Are there conditions for repentance from theft, such as returning the stolen items to their owners?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
May Allah reward you, Your Eminence the Shaykh. The questioner says: A man has reached the age of seventy, and he says that when he was young, he used to steal some camels, which would die in his possession, and he sold some of them.
The Shaykh:
Yes. He says: I am asking you that he used to steal some camels, meaning young camels.
The questioner:
He says: They would die in his possession, and he sold some of them. He is now repentant. What is the ruling? Is repentance sufficient, or is he required to make compensation, given that he does not know their owners now?
The Shaykh:
These are the rights of created beings, and repentance is not sufficient for them; they must be paid to their owners. If he knows them, or knows their heirs if they are dead, he must pay the value of these young camels to their owners or their heirs, unless they forgive him. However, if he does not know them and it is not possible to reach them, he must give charity with their price, with the intention that the reward belongs to their owners. Yes.
May Allah reward you, Your Eminence the Shaykh. The questioner says: A man has reached the age of seventy, and he says that when he was young, he used to steal some camels, which would die in his possession, and he sold some of them.
The Shaykh:
Yes. He says: I am asking you that he used to steal some camels, meaning young camels.
The questioner:
He says: They would die in his possession, and he sold some of them. He is now repentant. What is the ruling? Is repentance sufficient, or is he required to make compensation, given that he does not know their owners now?
The Shaykh:
These are the rights of created beings, and repentance is not sufficient for them; they must be paid to their owners. If he knows them, or knows their heirs if they are dead, he must pay the value of these young camels to their owners or their heirs, unless they forgive him. However, if he does not know them and it is not possible to reach them, he must give charity with their price, with the intention that the reward belongs to their owners. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [234- 4717] هل من شروط التوبة من السرقة إعادة المسروقات لأصحابها؟ - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.