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How can one repent from stealing an item from one's uncle's wife, and taking makeup from a store without paying for it, given the impossibility of returning the rights to their owners due to their death or not knowing their whereabouts, or the existence of other impediments?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The door of repentance is open to all servants, and Allah forgives all sins for whoever repents and rectifies their conduct, even if their sins reach the clouds of the sky, in fulfillment of His (the Most High) saying: "And whoever does evil or wrongs himself but then seeks Allah's forgiveness will find Allah Forgiving and Merciful" and His (the Most High) saying: "Say, 'O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful.'"

Rights must be returned to their owners in this world before the Day of Judgment. If the owner of the right is known and can be reached, then the right must be fulfilled to them by any means, or to their heirs if they have passed away. It is not permissible to give the value of the right as charity as long as it is possible to return it. If it is impossible to know or reach the owners of the rights, then an equivalent amount or value of the right must be given as charity on their behalf.

Regarding the issue of the earring (hoop), its value on the day it was taken must be returned to the heirs of its owner, and the questioner's uncle is among them. As for the right owed to the shop owner, the value of what was taken without her permission must be returned. If she is unable to return these rights, she must be sincere in her repentance with the intention of returning them in the future if it becomes possible, and she should increase her supplications and prayers for forgiveness for herself and for those whose rights are owed.

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

Read the full answer on Ftawy