Yahya related to me from Malik that Zurayq ibn Hakim informed him that he had a runaway slave who had stolen. He said, "The situation was obscure for me, so I wrote to Umar ibn Abdul Aziz to ask him about it. He was the governor at that time. I informed him that I had heard that if a runaway slave stole while he was a fugitive, his hand was not cut off. Umar ibn Abdul Aziz wrote to contradict my letter, You wrote to me that you have heard that when the runaway slave steals, his hand is not cut off. Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, says in His Book, The thief, male and female, cut off the hands of both, as a recompense for what they have earned, and an exemplary punishment from Allah. Allah is Mighty, Wise. (Sura 5 ayat 41) When his theft reaches a quarter of a dinar, and upwards, his hand is cut off. "