of "god" because there are so many of them and you folks never mention your own 'religious' background.  What is your idea of "god".  No offense meant but this is a fact. 

This is a study of the contents of the Quran. Even if you do not wish to believe the Quran, believe in Allah etc that is besides the point. 

Like a study of the Bible, the Ghita, the Book of Tao, the Talmud etc. You dont have to believe them or even respect these books.  But it does not mean that you cannot study the contents of  all these books.  

I have studied the Bible. That does not mean I am a christian.  
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The answer to the query by HWS is simple.
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In Surah 5:38 ('cut the hands of the thief') - the arabic word fa-iq-ta-uu is generally taken to mean 'then/thus cut their hands'.

This word 'iq-ta-uu' and its derivatives are mentioned 33 times in the Quran. 
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Here is a listing from this wonderful website which analyses the Quran word by word : openburhan.com
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In other verses of the Quran, iq-ta-uu does not always mean 'cut'. It also implies to segregate or to isolate. Here is an example :
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7:72 "We saved him and those who adhered to him. By Our mercy, and We cut off / isolated / annihilated / removed (qata'na) the roots of those who rejected Our signs and did not believe"
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9:121 "Nor could they spend anything - small or great - nor traverse / cross / pass (yaq-ta-uu-na) a valley .."
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And of course the story will not be complete without the story of the women who "cut" their hands when they saw Joseph :

Surah 12:31  "When she heard of their malicious talk, she sent for them and prepared a banquet for them: she gave each of them a knife: and she said (to Joseph), "Come out before them." When they saw him, they did extol him, and (in their amazement) cut their hands (qa-ta'-na aiydi-ya-hunna) : they said, "Allah preserve us! no mortal is this! this is none other than a noble angel!""


Surely the women did not chop their hands all the way through.  They just "nicked" their hands in amazement when they saw Joseph. 

So relooking Surah 5:38 I take 'iq-ta-uu' to mean 'stay their hands (kawal tangan mereka), deny their hands, withold their hands' from stealing.
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This could mean handcuff them, tie them up, lock them in jail, put an electronic bracelet on them, confiscate their stolen property, confiscate their property, put them in a rehab program etc. The whole works. 
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Then of course the following verse applies precisely ie 
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Surah 5:39  "If one repents after committing this crime, and reforms, Allah redeems him. Allah is Forgiver, Most Merciful."

Please note the two words "repents" and  "reforms".  

I agree that you do not need both hands to repent. 

But I think both hands are necessary to "reform".  

If a guy's hands have been chopped off yes he can 'repent'.  But how is he going to show his "reform" when his hands have already been chopped off?

And what about the repeat offender? They say chop off both hands.  What if the guy steals even after both hands have been chopped off? 

Captain Barbarossa wore a prosthetic hook on one hand. Today you can easily get prosthetic hands and legs.  You can still cook, drive, write, paint. And maybe also steal. 

So if a guy is a multiple repeat offender what do you chop then? 

Plus dont forget, white collar crime like criminal breach of trust, using forged documents etc does not get punished by "cutting the hands".  

Plus according to one mazhab, if you steal something from a house and then you threw it out the window and someone else picked it up then your hands do not get cut.  Or something like that. Please feel free to argue and dispute. Thats what usually happens.

We have to study the Quran very carefully.  To me it has many suggestions and solutions.