In a nutshell, stealing ḥadīth (sariqat al-ḥadīth) means that a narrator obtains a ḥadīth in an invalid way and narrates it, usually making some changes to it. Due to the fact that the thief of ḥadīth (sāriq al-ḥadīth) usually changes the isnād or text, stealing ḥadīth is more than an ordinary procedural error. Ḥadīth stealing is a conscious act and the narrator expects some benefits from his action.The stealing of ḥadīth is understood as the violation of rights. This engenders some questions: How does the narrator gain these rights? How is he affected by the theft of his ḥadīth? What made the narration so valuable? In this article I try to explain the phenomenon of stealing ḥadīth and its background by answering the aforementioned questions.