Jābir (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Cutting (off hands) does not apply to a traitor, an usurper, or an embezzler.”
Allah enjoined cutting off a thief's hand as a legal punishment for the crime of theft. However, this punishment is not applicable to other similar crimes, such as embezzlement, extortion, or usurpation. The rationale behind this distinction is that the occurrence of these crimes is rare compared with theft. Also, the condition for cutting off a hand, which is taking an object from its secure place, may be inapplicable to or may differ in these crimes. Furthermore, in other crimes the object taken could be returned through the ruler (competent authority), because the evidence against the culprit could easily be established. On the other hand, the punishment for theft is grave, because it involves taking something secretly from its secure place.