I work in a confectionery shop, and sometimes I make mistakes in calculating the accounts with customers, sometimes shorting them and sometimes overcharging them. What should I do?
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The questioner : He says: I work in a confectionery shop, meaning I am a confectionery seller, and sometimes there are some errors in the accounts with customers, sometimes shorting them and sometimes overcharging them in other instances. What should I do, knowing that I do not see these people again? So advise us and guide us, may Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : As for the errors that occur in the calculation, which are not intentional, there is no sin on you for them. However, I advise you that regarding the shortage that occurred, you should pardon the person from whom this shortage occurred, due to the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Ash-Shuraa 42:40].
As for the excess that comes to you, if you know its owner, it is obligatory for you to return it to him. If you do not know its owner, or you knew him but then forgot, or you searched for him but did not find him, then you should give charity with the excess that came to you on behalf of its owner, to whom it belongs. And Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, knows that, and by this your conscience is cleared.
This ruling, which I mean giving charity with what one does not know who it belongs to, or knowing it and then forgetting, or searching for it and not finding it, this ruling is general for everything that is of this nature, that a person gives charity on behalf of its owner, and Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, is aware of its owner and will convey to him the reward of this charity.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : As for the errors that occur in the calculation, which are not intentional, there is no sin on you for them. However, I advise you that regarding the shortage that occurred, you should pardon the person from whom this shortage occurred, due to the saying of Allah the Exalted:
but whoever pardons and makes reconciliation - his reward is [due] from Allah
فَمَنْ عَفَا وَأَصْلَحَ فَأَجْرُهُ عَلَى اللَّهِAs for the excess that comes to you, if you know its owner, it is obligatory for you to return it to him. If you do not know its owner, or you knew him but then forgot, or you searched for him but did not find him, then you should give charity with the excess that came to you on behalf of its owner, to whom it belongs. And Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, knows that, and by this your conscience is cleared.
This ruling, which I mean giving charity with what one does not know who it belongs to, or knowing it and then forgetting, or searching for it and not finding it, this ruling is general for everything that is of this nature, that a person gives charity on behalf of its owner, and Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, is aware of its owner and will convey to him the reward of this charity.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.