What is the ruling on one who stole a sheep, slaughtered it, and ate it with others, then repented? Is it obligatory for him to pay the value of the entire sheep or only a part of it, given that the others refused to pay?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
A questioner asks, O Shaykh, during his days of heedlessness, he stole a sheep along with a group of men, and this man has repented to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). He asks whether...
The Shaykh : Did they slaughter it and eat it, or did it remain?
The questioner : No, O Shaykh, they ate it, or they disposed of it in any case. Now, the man has repented, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : He asks whether he pays for the portion he believes is his share of the slaughtered animal, or whether he must bear the entire value of the sheep, knowing that the others insisted on not paying anything, meaning they did not repent?
The Shaykh : It is obligatory for him to pay the entire value of the sheep, because the cooperating people are one hand. But in this case, does he know its owner?
The questioner : He does not know.
The Shaykh : If he does not know, he should give charity with the value, intending it on behalf of the owner, because those who agree on something have the crime of the group as the crime of one person. For this reason, if a group agrees to kill a person and they kill him, they are all killed, even if there are ten of them for one.
The questioner : Does the legal ruling apply to all of them, for example, cutting off the hand, or only to the one who took it?
The Shaykh : The legal ruling is with the Shari'ah court, not with me.
The questioner : No, for its benefit, they need it.
The Shaykh : No, they do not need it. Even if I issued a fatwa that their hands should be cut off, they would not cut off their hands.
The questioner : No, regarding a second issue, if a man performs an act...
The Shaykh : The scholars say: "The instigator is like the direct perpetrator".
A questioner asks, O Shaykh, during his days of heedlessness, he stole a sheep along with a group of men, and this man has repented to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). He asks whether...
The Shaykh : Did they slaughter it and eat it, or did it remain?
The questioner : No, O Shaykh, they ate it, or they disposed of it in any case. Now, the man has repented, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : He asks whether he pays for the portion he believes is his share of the slaughtered animal, or whether he must bear the entire value of the sheep, knowing that the others insisted on not paying anything, meaning they did not repent?
The Shaykh : It is obligatory for him to pay the entire value of the sheep, because the cooperating people are one hand. But in this case, does he know its owner?
The questioner : He does not know.
The Shaykh : If he does not know, he should give charity with the value, intending it on behalf of the owner, because those who agree on something have the crime of the group as the crime of one person. For this reason, if a group agrees to kill a person and they kill him, they are all killed, even if there are ten of them for one.
The questioner : Does the legal ruling apply to all of them, for example, cutting off the hand, or only to the one who took it?
The Shaykh : The legal ruling is with the Shari'ah court, not with me.
The questioner : No, for its benefit, they need it.
The Shaykh : No, they do not need it. Even if I issued a fatwa that their hands should be cut off, they would not cut off their hands.
The questioner : No, regarding a second issue, if a man performs an act...
The Shaykh : The scholars say: "The instigator is like the direct perpetrator".