The honorable Shaykh, I work in a confectionery shop, that is, I am a confectionery seller, and it happens that there are some errors in the calculation with customers, sometimes a shortage.
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The questioner says: I work in a confectionery shop, that is, I am a confectionery seller, and it happens that there are some errors in the calculation with customers, sometimes a shortage, and sometimes an excess. What should I do, knowing that I do not see the people again? So advise us and guide us, may you be rewarded?
The Shaykh : As for the error in calculation that occurs unintentionally, there is no sin on you for it. 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 know him but then forget him, 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. Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, knows that, and by this your conscience is cleared.
This ruling, namely giving charity with what one does not know to whom it belongs, or knowing it and then forgetting, or searching for it and not finding it, is a general ruling 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 error in calculation that occurs unintentionally, there is no sin on you for it. 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 know him but then forget him, 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. Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, knows that, and by this your conscience is cleared.
This ruling, namely giving charity with what one does not know to whom it belongs, or knowing it and then forgetting, or searching for it and not finding it, is a general ruling 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.