Returning Stolen Goods to Their Owners Upon Repentance When Identifying Them Is Impossible
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
A young man says: I used to not pray and not fast, and I stole several times from various places. I have now repented, praise and thanks be to Allah, and I want to return the rights to their owners, but I do not know their locations, and I have forgotten most of the things I stole. What should I do to clear my conscience and seek expiation for my sins? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
Along with your repentance, you must return it to its owners if you know them, even if they are in a distant country; you should send it to them by any means, even if you do not go to them yourself. If you have forgotten them and do not know their address, you should give it in charity on their behalf with the intention of doing so, along with your repentance, and that is sufficient if you give it in charity. However, if you know them or know their heirs, you are required to pay it to them by any means, even if you do not go to them yourself; you should send it to them or their heirs by any means, along with sincere repentance to Allah. We ask Allah for well-being.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you with good.
A young man says: I used to not pray and not fast, and I stole several times from various places. I have now repented, praise and thanks be to Allah, and I want to return the rights to their owners, but I do not know their locations, and I have forgotten most of the things I stole. What should I do to clear my conscience and seek expiation for my sins? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
Along with your repentance, you must return it to its owners if you know them, even if they are in a distant country; you should send it to them by any means, even if you do not go to them yourself. If you have forgotten them and do not know their address, you should give it in charity on their behalf with the intention of doing so, along with your repentance, and that is sufficient if you give it in charity. However, if you know them or know their heirs, you are required to pay it to them by any means, even if you do not go to them yourself; you should send it to them or their heirs by any means, along with sincere repentance to Allah. We ask Allah for well-being.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you with good.
Source
لقاءات لابن باز - لقاء مفتوح - ابن باز - ٢ — archive.org (10:10)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.