He took some property from a villa that was confiscated by the state; how should the wealth be returned?

Question

Praise be to Allah.

Firstly:

The husband
who is being asked about did wrong when he took these vessels, whether they
belonged to an individual or to the state. The wealth of the state belongs
to the Muslims as a whole, and transgression against it is transgression
against the public wealth, which is a serious matter and a major sin. He
should have repented to Allaah and given back what he took. We ask Allaah to
forgive him and pardon him. Ahmad (20098) narrated from Samurah ibn Jundub
that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The
one who takes something is responsible until he returns it.” al-Arna’oot
said: It is hasan li ghayrihi (hasan because of corroborating evidence).

Secondly:

The wife
should return the vessels to where they were taken from, even if that will
cause her some embarrassment, because this will help her husband and will
rid her of the sin of keeping haraam property. It is not permissible for her
to break the vessels under any circumstances. If she cannot return them, or
she thinks it most likely that returning them will result in worse
consequences, then she should donate them to the general good of the
Muslims, or sell them and donate the price to the good of the Muslims, or
give it in charity.

If it is
known that the confiscation of the villa and its contents was unlawful, then
the vessels should be returned to their owner (the previous official) if
possible. If it is not possible to reach him or his heirs, then they or
their price may be given in charity on his behalf.

It says in
al-Majmoo’ (9/428): al-Ghazaali said: If he has haraam wealth and he
wants to repent and absolve himself of responsibility, if there is a
specific owner, it must be given to him or his representative. If he is dead
then it must be given to his heir. If the owner is not known, and there is
no hope of finding out who he is, then it should be spent on the general
good of the Muslims, such as bridges, border posts, mosques, maintaining the
road to Makkah and other things that benefit the Muslims in general.
Otherwise it may be given in charity to the poor. The qaadi should take
care of that that if he is honest. If he is not honest then it is not
permissible to give it to him. … If he gives it to the poor, it should not
be haraam for the poor, rather it should be halaal. He may give it in
charity to himself or his family if he is poor, because if his children are
poor then they may keep it, rather they are more entitled to receive his
charity. He may take as much of it as he needs because he is also poor. What
al-Ghazaali said here was also mentioned by others, and it is as they said.
Al-Ghazaali also narrated it from Mu’aawiyah ibn Abi Sufyaan and others of
the salaf: from Ahmad ibn Hanbal, al-Haarith al-Muhaasibi and others pious
people, because it is not permissible to destroy this wealth or throw it in
the sea, so the only option left is to spend it in the interests of the
Muslims. And Allaah, may He be glorified and exalted, knows best.

Al-Ghazaali
said: If he acquires some wealth from the ruler, some people say that he
should give it back to the ruler, because he knows best about what he owns,
and he should not give it in charity. This view was favoured by al-Haarith
al-Muhaasibi. Others said that he should give it in charity if he knows that
the ruler will not give it back to its owner, because giving it back to the
ruler will increase the injustice. Al-Ghazaali said: The view I favour is
that if he knows that he will not return it to its owner, he should give it
in charity on behalf of the owner.

I (Imam
al-Nawawi) say: The view I favour is that if he knows that the ruler will
dispose of it improperly, or he thinks that this will happen, then he must
spend it on the interests of the Muslims, such as bridges etc. If he is not
able to do that or if it is too difficult because of fear or other reasons,
then he may give it in charity to those who are most in need. The most in
need of the needy are poor Muslim soldiers. If he does not think that the
ruler will dispose of it improperly, then he may give it to him or to his
deputy, if he can do that without it resulting in harm, because the ruler
knows best about the public interests and is most able to deal with them. If
he is afraid that giving it to him may result in harm, then he may spend it
on the causes that we have mentioned, if he thinks that the ruler will
dispose of it improperly.

Shaykh Ibn
‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: If a person steals some
property then he dies, it is not permissible for his heir. If he knows who
its owner is he should give it to him, otherwise he should give it in
charity on his behalf. End quote from Liqa’ al-Baab al-Maftooh
(1/304).

He also
said: If you have stolen from a person or an organization, then you must get
in touch with the one from whom you stole and tell him: I have such and such
that belongs to you, then settle the matter between you. But a person may
think that this is too difficult for him and that he cannot, for example, go
to a person and say, I stole such and such from you, I took such and such
from you. In that case he can send the money (for example) via another
person, indirectly, such as giving it to a friend of that person and a
friend of his, and saying: This belongs to So and so, and tell him the story
and that he has now repented to Allaah, and he hopes that he will give it to
him.

If he does
that, then Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And
whosoever fears Allaah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a way for him
to get out (from every difficulty)”

[al-Talaaq 65:2]

“and
whosoever fears Allaah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make his matter
easy for him”

[al-Talaaq 65:4]

If it so
happens that you stole from someone and now you do not know who he is or
where he is, this is easier than the first case, because you can give what
you stole in charity with the intention that it is on behalf of its owner,
and then you will have discharged your duty. End quote from Fataawa
Islamiyyah (4/162).

And Allaah
knows best.