LAPIDATION. [[STONING].]
LAPWING. Arabic hudhud (هدهد). The name in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah xxvii. 20], for the bird which carried the letter from King Solomon to the Queen of Sheba. [[SOLOMON].] It is the דּוּכִיפַת of the Old Testament, [Lev. xi. 19], [Deut. xiv. 18]. Greek ἔποψ. The modern Hoopoe.
The commentators al-Jalālān and al-Baiẓāwī say that Solomon, having finished the temple of Jerusalem, went in pilgrimage to Makkah, whence, having stayed as long as he pleased, he proceeded towards al-Yaman; leaving Makkah in the morning, he arrived by noon at Ṣanʿāʾ, and being extremely delighted with the country, rested there. But wanting water to make the ablution, he looked among the birds for the lapwing, whose business it was to find it; for it is pretended she was sagacious or sharp-sighted to discover water underground, which the devils used to draw, after she had marked the place by digging with her bill. They add that this bird was then taking a tour in the air, whence, seeing one of her companions alighting, she descended also, and having had a description given her by the other of the city of Sabaʾ, whence she was just arrived, they both went together to take a view of the place, and returned soon after Solomon had made the inquiry given in the Qurʾān: “He reviewed the birds and said, ‘How is it I do not see al-Hudhud? Is he, then, amongst the absent?’ ”
LAQAB (لقب). A surname. Either a title of honour or a nickname; e.g. Al-Ḥusain ibn Masʿūd al-Farrā, “the tanner”; Abū Saʿīd Tāju ʾl-Mulūk, “the crown of kings”; Ibn Muḥammad at-Tag͟hlabī, “of the tribe of Tag͟hlab.” [[NAMES].]
LAQĪT̤ (لقيط), in its primitive sense, signifies anything lifted from the ground, but in the language of the law it signifies a child abandoned by those to whom it properly belongs. The person who finds the child is termed the multaqit̤, or the taker up. [[FOUNDLING].]
LARCENY. Arabic sariqah (سرقة). In the language of the law, sariqah signifies the taking away the property of another in a secret manner, at a time when such property is in custody. Custody is of two kinds: 1st, by place, for example, a house or a shop; and, 2nd, by personal guard, which is by means of a personal watch over the property. If an adult of sound understanding steal out of undoubted custody ten dirhams, or property to the value of ten dirhams, the Muḥammadan law awards the amputation of a hand, for it is said in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah v. 42]: “If a man or woman steal, cut off their hands.”
With regard to the amount of the value which constitutes a theft, there is some difference of opinion. According to Abū Ḥanīfah, it is ten dirhams; according to ash-Shāfiʿī, it is the fourth of a dīnār, or twelve dirhams; whilst Mālik holds that the sum is three dirhams.
The freeman and the slave are on equal footing with respect to punishment for theft, and the hand of the slave is to be struck off in the same manner as the hand of a free Muslim.
The theft must be established upon the testimony of two witnesses, but the magistrate must examine the witnesses as to the manner, time, and place of the theft. The thief must also be held in confinement, or suspicion, until the witnesses be fully examined.