He stole money from the company and he is asking about the ruling on his prayer and other acts of worship.

(O Allaah, You are All-Forgiving and You love forgiveness so forgive me)."
Selamun Aleykim,
I am 33 years old.
When I was approximately 26 years old, I was working for a company
owned by 3 people. I was the manager at that time and in charge of the
business.
I had been working withthis group since the age of 18 and they are
(and still are) close friends and family.
Whilst working with them, at the ages of 26-27 I stole money fromthem.
I lost my ways, and began to make friends with the wrong people. Iknew
the mistake I was making but because of the life I was leading, the
people I was involved with substancesinvolved, I could not bring
myself out of it. But I kept a record of themoney that I took and it
is approximately$24,000.
I lose sleep over this and ask Allah in my dua's to help me with this,
it's the biggest burden I have on my life and I don't know what to do.
No body knows about this but myself, my wife and Allah (swt). – and now you.
Elhamudulillah, Allah hastaken me away and has shown his mercy upon me
and I am now married, focused on my deen and doing the best I can
Inshallah.
I have researched your site regarding fatwas you have given on this
subject, but if you could please answer the point form I have left
below, itwould help me;
Please answer the rulingof my questions below;
- I am not in a position to pay this money back, what happens if I die
tomorrow will the gates to Jannah be closed for me?
- Am I to attempt to pay this money back somehow?
- I still have some things I used that money to buy(clothes, items
etc) what do I do with them? Throw them away, give them to the poor?
- If I can never pay this money back, will my prayers, fasts and
zakkats be accepted by Allah (swt)?
- Can I go to Hajj for pilgrimage?
Praise be to Allah.
Firstly:
Praise be to Allah Who has guided you to the path of truth and saved
you from the company of bad friends.
It is well-known that sinsare of two types:
1.
Sins that have to do withthe rights of Allah. Allah may forgive these,
if a person repents sincerely,as He says (interpretation of the
meaning):
"And He it is Who acceptsrepentance from His slaves, and forgives sins"
[ash-Shoora 42:25].
2.
Sins that have to do withthe rights of other people. In order for
repentance from these sins to be accepted, it is stipulated that the
individual should restorethose rights to them or ask them to let him
off, by asking them to forgive him and forget the dues he owes to
them. Al-Bukhaari (6534)narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be
pleased with him) that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) said: "Whoever has wronged his brother, let him ask him to
forgive him, for there (i.e., on the Day of Resurrection) there will
be no dinars and no dirhams, before some of his good deeds are taken
and given to his brother, and if he has nogood deeds to his
credit,some of his brother's bad deeds will be taken and thrown onto
him."
See also the answer to question no. 43017
Secondly:
If you cannot return the money at present, then it remains something
that you owe and you must return it when you are able to do so.
Al-Qurtubi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:If the sin involved
wronging people, then repentance from it is notvalid unless the
propertyis returned to its rightfulowner – whether it is the exact
property itself or otherwise – if he is able to do that. If he is not
able to do that, then he must resolve to return it whenever he is able
to do so, at the earliest possible opportunity.
End quote from Tafseer al-Qurtubi, 18/200
If it so happens that a person is not able to return property to its
rightful owners before he dies, but he intended to return it, then it
is up to Allah, and perhaps Allah will pay it back for him on the Day
of Resurrection.
Thirdly:
Acceptance of righteous deeds, such as prayer, zakaah, Hajj and other
acts of worship, is up to Allah, but there is the hope that if a
person does an act of worship in the manner required Islamically, that
Allah willaccept it from him.
In the answer to question no. 107241 we stated that the fact that a
person does acts of disobedience and major sins does not mean that
other, righteous deeds will not be accepted from him. This applies
tothe one who has not repented from those sins, so how about the one
who has repented and has decided to return property to its rightful
owners.
Based on that, your previous sins do not mean that your righteous
deeds, such as prayer, zakaah and so on, will not be accepted from
you.
With regard to Hajj, it is well-known that Hajj requires financial
resources; if you have money that is surplus to your needs, then what
you have to do is use it to pay off what you oweof dues to others, and
what you took from people's wealth, even if it is less than what is
owed. So what you haveto do is reduce these dues as much as you
can."On no soul does Allah place a burden greater than it can bear"
[al-Baqarah 2:286].
We ask Allah to help you to pay off your debt and to forgive us and
you, for He is able to do that.
And Allah knows best.

The prayer of Hadrat Umar (ra)

He used to stand up in prayer the whole night and used to weep so much
that there had grown two permanently dark tear-lines on his face.
Abdullah bin Shaddad (RA) narrated that one day Hadrat 'Umar (RA) led
the prayer and as he came to the Verse:
"Verily, I only complain of my sorrow and my grief to Allah" (Yosuf:86)
he wept so much that the people were greatly perturbed.
Hadrat Imam Hasan (RA) narrated that once Hadrat 'Umar (RA) was
leading the prayer. When he reached the Verse:
"The punishment of thy Lord shall certainly cometo pass. There is none
who can avert it." (At-Tur:7,8)
he wept so much that hiseyes were swollen. At times he wept so much
that people got despaired of his life.

10 Things about Uthman (RA)

Before the martyrdom ofUthman (RA.), he spoke to Abu Thaur al-Fahmi (RA.) thus:
I entertain great hopes in my Lord with Whom I have placed ten things as trust:
1. I am the fourth personto accept Islam.
2. The Holy Prophet (SAW) gave his daughter in marriage to me.
3. On her death, he gave me his second daughter in marriage.
4. I have never sung a song.
5. I have never even thought of wickedness.
6. Ever since I took the oath of allegiance to the Holy Prophet (SAW)
with my right hand, I have never touched the genitals therewith.
7. Ever since I became a Muslim, I have set free a slave on every Friday.
8. I have never committed adultery during the Days of Ignorance or
after embracing Islam.
9. I have never stolen anything during the Days of Ignorance or after
embracing Islam.
10. I committed the Holy Quran to memory duringthe life time of the
Holy Prophet (SAW).

Prophet Ibrahim (1)

Prophet Ibrahim as a role model
We often see the term "role model" in newspapers and magazines. It
refers to someone who leads thesort of life that you would like to
live. Many of us choose our favorite sports star or film star as our
role model because we are impressed by the glitter and flair of these
wealthy people. However, if we stopped to think about what kind of
lives the starsreally lead, perhapswe would have second thoughts
about our choice of role model. How many of these stars have never
known or have forgotten Allah intheir quest for fame and riches! How
often are they consumed by hate, envy, violence, drugs and other
evils! Whoreally wants that kind of life? Certainly not we Muslims.
The Qur'an tells us that theprophets should be our role models, and
Prophet Ibrahim (alayhis salam) in particular is frequently mentioned.
He was obedient to Allah, upright, and he did not worship any god but
Allah. He turned away from thosewho worshipped idols, even from his
own father. He was grateful to Allah for the blessings which were
bestowed on him. Hewas rewarded with good in this world and he is
among the righteous in the hereafter.
Prophet Ibrahim's call
Prophet Ibrahim 's (alayhis salam) father, Azer, was a stone carver.
He carved theimages of the idols which his people worshipped. Prophet
Ibrahim (alayhis salam) grew up in an atmosphere of paganism, in which
Allah was just one of many gods worshipped by his people. But Allah
chose Ibrahim (alayhis salam) to be His prophet. Prophet Ibrahim
(alayhis salam) saw a star when it rose and called upon it as his
lord, but when it set he realized that it was powerless. He called
upon the moon when it rose in the sky, but it too disappeared as
itset. Then he decided to worshipthe sun when it rose, but even the
sun with all its brilliance had to set each evening. It wasat this
point that Prophet Ibrahim (alayhis salam) was ready to acknowledgethe
supremacy of the Creator of all the heavenly bodies, the Lord of all
creation, and a being without equal and withoutpartners. He tried
unsuccessfully to persuadehis father and his people to discard the
useless idolsand to submit themselves wholly to Allah. He promised his
father that he would pray for forgiveness for him, and since he had
promised, he did pray. But we are told in the Qur'an that we should
shun pagans and we should not pray for them (Qur'an 9:113-114).
Prophet Ibrahim (alayhis salam) asked his people why they worshipped
those idols which they themselves had made, instead ofthe true God
who had created everything andeverybody.The people answeredthat they
worshipped the idols because their fathers had done so. One day, when
noone was about, Prophet Ibrahim (alayhis salam) took his right hand
and smashed the idols to pieces, all except the biggest. The people
came running, asking who had destroyed their gods. Prophet Ibrahim
(alayhis salam) pointed to the biggod and said, "He did it. Why don't
you ask them?" But of course those fragments of stone were not able to
speak and the people knew in their hearts that the big stone could not
have destroyed them. So ProphetIbrahim (alayhis salam) asked,"Why do
you worship these powerless rocks instead of Allah who is all
powerful?" Then the people were very angry and they seizedProphet
Ibrahim (alayhis salam) and threw him into a blazing fire. ButAllah
was with Prophet Ibrahim (alayhis salam) and made the blaze feel cool
to him. Prophet Ibrahim (alayhis salam) emerged from the fire
unharmed.
In Arabia at the time of the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him),
threereligious groups claimed ancestry to the prophet Ibrahim (alayhis
salam). They were the Christians, the Jews, and the pagan
idol-worshippers. But the religion of Ibrahim (alayhissalam) was none
of these three. His religion was truly that of Islam , a total
submission to the will of Allah. It is he who should serve as our role
model, a man of unswerving faith introubled times.
You can read about Prophet Ibrahim (alayhis salam) as a role model
andabout his disputes over the idols in the following suras of the
Qur'an: 2:130, 135, 258; 3:67; 6:74-83; 16:120-123; 19:41-50;
21:51-71; 26:70-82; 37:83-98; 60:4-6.