I stole money from my company, what should I do?
Emblezzlement is haram and unethical
QUESTION:
Dear Wael,
I'm working in a company... and I have stolen about USD $3,500.. now im feeling guilty and search ways to return back this money... otherwise should i give this for charity? I'm afraid that ALLAH SWT wont forgive me for this... pls help me!
- Hassan, Malaysia
WAEL ANSWERS:
Dear Brother Hassan, As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah,
This is not the kind of question that I usually answer, as I usually deal with marriage and family issues. But I thought I would give it a shot and also open it up to readers, because it's a tough question and I'm not sure what the right course of action would be.
Of course, from a purely moral standpoint the answer is obvious: confess your crime to your company superiors, return the money, ask their forgiveness and hope they do not prosecute you, even if you will most certainly lose your job.
But I am hesitant to advise this course of action. As I said, you will almost certainly lose your job, and I do not know your family situation. Do you have a wife and children relying on your income? Furthermore, they may decide to prosecute you, and you may end up serving time in prison, disgraced, and causing a lot of pain to your family. That is a very heavy price to pay.
For these reasons, my suggestion is that you return the money anonymously, in a way that will not trace back to you.
The company gets their money back, and you keep your job.
With that said, you got off easy. What you did was haram and unethical. You need to make a sincere tawbah and try to practice complete honesty in your work, business dealings, and personal life from now on, Insha'Allah.
What do you readers think? Am I being too easy on him? What do you feel is the best course of action?
And Allah knows best.
If any readers have some additional advice for this questioner, feel free to post your comments below.
(O Allah), Guide us to the straight path; The path of those whom you have favored; Not those with whom you are angry; Nor those who go astray.
Best regards,
- Wael Abdelgawad
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Assalamualaikum wr. wb.,
Stealing is defined as unlawfully taking something from someone and using it for the benefit of thyself. Stealing under strict Islamic law can be punished with amputation of the arms in the past. (Editor's note: this is not strictly correct. I will post a response below). but today, many forms of stealing is occuring such as utilising tax money for funding the cost of building personal houses and such..these are all classified as stealing. the most rewardful and praiseful attitude a person should feel is remourse over the act. if you feel so then keep that niat in your heart to never repeat that act and pray solat taubah to seek Allah's forgiveness, insya Allah He is most forgiving. now i would not suggest you to return the money and admit that you did it(even though its the most honourable act to do). but the point is that you return the money where you took it. Insya Allah itll be allright...good luck wss
Wael's Comment:
Regarding theft and its punishment in the Shari'ah:
One very important thing to note is that all the Islamic schools of thought agree that the one who makes tawbah (repents) before being caught, and returns the money, is not to be punished. So this is a very strong argument in favor of returning the money.
Second, Shaira said in the previous comment that the punishment was amputation of "the arms." Actually, for simple theft it was amputation of a single hand. Some jurists, such as Ali ibn Abi Talib (Allah be pleased with him), applied the hadd to the fingers of one hand only.
Third, there is a "nisab", a minimum value which, if the amount stolen is less than that, there is no punishment. The schools of thought are not agreed on the amount of the nisab, therefore the state or judge has discretion. In the time of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh), the nisab was the value of a shield, according to Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her). A shield in those days was quite a valuable thing and the equivalent today would be something considerable.
Fourth, the thief must be sane and adult, and there must be no question about the theft (i.e. it was not a possible mistake or misunderstanding).
Fifth, the punishment is not applied to one who steals out of extreme poverty or hunger, simply to eat or feed his family. In fact some jurists do not apply the punishment to the theft of food in any case. The jurists agree that the existence of such conditions means that the state itself is not fulfilling its duty to take care of its citizens, and therefore cannot enforce the hudood (laws of punishment) upon them. It seems to me this is the case in much of the Muslim world today, and therefore the hudood cannot be applied in those nations.
So while this punishment might at first glance seem extreme, it is intended to be applied to those who steal not out of necessity but out of greed, and who therefore bring misery to society. Presumably the existence of such a punishment, and the very rare enforcement of it, is enough of a deterrent to have a profound effect on society and make people safe from such crimes. And in fact we have seen this to be true in societies like Saudi Arabia, where one can often forget something of value in plain sight and come back later to find it still in place.
Also I wanted to mention that by doing this you are helping others learn. And they will especially love you if you help them figure something out they are stuck on.
I stole some money from my Grand Father But he passed away this year (Inshallah may he go to Jannah) Now how should i return the money ... should i give it for charity .....
Umair, speaking only from my own opinion, I think that if your grandmother is still alive you should give the money to her. Otherwise you should give it to charity, yes. And make sincere tawbah to Allah for the crime you committed. And Allah knows best.
Wael
IslamicAnswers.com Editor