A question regarding the ruling on the liability of the one entrusted with a deposit if it is stolen?

The questioner : I say, O our Shaykh, it was agreed between him and a relative of ours that they would take ten thousand Kuwaiti dinars, counterfeit ones, and smuggle them to Saudi Arabia, and then sell them there because the value is very high and they would get a high price?

The Shaykh : Counterfeit?

The questioner : Counterfeit. I think they were issued during the time of Saddam. Kuwait does not recognize this money as Kuwaiti dinars. It has serial numbers; this is known as counterfeit and this is known as original. So, this is my brother. We were present at the house of Ali, my brother’s house. Of course, I was not consulted regarding going or returning or anything. I truly mean that when I heard that day that the matter was such that they wanted to leave and put the money in the trunk of the car and go.

The Shaykh : I seek refuge in Allah.

The questioner : They did not consult me. I went to them and said, if you are thinking of doing this thing, bring a bag... put it in the trunk. If you are caught, you are caught, but you cannot hide it in Saudi Arabia because they will search the car thoroughly. And with my speaking and my strictness with them, they softened a bit, O Shaykh, and said, we have stopped going, since the matter is like this. I said to them, well, where is it better for you to go? And I was surprised that when we were all invited to Ali’s house, the house was robbed. When the house was robbed, the money was gone. And the owner of the money is demanding his right and said, I want my money, and it is with you. My brother said to him, it was stolen, O uncle, what can I do? He said: You will manage your own affairs. Of course, there is no full commitment, but he is like the rest of these people who want to get out of it. He said, since the matter is such that you are obligating me, and I have no money to pay you, I have no food, how can I pay you? He said, you want to pay me. He said to him, if you went and complained about me, there is no evidence against me that I have anything. Of course, they reached an agreement. This is my brother. He has a house. His uncle denied that he took the money. He says, my brother, he has a right with me, but if he goes to complain about me, it is over. Of course, when I sat in this situation, I said to my brother, first, it is obligatory for you to pay him his money. If the man comes and tells you that he is forgiving you half the amount, let that be a favor from him, because you did not participate with him, and what is the difference in the amount? Because, O Shaykh, some people from my neighbors come to me because I have a safe and say to me, take ten thousand or twenty thousand and put them with you. I condition upon them that if they are stolen, I have no involvement. I mean, I have no involvement in carrying my own burden by placing an amount like this with me and it might be stolen? I am not prepared for that, so I conditioned this condition upon them. Sometimes I do not even know, they bring their gold and put it with me. Until now, for a period, I do not accept from any man or woman to place with me. Suppose it is stolen, so I condition upon him. And you did not condition upon him, so you, this amount, if he forgives you half of it, may Allah reward him with good, and if he forgives you all of it, may Allah reward him with good. But the principle is that you pay him the full amount. Is this correct, O Shaykh?

The Shaykh : If he placed it in a secure place and it was stolen, whether he conditioned or did not condition.

Another questioner : He owes nothing?

The Shaykh : If the money was placed with your brother and he placed it in a secure, protected place, whether he conditioned upon him or did not condition, he is not liable. But if he was negligent and placed it in a place that is not considered a secure and protected place, then he must be liable.

The questioner : Well, the locked house, O Shaykh, is it considered a secure place?

The Shaykh : Yes, that is not sufficient. As the common saying goes: "Money left in the open will inform the thieves of the people." I understand and I am with you. It is not sufficient to place it in a locked place; it must also be placed in a place.

The questioner : For example, a safe.

The questioner : There is another issue that he is having a bad opinion of people now. It came at one and a half in the night, I stopped and said, if you have a good opinion, we, O uncle, have a good opinion of Basim, so the matter is such and such. And you have a good opinion of Basim. He said, we have a good opinion. So, the important thing is that I made some foundations for this brother. So, after I left, I left some people with him. He said, I am forgiving half of it, and the second half he will pay me, even if he gives me a bill or a check, I will secure my right in it. The important thing now is the religious aspect, O Shaykh. If we have a good opinion of Basim, he has nothing with Basim.

The questioner : Meaning, he has in his mind that Basim planned the robbery.

The questioner : This is the second aspect. Yes, there are people. My sister saw him and he was riding in the bus, and Allah knows.

The questioner : But excuse me, I had my car with me that day. I told her that she saw the man, but it was not Mazen. Of course, we did not know about the robbery matter and such. And this sister specifically does not have this conception as a result. She says, I saw this young man.

The questioner : He offered him the amount before he said, take your money. He said, no, leave them with you. And the robbery happened the same day.

The questioner : The claim is that, by Allah, this is the one who planned the robbery. This requires evidence and establishing proof for this. Without that, it is a waste of time. So, tell him either bring the proof, or you have nothing against me except the oath, if you insist on your proof, meaning.

The questioner : Did he swear the oath upon him?

The questioner : He swore.

The questioner : That is it, it is over. He has nothing against him. Do not burden your brother with something he cannot do.

The Shaykh : His oath here is incorrect.

The questioner : ... He swears with the intention of truth and puts his hand on the mushaf and says, by the Great Allah, I am telling the truth and I do not say anything but the truth.

The Shaykh : But he did not tell the truth? It is Basim. There are two opinions if there are two narrations.

The questioner : Did he not swear before the public prosecutor?

The questioner : No, there is not... There is a friend of the judge who comes to his place, the house. They did not reconcile there.

The Shaykh : Yes, but the important thing is that he does not tell a lie.

The questioner : Now, the judge has it established with the public prosecutor. If he wants to change his testimony, he says, why with the public prosecutor...

The questioner : If this is not what you appointed, you did not take his right.

The questioner : The judge asks him, do you have a right? He will say to him, yes, or he will say no.

The questioner : If he retracts his testimony, he will eat air.

The questioner : So, you have reached a solution.

The Shaykh : Give them the news, O Professor. May Allah reward you. Let us go. It is near Asr, and perhaps the professor wants to catch the prayer there.

The questioner : We heard in a recording, I think in one of the sessions of Nasser al-Omar. And I was mentioning and speaking about the money, and I said the claim does not need the money, it only needs the jurisprudence and acting upon it, and that we mentioned it, and we were advising you with the opinion that you hasten with us in issuing a paper on this topic. I said to him, yes, the opinion, so we will do it, if Allah wills. So, I placed, glory be to Allah, the ideas of the paper we will start with, if Allah wills, the Exalted.

Another questioner : By Allah, O Shaykh, the brother has a big problem with the recording because the correct one is not there... Then there will be many cuts, there are many cuts, two hundred, three hundred tapes.

The questioner : I heard it was one hundred and fifty, two hundred.

The questioner : I know, but you do not know how I work on them.

The questioner : He is not editing them.

The Shaykh : Yes, but the problem concerns his time and effort and fatigue.

The questioner : In the first ten tapes or so, what did you do with them first? First, he will laugh, for example, in the house of Abu Abdullah, several questions were raised, for example, the issue of partisanship and the Muslim Brotherhood, O Shaykh, and the issue of Salafism. They answered in another session, they spoke about the same topic. I combined all of it together. This is the issues of the reality of jurisprudence, I combined them with themselves. This is every tape, I hold it here, in an issue, I put it in a tape by itself, and I put it by itself, by itself, by itself... O Shaykh, by the favor of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, when there is continuity, when there are questions, by the favor of Allah, I know you. I love to investigateThe Shaykh : in the issue, because otherwise I find a difference.

The questioner : An addition.

The questioner : Yes, and then the problem is these brothers are a generation of mischievous people, and I truly am shy to hear from meThe Shaykh : this speech. I said, O my Shaykh, I said to Shaykh Abu Malik only, I did not knowThe Shaykh : as far as I have knowledge, I do not have anything of knowledge and understanding of religion. It turned out I do not know you, O Shaykh, except when we met in Abdul Halim Abu Shuqqa, when he came and you were there, and it was forbidden for anyone to sit and recording was forbidden. May Allah guide us and him. He prevented much good, and by Allah. I said, I knowThe Shaykh : and you know, as some people say about me, you are close to the Shaykh... They do not know me yet. I said, what Allah willed, meaning, who brings research for the Shaykh, even the essence that is withThe Shaykh : the young people have not put it all out, it is all repeated. What will he doThe Shaykh : ? When he digressesThe Shaykh : Sometimes, many young people get excited about a digression.The Shaykh .The Shaykh : Because it is required, since the question itself is raised a hundred times over.The Shaykh : For whomThe Shaykh : He starts answering your question for more than an hour sometimes, and he gives you new angles and so on, untilThe Shaykh : He forgets his question, he forgets what he asked.The Shaykh : Because what does it mean? He gets absorbed in the speech he is speaking.

The questioner : One of the good gatherings that actually took place was the one that happened once at the house of al-Samad.

The questioner : Yes, what Allah willed.

The questioner : This man is flexible.

The questioner : This tape is comprehensive; it contains tawhid (the oneness of Allah), 'aqidah (creed), images, and games, meaning people benefit from this matter. Also, in the gathering of Muhammad al-Khatib,The Shaykh : He made a very wonderful, excellent comment, almost an hour and a quarter, what Allah willed. By the grace of Allah, O Shaykh, I am now memorizing every tape, what is in it, and turning it into questions.