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Does money acquired through illicit means, such as bribery and deception, become purified after Zakat has been paid from it?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Money mixed with unlawful (haram) money has three scenarios:

1. If the unlawful portion is known and specified, it must be returned to its rightful owners or their heirs. If that is not possible, then one must dispose of it by spending it on charitable causes and public welfare projects. An exception is made for what was an unlawful compensation (such as the earnings of a prostitute or the price of alcohol), which should be given in charity. 2. If the amount of unlawful money is unknown, but its possessor knows who was wronged and who committed the wrong, then he must pay an amount that he believes will clear his conscience to those from whom the money was taken, or to their heirs. 3. If neither the amount of the unlawful money nor those who were wronged are known, then he must give it in charity for the general welfare of Muslims, and the like; to achieve repentance and to be excused before his Lord.

Unlawful money does not belong to its possessor, so Zakat is not obligatory on it, because Zakat is a purification for the giver and his wealth, and unlawful money cannot be purified. The obligation regarding unlawful money is to return it to its owners if possible; otherwise, it must all be removed from one's possession by way of disposal, not as an act of charity.

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

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