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Is taking a towel from the mother-in-law's house to one's own house without their knowledge, even if there is no need for it, considered theft?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Allah has forbidden theft and prescribed a حد (punishment) for its perpetrator, and the Prophet, peace be upon him, cursed the thief. Similarly, He commanded kindness to neighbors and forbade harming them.

Therefore, one must repent to Allah and return the stolen items to the neighbor. A thief is considered a thief even if they take something of little value. The conditions for amputating a thief's hand are that the stolen item must be worth a quarter of a dinar or more, it must be kept in a secure place (حرز), and it must be taken stealthily.

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

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