The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was asked about dates still hanging on the tree. He said, "Whoever, out of need, eats some without carrying any away in his garment, there is no penalty upon him."
أن رسول الله ﷺ سئل عن التمر المعلق، فقال: من أصاب منه من ذي حاجة غير متخذ خبنة فلا شيء عليه.
Abu Dawud (1710), Nasai (4958), and Tirmidhi (1289) all narrated it from Qutayba, who said, "Layth narrated to us, from Ibn Ajlan, from Amr bin Shuayb," with his chain of transmission. The wording given here is Tirmidhi's. Tirmidhi said, "This is a hasan hadith." I say, this is as he said, for Amr bin Shuayb's hadith is hasan.Tirmidhi said, following the hadith of Samura bin Jundab, "This is acted upon by some scholars, and it is the view of Ahmad and Ishaq." That applies to someone who is not in dire need. As for someone in dire need, there is no disagreement among the scholars that he may milk without the owner's permission. But they differed over whether he is liable to compensate or not.Also on this subject is what was narrated from Ibn Umar, from the Prophet ﷺ, that he said, "Whoever enters an orchard may eat, but he should not carry any away in his garment."Tirmidhi (1287) and Ibn Majah (2301) both narrated it from Yahya bin Salim Taifi, from Ubaydullah bin Umar, from Nafi, from Ibn Umar, who related it.Yahya bin Salim Taifi is disputed, but his hadith is hasan, except in his narration from Ubaydullah bin Umar, in which he erred, as Saji said. Nasai said, "His hadith from Ubaydullah bin Umar is objectionable." That is why Tirmidhi considered it unusual, saying, "We do not know it by this route except through the hadith of Yahya bin Salim." He said in Ilal al-Kabir (516/1), "I asked Muhammad about this hadith, and he said, 'Yahya bin Salim narrates hadiths from Ubaydullah in which he makes mistakes. It seems he did not know this hadith except through the hadith of Yahya bin Salim.'"His saying "khubnah" means he should not put anything in his garment.Also on this subject, it was narrated from Rafi bin Amr, who said, "I used to throw stones at the palm trees of the Ansar. They caught me and took me to the Prophet ﷺ, who said, 'Rafi, why do you throw stones at their palm trees?' I said, 'Messenger of Allah, hunger.' He said, 'Do not throw stones, but eat what falls down. May Allah fill your stomach and quench your thirst.'"Tirmidhi (1288) and Hakim (444/3) both narrated it through the hadith of Fadl bin Musa, from Salih bin Abu Jubayr, from his father, from Rafi bin Amr, who related it. Tirmidhi said, "hasan and unusual." Salih bin Abu Jubayr and his father were not deemed reliable by anyone except Ibn Hibban, while others considered them unknown. Tirmidhi said, "I asked Muhammad about this hadith, and he said, 'I do not know this except through the hadith of Fadl bin Musa. As for Salih bin Abu Jubayr, I do not know his father's name.'" (Ilal, 517/1).I say, it has another chain of transmission, which is what Abu Dawud (2622), Ibn Majah (2299), Ahmad (20343), and Hakim all narrated through the hadith of Mutamir bin Sulayman, who said, "I heard Ibn Abu Hakam Ghifari say, 'My grandmother told me, from her father's paternal uncle, Rafi bin Amr,'" and he related something similar. They added, "And he wiped my head and said, 'O Allah, fill his stomach.'" In it, Ibn Abu Hakam and his grandmother are unknown.