Disobedience

To steal another's property is an act of disobedience to the natural order of things.

Each person has been given a certain amount of material and immaterial belongings. Rizq. What you have, you're mean to have. What you don't have, you can't have. That's the natural order.

What happens if you want something that you don't have? You make the effort to get it through lawful means - you buy it, or ask permission for it, or pursue other dignified, humanely-accepted way of getting that thing.

What happens if you really want something, but upon careful or careless deliberation come to the conclusion that you will never get it through the lawful means? You can accept that you're not meant to have it. Or - you can perform an act of disobedience to the natural order of things and take it without asking anyone.

The person whose property is stolen will view the act of the thief as a malicious one, one that indicates a total disregard of the owner. If only the thief had asked for the property, the owner could have exercised the option to either give the property for free (thus making the thief escape the burden of committing a wrong) or sell it at a reasonable price.

I'm saying all this philosophical-sounding things for a reason. My bicycle was stolen yesterday afternoon, right outside my front door when my wife and kid were at home, when the door was closed. The thief had cut the chain I had used to secure the bicycle to a large pipe outside our front door. The bicycle used to be my late dad's. I hadn't ridden on it the last few weeks because the tires were out of air.

I made a police report last night, and they took the cut chain as evidence.

Stealing my bicycle right outside my front door worries me. And to think that the door is open for long periods of time, because Zayed likes to look out and talk to the kids playing outside...

The thief had a heck of an audacity to do it - my floor has five families, of which four have kids below the age of 15. At any one point in time, somebody could have walked to the lift lobby when the theif was doing his job. Risking getting caught, he still proceeded to steal it and whisk it away. I hope he learns his lesson.