The Ruling on Returning Stolen Money to Its Owner
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
He says: I work in one of the charitable organizations and receive a salary equivalent to one thousand Saudi riyals. I was content with this salary for three years. One day, the soul inclined to evil made me think about how to obtain a large amount of money by any means. Should I rob? Should I steal? The point was to increase my money. One day I stole, and then again, and again, and stealing became part of my nature. I am praying, fasting, paying zakah, and testifying that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. I have performed the obligatory Hajj and I am married, praise be to Allah. I am the one who wants to quit this great sin. Honorable Shaykh, I want to return the money to its owner without him knowing that I was betraying him on any of those days. How do I return the money I stole, considering that I am in the organization and there is no account between us? May Allah reward you with good. I calculated the money and expenses from the day I took that amount and found it to be one thousand and thirty riyals. May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
It is obligatory for you to return the amount to its owner, and your conscience will not be cleared except by doing so, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)Sunan ad-Daraqutni 13:78 and the saying of Allah the Exalted: [An-Nisa 4:29] Therefore, the wealth of people is respected. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered the return of injustices to their owners before the Day of Reckoning and retribution, so it is obligatory for you to return the money to its owner by any means.
If you are too embarrassed to say that this was theft or betrayal, you can use a method that removes this from you, by saying, for example, "I owe you, and I borrowed this money because I took the liberty of borrowing it from you with the intention of returning it to you. Now I am returning it, and you forgive me." By this method, the goal is achieved and the money is returned.
He says: I work in one of the charitable organizations and receive a salary equivalent to one thousand Saudi riyals. I was content with this salary for three years. One day, the soul inclined to evil made me think about how to obtain a large amount of money by any means. Should I rob? Should I steal? The point was to increase my money. One day I stole, and then again, and again, and stealing became part of my nature. I am praying, fasting, paying zakah, and testifying that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. I have performed the obligatory Hajj and I am married, praise be to Allah. I am the one who wants to quit this great sin. Honorable Shaykh, I want to return the money to its owner without him knowing that I was betraying him on any of those days. How do I return the money I stole, considering that I am in the organization and there is no account between us? May Allah reward you with good. I calculated the money and expenses from the day I took that amount and found it to be one thousand and thirty riyals. May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
It is obligatory for you to return the amount to its owner, and your conscience will not be cleared except by doing so, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)
The wealth of a Muslim is not lawful except by the willing consent of his soul,
لا يحل مال امرئ مسلم إلا بطيبة من نفسه،do not consume one another's wealth unjustly but only [in lawful] business by mutual consent
لَا تَأْكُلُوا أَمْوَالَكُم بَيْنَكُم بِالْبَاطِلِ إِلَّا أَن تَكُونَ تِجَارَةً عَن تَرَاضٍ مِّنكُمْIf you are too embarrassed to say that this was theft or betrayal, you can use a method that removes this from you, by saying, for example, "I owe you, and I borrowed this money because I took the liberty of borrowing it from you with the intention of returning it to you. Now I am returning it, and you forgive me." By this method, the goal is achieved and the money is returned.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، كيف أرد مالا لصاحبه بعد أن سرقته وقد تبت إلى الله من غير أن يعرف أنني كنت أخونه في يوم من الأيام؟ — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.