A thief may have his hands spared but he or she will still have to face punishment in the afterlife, Perlis mufti Asri Zainul Abidin told a forum on hudud today.

Asri said even in the absence of hudud law which provides for amputation as a punishment for theft, stealing remains a sin in the eyes of God.

"Some people seem to think that if we don't amputate the hands of a thief, then it is halal (permissible) to steal. Stealing is still haram (forbidden)," he stressed.