Hadith about the transgression against other's properties

24-9-2003 | IslamWeb

Question:

Please Insha Allah, tell me where I can find the Hadith concerning the issue of a theft and the one who steals absorbs the sins of the one whom he stole from. I recall briefly being told this Hadith of one similar and I have been asked to show my proof if it is such please help me to locate this Daleel.

Answer:

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions. There are many Ahadith that confirm the seriousness of oppression and transgression against other's properties. A wrongdoer incurs the sins of the one to whom wrongdoing is done if he (the wrongdoer) does not have a record of Hasanat (rewards/good deeds) to pay off other's rights. The most authentic of these Ahadith is that narrated by al-Bukhari : Whoever has done wrong to anyone in terms of honour or property, then he must amend his wrongdoing (by returning other's rights or asking for being absolved) before a Day comes when no Dinar or Dirham (money) are to count. On that Day (of Recompense), if the wrongdoer has a record of good deeds, he will lose a proportion of them- equivalent in amount to the wrongdoing he did to the oppressed- to the favour of the latter. If otherwise he does not have a record of good deeds enough to compensate for his misdeeds, he will be burdened with a proportionate amount of sins from the record of the oppressed. In another version reported by Imam Ahmad , and classified as authentic by Arna'oot and Al-Albani : He who has done wrong to his brother Muslim in terms of his honour or property………. Among the most authentic of such Ahadith, too, is that narrated by Muslim : Do you know who is poor? They (the Companions of the Holy Prophet) said: A poor man amongst us is the one who has neither Dirham with him nor any other kind of wealth. He (the Holy Prophet) said: The poor of my Ummah (Muslim Nation) would be he who would come on the Day of Resurrection with prayers and fasts and Zakah but (he would find himself bankrupt on that day as he would have exhausted his funds of virtues) since he hurled abuses upon others, brought calumny against others and unlawfully consumed the wealth of others and shed the blood of others and beat others, and his virtues would be credited to the account of the one (who suffered at his hand). And if his good deeds fall short to clear the account, then their sins would be entered in (his account) and he would be thrown in the Hell-Fire. We have not come across a Hadith that deals with the thief. However, this issue is covered sufficiently in other Ahadith. Allah knows best.

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