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How can stolen money be returned, and should the original amount or its current value be returned? What about funds whose owner is unknown? Do the rightful owners share in the store's profits after the money has been commingled? And how should one act if the details of the theft are not remembered?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The thief must return the stolen goods to their owners. If the goods have been sold or damaged, their value on the day of the theft, in the local currency, must be returned. The value of the sister's ring and the thirty pounds belonging to the uncle must be returned. As for the coins, if the father is alive, their owners can be asked about; otherwise, their value should be given in charity on behalf of their owners. In the case of theft from the central exchange (or post office/telephone exchange), the highest possible stolen amount must be estimated and returned, or a reconciliation should be made with the owner of the central exchange, or his forgiveness should be sought. As for the profits resulting from investing the stolen money, they belong to the one who took the money, not the owner of the money, based on the hadith: "The produce (benefit) is in return for the liability (risk)."

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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