Intercession & Gifting

**A. Intercession in Theft Hadd:** Intercession is **not permissible** in the hadd of theft, nor in any other hadd, once the Imam knows of it and the matter reaches him. **Evidence:** The Prophet ﷺ said to Usama ibn Zayd when he tried to intercede for the Makhzumi woman who stole: "Do you intercede in a hadd from Allah's Hudud?!" [Bukhari & Muslim]. This topic was discussed at the beginning of the Hudud section. --- **B. Gifting the Stolen Item to the Thief:** It is **permissible** to gift the stolen item to the thief and for the victim to pardon him - **before** the matter is raised to the judge. However, **once** it reaches the judge - **no** (pardoning cannot drop the hadd). **Evidence:** The hadith of Safwan ibn Umayyah regarding the thief who took his cloak from under his head [while sleeping]. When the matter was raised to the Prophet ﷺ and he ordered [the hand] to be cut, Safwan said: "I did not intend this - [the cloak] is a gift to him." The Prophet ﷺ said: "Why not before you brought him to me?" [Abu Dawud - authentic].