Praise be to Allah.
If someone says that cutting off the thief’s hand and regarding a woman’s testimony as equal to half of a man’s testimony is harsh and undermining women’s rights,
I say: Whoever says this is an apostate from Islam, a disbeliever in Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, and he must repent to Allah from this apostasy, otherwise he will die as a disbeliever, because this is the ruling of Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted. Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, says:
{But who is better than Allah in judgement for a people who are certain [in faith]?} [Al-Ma’idah 5:50].
And Allah says regarding the wisdom behind cutting off the thief’s hand:
{… as a recompense for that which they committed, a punishment by way of example from Allah. And Allah is All-Powerful, All-Wise} [Al-Ma’idah 5:38].
And He explained the wisdom behind a woman’s testimony being regarded as equal to half a man’s testimony or the testimony of two women being equal to that of one man in the verse:
{so if one of the women forgets, the other may remind her} [Al-Baqarah 2:282].
So the one who says this must repent to Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, from his apostasy, otherwise he will die as a disbeliever. End quote.
Shaykh Muhammad ibn `Uthaymin (may Allah have mercy on him).
Fatawa `Ulama’ al-Balad al-Haram, p. 483.
