How sound is the claim of the Quranists that the punishment for theft is to prevent the thief's hand by expelling or imprisoning him, and not amputation, citing the verse: "As for the thief, both male and female, cut off their hands — a recompense for what they have earned, a deterrent from Allah. And Allah is Almighty, All-Wise," and that the word "hands" (أيديهما) refers to authority and influence, as in the verse: "David, the man of strength (الأيد)"?

Whoever suffices with the Qur’an without the Sunnah (definition) is misguided and ungrateful for the blessing of sending the Messenger to clarify for us what was revealed to us, and he speaks about Allah without knowledge. The interpretation by some of cutting off the hand of the thief in the Qur’an as meaning "al-ayd" (strength), and that it does not mean amputation, is misguidance and ignorance of both Sharia (definition) and language. For "al-ayd" in the verse means strength, while "al-aydi" in the verse of theft is the plural of "yad" (hand) and refers to the type of thieves. The plural form was used instead of the dual, because the Arabic language distinguishes between human organs: organs of which there is only one in a human are pluralized when referred to in pairs. The authentic Sunnah has clarified how the hand is to be cut, and the threshold for which it is to be cut, and this is proof that one cannot suffice with the Qur’an alone. As for interpreting cutting as imprisonment or expulsion, it is a clear distortion unknown to either Sharia or language.