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What is the prescribed punishment for the theft of state antiquities according to Islamic Sharia?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Ancient artifacts are public property. If an individual steals from them, their hand is not to be amputated because they have a semblance of ownership in them. Most scholars hold this view, citing the hadith of Ibn Abbas concerning the theft by a slave from the one-fifth share [of war spoils], and the sayings of Umar and Ali that a thief from the public treasury is not subject to amputation because they have a right in it. Thus, the existence of a semblance of ownership prevents amputation. However, the absence of amputation does not mean that a grave sin deserving of disciplinary punishment has not been committed.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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