What is the ruling on one who steals the writings of others and claims them as his own?

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, bring forth what you have.

The questioner : What is the ruling on one who steals the writings of others and adds them to his own?

The Shaykh : This type of theft is a new kind that the Muslims of the past were not familiar with, and therefore it is good for the student of knowledge to derive its ruling from general texts. There may be a text that is more specific and closer to the subject. As for the general texts, they are those that forbid the Muslim from encroaching upon his Muslim brother, such as the saying of Allah the Exalted: . Encroachment is a general text that covers any type of encroachment, whether it be in wealth, honor, creation, or any aspect of life that concerns a person. As for the text closest to our subject, I mean the hadith known in the Muwatta of Imam Malik, and in other sources, where the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked his companions, "Who is the thief?" They answered with what is known, that the thief is the one who steals the wealth of others. He replied to them: - And upon you be peace. They said, "How does one steal from his prayer, O Messenger of Allah?" He said, "He does not complete its bowing and prostration." From this hadith, we understand that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) expanded the meaning of theft. And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah. From this hadith, we understand that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) expanded the meaning of theft, the meaning that was limited among people and confined to stealing material things, such as wealth and real estate, and the like. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) drew the attention of the Muslims in this hadith to the fact that there is another type of theft, which is worse than the theft known to all people, namely stealing from the pillars of prayer and its obligations. The Messenger (may Allah's prayer and peace be upon him) mentioned in some narrations of the hadith that the worst theft is the one who steals from his prayer, not completing its bowing or prostration. From this hadith, we can understand that among the forbidden thefts is what was mentioned in the question, that a Muslim takes the knowledge of others and attributes it to himself. Sufficient for him as a warning is the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): , meaning that the one who pretends to be, for example, wealthy—how does he pretend? He takes the garment or adornment of the wealthy person and wears it, and pretends before people that this is from his earnings and his wealth, while in reality it is not. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) says: . The one who pretends to have what he does not have is like one wearing two garments of falsehood. He said "two garments of falsehood," not "one garment of falsehood." He said "two garments of falsehood" in order to exaggerate the prohibition of this one who deals in what is not his. For these reasons, it is not permissible for a Muslim to take knowledge from a book and attribute it to himself, even if it is a research or a critical study. How much more so if it is a book that he takes in its entirety and attributes it to himself. ... They (may Allah have mercy on them) say that among the blessings of knowledge is attributing every statement to its speaker. Therefore, it is forbidden for a Muslim to steal a book that is not his and attribute it to himself. This is what comes to my mind as an answer to this question.