Transliteration:( Faman taaba mim ba'di zulmihee wa aslaha fa innal laaha yatoobu 'alaih; innal laaha Ghafoorur Raheem )
125. From those who repent' is understood that after cutting off of his hands the thief should be made to repent because he has violated Divine Right as well. It should be remembered that the condition for establishing the punishment of death is that the stolen goods must not be of lesser value than two and three quater rupees ie. ten dirhams. (This value fo Rupees was during commentators time)The case should be taken to the local authority and the theft should be proven either by admission of guilt by the thief or two witnesses. It should also be remembered that before the case of theft reaches the local authority it is violation of human right which can be pardoned by the owner. But afterwards it becomes infringement of Divine Right which can then not be pardoned by the owner
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The tafsir of Surah Maidah verse 39 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Maidah ayat 38 which provides the complete commentary from verse 38 through 40.
(5:39) But he who repents after he has committed wrong, and makes amends, Allah will graciously turn to him.[61] Truly Allah is All-Forgiving, All-Compassionate.
61. Forgiveness on the part of Allah does not mean that the hand of the thief should not be cut off. It means rather that one who repents and becomes righteous by purging his soul of the sin of stealing will be spared the wrath of God, Who will remove the stain of that sin from him. But if after his hand has been cut off the person concerned does not purge himself of evil intent and continues to nurture the same impure feelings which led to his stealing and thus to the cutting off of his hand, it is evident that even though his hand has been severed from his body, stealing remains ingrained in his soul. The result will be that he will continue to merit God’s wrath as he did before his hand was cut off. The Qur’an therefore directs the thief to seek pardon from God and to try to reform himself. For the hand of that thief was cut off for the sake of the judicious administration of human society and the cutting off of a hand did not automatically purify the soul of the person on whom the punishment was carried out. Purity of soul can be achieved only by repentance and turning oneself to God. Traditions mention that after the hand of a thief had been cut off in compliance with the Prophet’s order, he was summoned by the Prophet (peace be on him) himself who said to him: ‘Say: “I seek pardon from God, and to Him do I turn in repentance.'” The thief uttered these words as directed by the Prophet (peace be on him) who then prayed for the thief, saying: ‘O God, accept his repentance.’ (Abu Da’ud, Hudud’, 8 – Ed.)
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