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What is the ruling on stealing money from a non-Muslim worker, which caused him harm, knowing that the worker has left and the money cannot be returned to him?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Among the principles of ethics are fulfilling trusts and warning against treachery and betrayal. Allah commands the fulfillment of trusts and forbids betrayal. Whoever repents from unjustly consuming people's wealth must return the rights to their owners. And whoever has wronged another should seek their forgiveness in this world before the Hereafter. If the owner of the right or their location is unknown, or if one is unable to deliver their right to them, then the money should be given in charity on their behalf. If the owner of the money later appears, they are given the choice to accept the charity or to reclaim their money, in which case the charity would be for the giver. Money whose owner is unknown should be given in charity and spent for the benefit of Muslims, given to those eligible for zakat, and used in acts of righteousness.

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

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