Returning Stolen Money Whose Owner Has Been Forgotten
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Shaykh, I am just… because I, once, a year or two ago, stole. And praise be to Allah, I have repented now, but I do not know if I have repaid what I stole, and I do not know where they are; I forgot the place. So what is the ruling? Do I give charity on their behalf with the intention, or what do I do? Shaykh, may Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
If you are unable to deliver the money to the owner from whom you stole it, and you have despaired of reaching him or knowing him, then you give it as charity with the intention that the reward belongs to the owner. Yes.
Shaykh, I am just… because I, once, a year or two ago, stole. And praise be to Allah, I have repented now, but I do not know if I have repaid what I stole, and I do not know where they are; I forgot the place. So what is the ruling? Do I give charity on their behalf with the intention, or what do I do? Shaykh, may Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
If you are unable to deliver the money to the owner from whom you stole it, and you have despaired of reaching him or knowing him, then you give it as charity with the intention that the reward belongs to the owner. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، برنامج (فتاوى) (064) لمعالي الشيخ صالح الفوزان بتاريخ [1435-08-20] - كبار العلماء — youtube.com (51:34)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.