Is it true that there are thirteen conditions for cutting off the thief's hand? What are they?

All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

The conditions for the application of the hadd (i.e. corporal punishment prescribed for crime) of theft can be more than ten conditions, some of which are related to the thief and others to the stolen item. We may list the following conditions:

1.  The value of the stolen property must reach the nisab which equals a quarter of a dinar, three dirhams, or their equivalent.

2.  The stolen property must have been taken from a place where it had been preserved and locked.

3.  The stolen item must have been taken stealthily, not while plundering or by being seized by force.

4.  The stolen property must be something of worth in the sight of the Islamic sharia because that which is of no worth has no sanctity, such as wine, an idol, or forbidden musical instruments. Stealing such items does not entail the application of hadd of theft.

5.  The stolen item should not be owned by the thief's son or any of his male descendants.

6.  The stolen item should not be owned by the thief's father or any of his male ascendants.

7.  The stolen item should not be owned by the thief's slave or his mukaatab slave (a slave who has a written deed of emancipation in lieu of a certain sum of money to be paid by him in installments).

8.  The thief is an adult.

9.  The thief is sane.

10.The theft was deliberate.

11.The theft was committed willingly.

12.The thief should not have committed theft under compulsion of hunger, and there has to be a proof of that compulsion. The thief was not entrusted by the owner to keep the stolen property.

13.The thief is not the owner's partner.

14.The theft must be proven by the testimony of two trustworthy witnesses or by the thief's detailed confession after raising the accusations. Moreover, the thief must be competent for religious assignment.

15.The theft must be reported to the Muslim ruler or his deputy.

16.The owner of the stolen property has reported the theft to the concerned authority and made a claim against the thief.

Some scholars stipulated that the thief should be free and that the stolen item is not a copy of the Noble Quran.

We ask Allah, the Exalted, to empower Islam on earth so that the hudood would be implemented and the sharia would be upheld among His slaves so as to earn His pleasure. We ask Allah Almighty to grant Islam enablement on the Earth whereby the prescribed corporal punishments are implemented and sharia is applied on the land of Allah Almighty out of seeking his pleasure.

Allah Knows best.