What is the ruling of the Sharia on how to rid oneself of injustices related to the damage of some properties (such as electrical malfunction in a rented house, damaging a car mirror, and breaking a vacuum cleaner), and what must the oppressor do if it is impossible to reach the owners of these injustices or if they are unknown, or if he does not possess sufficient money to compensate them?
If a person has wronged their brother in terms of honor or property, they must seek absolution today, before there is neither dinar nor dirham. For if they have good deeds, a portion will be taken from them commensurate with the wrong committed. And if they have no good deeds, then some of the wronged party's sins will be taken and placed upon them.
If you know the owner of the right and it is possible to deliver the right to him, then that is obligatory upon you, or you must ask for his forgiveness. If you do not know the owner of the right, or are unable to deliver the right to him, and your action was unintentional, then you should give charity on his behalf equal to his right.
The responsibility for error lies with the direct perpetrator, not the indirect cause. So, in the taxi incident, the responsibility for compensation falls on the car owner who directly committed the error. Nothing is required of you regarding the car mirror unless it is proven that you were the cause of its breakage. As for the house's electricity, you must bear responsibility for what you erred in, because you acted with someone else's property without permission or knowledge. As for the vacuum cleaner, nothing is required of you if it broke without any transgression on your part; otherwise, you would be obligated to replace it.
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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