A young man who was using narcotics and taking them from their owners on credit, then repented; is it permissible for him to return these debts to the owners of the narcotics, or not?
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The questioner : May Allah reward you, O Shaykh, for I love you for the sake of Allah.
The Shaykh : May Allah love you, the One in whose love you loved us.
The questioner : There is a young man who was being extravagant with himself and was using narcotics, so he repented. He is now in debt to the owners of the narcotics. Does he have to pay the value of what he took from the narcotics, or...?
The Shaykh : I see, may Allah bless you, that he should give the value of what he took from them to the public treasury (Bayt al-Mal) and not return it to them. As for why he should not return it to them, it is because it is the price of a forbidden thing. And as for why he should return it to the public treasury, it is so that he does not combine the consideration and the thing considered. If we said he does not have to pay them, it would mean that he previously took the consideration from these narcotics, may Allah keep us safe. And he held onto its value, so we say that the value he bought must be given to the public treasury. As for them, they do not deserve anything, because the source of their earnings is forbidden. Yes, that is right.
The questioner : Okay, and if he gives it in charity, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : That does not benefit.
The questioner : He must return it to the public treasury.
The Shaykh : Yes, yes, because if he returns it to the public treasury, if he is told to give it in charity, he goes to the judge and the judge tells him to give it in charity, and there is no harm in that.
The questioner : ...
The Shaykh : There is no... Yes, from you.
The questioner : Your Eminence, the Shaykh
The Shaykh : Yes, but in order, without disrupting the sequence, until his turn comes.
The Shaykh : May Allah love you, the One in whose love you loved us.
The questioner : There is a young man who was being extravagant with himself and was using narcotics, so he repented. He is now in debt to the owners of the narcotics. Does he have to pay the value of what he took from the narcotics, or...?
The Shaykh : I see, may Allah bless you, that he should give the value of what he took from them to the public treasury (Bayt al-Mal) and not return it to them. As for why he should not return it to them, it is because it is the price of a forbidden thing. And as for why he should return it to the public treasury, it is so that he does not combine the consideration and the thing considered. If we said he does not have to pay them, it would mean that he previously took the consideration from these narcotics, may Allah keep us safe. And he held onto its value, so we say that the value he bought must be given to the public treasury. As for them, they do not deserve anything, because the source of their earnings is forbidden. Yes, that is right.
The questioner : Okay, and if he gives it in charity, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : That does not benefit.
The questioner : He must return it to the public treasury.
The Shaykh : Yes, yes, because if he returns it to the public treasury, if he is told to give it in charity, he goes to the judge and the judge tells him to give it in charity, and there is no harm in that.
The questioner : ...
The Shaykh : There is no... Yes, from you.
The questioner : Your Eminence, the Shaykh
The Shaykh : Yes, but in order, without disrupting the sequence, until his turn comes.