Islam urges Muslims to preserve people's wealth and forbids devouring it unlawfully. In this hadeeth, the Prophet ﷺ forbade milking someone’s animal, i.e., domesticated animals reared by people such as sheep and camels, without his permission. The hadeeth forbade milking these cattle in the pastures or barns except with the permission of their owners. He ﷺ confirmed his prohibition by saying: “Does any of you like that somebody comes to his store and breaks his container and takes away his food?” The container here refers to a cupboard where the landlord stores his food and provisions, and breaking it means breaking it open and stealing his food. Similarly, one must not milk another person’s cattle without his permission. He ﷺ explained: “The udders of the animals are the stores of their owners where their provision is kept,” he ﷺ likened their udders where their milk is stored, to the cupboard where food and belongings are stored. Since no one would approve that someone should break his cupboard open and steal his food, similarly no one should milk these animals without the owner’s permission. He ﷺ furthered emphasized the prohibition in this regard by saying: “… so nobody should milk the animals of somebody else, without the permission of their owner.” Other versions of the hadeeth, like the one recorded in Sunan Ibn Maajah, referred to permissibility of milking others’ animals and drinking their milk. The meaning of such narrations is interpreted as to refer exclusively to the wayfarers, the destitute, and people at a time of famine, or when it is known that the owner of such an animal would authorize such disposal of his property, or that people in that place customarily pardon such disposal, provided that the person should limit himself to drinking only what suffices him and nothing more, and must not store any of the milk. It is deduced from the hadeeth that it is forbidden for a Muslim to take anything from others without their permission, and the hadeeth made mention of milk in particular because people may be negligent in this regard (i.e., perceive it as insignificant), and therefore he ﷺ pointed it out to emphasize the need to preserve people’s other significant items of wealth. .