Ruling on Liability When an Amanah Is Stolen
Source: Fatāwā Rāshidiyyah, p. 584
Question:
Ḥājī ʿAbdullāh and Munshī Ghulām Muḥammad each received checks for their cotton payment from Seth ʿAbd al-Shakūr. They went to the bank together and withdrew a total of 18,000 rupees. Ghulām Muḥammad and Ḥājī ʿAbdullāh each took 1,000 rupees for themselves.
Munshī Ghulām Muḥammad had small notes, so he tied bundles of 2,000 rupees each in Ḥājī ʿAbdullāh’s handkerchief and kept the rest with himself.
Later, they went to Seth Jameel’s shop. While there, a customer of Ḥājī ʿAbdullāh came and asked for payment. Ḥājī ʿAbdullāh gave him one 1,000-rupee bundle from his handkerchief along with some smaller notes. Munshī Ghulām Muḥammad then gave him an additional 5,000 rupees.
While both of them were still seated there, the tied money — containing 4,000 rupees of Ḥājī ʿAbdullāh and 7,000 rupees of Munshī Ghulām Muḥammad — was stolen from between them. Despite searching, the money could not be recovered.
The question is: According to the Sharīʿah, who is liable to make up for the stolen amount?
Answer:
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ʿammā baʿd!
This matter is one of amānah (trust). If an amānah is stolen, then according to the Sharīʿah, no compensation or liability (taʿwīḍ) falls upon the trustee.
As narrated:
((وروي عمرو بن شعيب عن ابيه عن جده ان النبي صلي الله عليه وسلم قال: من اودع وديعة فلاضمان عليه.))
Ibn Mājah, Kitāb al-Ṣadaqāt, Bāb al-Wadīʿah, ḥadīth 1012
Also, Imām al-Bayhaqī رحمه الله reports that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
((لا ضمان علي مؤتمن.))
(Dāraqutnī, Kitāb al-Buyūʿ)
Meaning: If someone is entrusted with an amānah and guards it faithfully, yet it is still lost or stolen, then no responsibility falls on him, nor can he be held liable to pay compensation.
Therefore, neither Munshī Ghulām Muḥammad nor Ḥājī ʿAbdullāh is obliged to pay the stolen amount.
ھذا ما عندی واللہ أعلم بالصواب
