Saturday, 18 April 2026 (1 Dhuʻl-Qiʻdah 1447 AH)
Question: A man works at a mill, grinding grain sacks and selling them. He would take two ṣāʿs from each sack for himself, then sell each sack at the prevailing price in the country. The shortage in each sack was not noticeable to the buyer or anyone else. He persisted in this for a long time, accumulating from it half a million riyals or more; he built himself a house and married. Later, preachers came to his village; he sat with them, listened to their exhortations and lessons, awoke from his heedlessness, and now wants to clear himself of liability. Today he is a poor seeker of knowledge. What should he do?
Answer—and Allah is the Patron who grants success and aid: What is required for his liability to be cleared is that he disburse what he took in public interests, such as to scholars and students of knowledge. In the school, the poor are among the lawful recipients for ill-gotten wealth (maẓālim).
If the man seeking to clear himself is a poor student of knowledge, then he is among the recipients of maẓālim; he may disburse it upon himself when able to do so, or he may disburse it to a scholar or a student of knowledge—who then returns it to him. There is no harm in that given the penury of the penitent.
Source: Min Thimār al-ʿIlm wa al-Ḥikmah vol.2