Invested with Halal and Stolen Funds from Work: What To Do Now

25-3-2020 | IslamWeb

Question:

What should I do now? I invested with both halal and some stolen funds form where I work before, but I sincerely Repent

Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad,  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

It is incumbent on you to return the stolen money to its rightful owners. If you gained some profit from investing this stolen money, the preponderant opinion adopted at Islamweb is that the profit should be equally divided between you and the rightful owner of the stolen money. Shaykhul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him said: “Scholars held different opinions regarding the profits accrued from investing usurped money: should the profit follow the capital (not the effort; i.e. it belongs to the owner), or should it be spent in charity, or should it be divided between the usurper and the owner of the money equally … and the third opinion is the most just one because the profit is gained through both the capital of the owner and the effort of the usurper. Therefore, the profit should not be given to one of them apart from the other. Also, it is not due upon them to give the profit in charity, because they are the only parties entitled to it. Rather, the profit should be divided between the two exactly as if they were in a Mudhaarabah (profit-sharing) partnership.” [End of quote]

If you do not know the exact amount of money you stole or the amount of profit you gained from investing it, you should try to estimate an amount of money that you believe would most likely be equal to the stolen amount or more. Ibn Al-‘Arabi  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him said in his Tafseer book: “If he is confused about the exact amount of the unlawful money, he should make an estimate of the money that he believes to be unlawful, and he should estimate it to be more and be cautious in this regard to eliminate all doubt and be assured that he has cleared his liability from this unlawful money.” [End of quote]

You are not required to tell the employers that you have stole from them. It is sufficient to return their rights through any means that does not cause you any inconvenience or result in any evil. For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 388393.

Allah Knows best.

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