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Is eating fruits and vegetables in an orchard without the owner's permission, provided they are not taken home, considered permissible based on some people's saying that the Prophet ate similarly?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

It is permissible for a needy person to eat from fruits hanging on trees if he searches for the owner to ask for permission but does not find him, based on the saying of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him: "If one of you comes to an orchard and wishes to eat, let him call out, 'O owner of the orchard!' three times. If he answers, then good; otherwise, let him eat." The hand is not cut off for stealing fruits hanging on their trees if one eats from them within the garden and does not take anything out of it. As stated in the hadith: "Whoever takes with his mouth, being in need, not taking a pouch, there is no blame on him. But whoever takes anything out of it, upon him is a fine of double its value and punishment. And whoever steals anything from it after it has been gathered into the drying place, and its value reaches the price of a shield, then his hand shall be cut off."

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

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