Back to search

What is the way to absolve oneself after stealing the contents of a computer maintenance center and being unable to reach the owners of the devices to return them to them?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

You are liable for the value of the equipment if it was kept in an unsafe place. You must donate its value to the poor and needy if its owners or their heirs cannot be reached. The maintenance fee should be deducted from the value if it was stolen after maintenance, and the value is considered as of the day of the theft. However, if the equipment was kept in a safe place and was stolen under exceptional circumstances (such as wars), then you are not liable, because a common hired worker is not liable for damage without transgression or negligence.

The Fiqh Encyclopedia: Jurists have agreed on the liability of the common hired worker if the goods are damaged due to grave transgression or negligence. They differed regarding damage without these. The two companions (Imam Abu Yusuf and Imam Muhammad) and the Hanbalis considered damage caused by his action or what could have been prevented (like ordinary theft) as necessitating liability. The early Malikis and Zufar held that there is no liability. As for Abu Hanifa, he held the worker liable if the damage was caused by his action or the action of his student, but not if it was caused by the action of others. Ibn Abi Layla held the common hired worker liable in all cases.

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

Read the full answer on Ftawy