A young man stole money and then repented to Allah, so what should he do, knowing that he does not know the owner?

The questioner : He says:The questioner : I am a young man who, together with a friend of mine, committed the theft of a bag containing three thousand riyals four years ago. My Lord guided me, and now I do not know the owner of the bag. What should I do? May Allah reward you for us.

The Shaykh : Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, says in His Book: and He says: So, as long as you have feared Allah and repented to Allah, be glad that Allah will make your affair easy for you and will provide you with a way out. The way to do this, if you have despaired of knowing the owners of this bag, is to determine the value of the bag. The three thousand riyals are known, so you add the price of the bag to these three thousand and give it in charity on behalf of its owner, to rid yourself of it, not to draw near to Allah with it. You rid yourself of it by giving it in charity to a poor person, or to a young man who needs to get married, or you contribute with it to the construction of any mosque, or the like. By doing this, your conscience is cleared. Yes.

The questioner : The owner owes him one thousand and five hundred...

The Shaykh : Yes

The questioner : The owner owes him one thousand and five hundred...

The Shaykh : He gives it in charity.

The questioner : ...

The Shaykh : But he is asking about himself. Yes.

The questioner : May Allah reward the honorableThe Shaykh : Is there a word to those who bring in laborers and then tell them, "Go and work in any job, and I want three hundred riyals from you every month, or a certain percentage"? I ask you to elaborate on this. May Allah guide you.

The Shaykh : Yes, it is obligatory for one who brings in laborers to follow the regulations of his country, because he submitted an application to bring in these workers and he knows the conditions of the regulations. So, by submitting the application, he has committed to the conditions in this regulation. And Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, says: So you must fulfill your obligation to your country according to what it has authorized you to do. If the regulation forbids employing this worker with a share of the wages he earns, or releasing him to work as he pleases and imposing a tax on him every month, if the regulation forbids this, you must refrain from it, even if, in principle, it would have been permissible without the regulation. It is obligatory for you to follow the regulation. Our being bound by the regulation is not making obligatory what Allah has not made obligatory, absolutely not. Rather, our being bound by the regulation is being bound by what Allah has made obligatory, because Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, said: What is it? And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded obedience to those in authority as long as they do not command disobedience.