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What is the ruling regarding the aforementioned action – after repentance – of compensating what was earned unlawfully, and is what was done considered sufficient, knowing that informing officials will lead to dismissal, and is it permissible to continue receiving the payment?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Money acquired through deception or lying is unlawful (haram) and must be returned to its rightful owner, whether Muslim or non-Muslim. Sincere repentance requires abandoning the sin and ceasing to take unlawful money. If you are unable to confront the company and return the money, you can compensate the company by bringing in other clients without taking your commission from them, provided that the value of the money you unlawfully took is equal to the value of the commission due from the new clients.

It is also permissible to give unlawful money as charity if it is impossible to return it to its owners, with the allowance to take from it what is necessary if the person giving charity is in need. It is advisable to confess to the company and request the cessation of the unlawful commission, for "truthfulness is salvation," and "whoever fears Allah, He will make for him a way out and provide for him from where he does not expect."

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

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