A person with several prior convictions for theft, and when he wanted to repent of that, he did not know the means to do so, so what does he do to repent?
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The questioner : He says: Your Eminence, the Shaykh, a person has several prior convictions.
The Shaykh : Prior convictions?
The questioner : Prior convictions for theft, and when he wanted to repent of that, he did not know the means to do so, so what does he do to repent, given that the people from whom he stole are no longer present?
The Shaykh : They were not?
The questioner : They are no longer present.
The Shaykh : Yes, the repentance of one who has stolen is not complete until he delivers the money to the one from whom he stole. However, if we say: you must deliver the money to the one you stole from, there may be a problem. What is the problem? Yes? The problem is that they might arrest him. And if he says: I stole a thousand, they say: No, you stole two thousand, and this is a problem. So what is the way? The way is that he looks for one of the associates of the owner of the money, goes to him, and tells him the news. And the friend of this owner of the money gives it to him and says: This is from a man who has repented to Allah, and fulfilling the repentance is to return the money to you. If he says: I do not know the man, or I knew him but he traveled to his country and I do not know where he is, we say: You must give in charity the amount you stole, to rid yourself of the theft, not to draw near to Allah thereby. And this is the rule, my brothers. The rule is: in every case of money whose owner is unknown, you give it in charity to rid yourself of it. Yes.
The Shaykh : Prior convictions?
The questioner : Prior convictions for theft, and when he wanted to repent of that, he did not know the means to do so, so what does he do to repent, given that the people from whom he stole are no longer present?
The Shaykh : They were not?
The questioner : They are no longer present.
The Shaykh : Yes, the repentance of one who has stolen is not complete until he delivers the money to the one from whom he stole. However, if we say: you must deliver the money to the one you stole from, there may be a problem. What is the problem? Yes? The problem is that they might arrest him. And if he says: I stole a thousand, they say: No, you stole two thousand, and this is a problem. So what is the way? The way is that he looks for one of the associates of the owner of the money, goes to him, and tells him the news. And the friend of this owner of the money gives it to him and says: This is from a man who has repented to Allah, and fulfilling the repentance is to return the money to you. If he says: I do not know the man, or I knew him but he traveled to his country and I do not know where he is, we say: You must give in charity the amount you stole, to rid yourself of the theft, not to draw near to Allah thereby. And this is the rule, my brothers. The rule is: in every case of money whose owner is unknown, you give it in charity to rid yourself of it. Yes.