and by the other’s labor; consequently, neither one of them acquires the profit to the exclusion of the other.

Second: The Shaykh said: If usurped goods remain in a person’s possession and their owners are unknown, he must channel them into the public interests of the Muslims. The same ruling applies to pledged items, deposits, and all other forms of trust property.

The marginal commentary on al-Muqniʿ adds: It is impermissible for the holder of such property to take anything from it for himself, though some scholars have allowed him to eat from it if he is poor.

Third: The Shaykh said: Whoever has earned unlawful wealth and then repents—if he was unaware of its prohibition at the time of acquisition and learned of it only later, he may keep and use the money. If, however, he knowingly acquired it unlawfully and then repented, he must give it away in charity; yet if he is poor, he may retain from it what suffices for his basic needs.

Fourth: The Shaykh said: When a person’s wealth contains a mixture of lawful and unlawful portions and he cannot tell which predominates, he must give away half of his total wealth, and the remaining half is lawful for him—just as ʿUmar did with the officials. If he knows the exact amount that is unlawful and also knows its owner, he must return it; if he does not know the owner, he should give that amount away in charity on the owner’s behalf.

Fifth: The Shaykh said: If everything in someone’s possession has been taken wrongfully, he must restore it to its owners. If it represents profit earned through trade, the soundest view is that the profit is to be divided between him and the owners of the capital, following the model of a muḍāraba partnership.

Sixth: Shaykh ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Saʿdī said: There are three categories of possession that incur liability for lives and property:

1. A wrongful hand (yad muʿtadiya): anyone who seizes another’s property unjustly.
2. A direct hand (yad mubāshira): whoever destroys a life or property without right—whether intentionally, inadvertently, or out of ignorance—is liable.
3. An indirect hand (yad mutasabbiba): whoever, without permission, acts in someone else’s property or in public pathways, or otherwise causes damage through an unauthorized act, and something is ruined as a result of his action, is liable for it.