Theft from the Railway

Question

A man broke into a railway wagon and stole, and another man bought that property from him and began selling it. In this way the chain continued constantly: one man would steal from the railway, and the other would buy from him and sell. When the buyer came to have some money, he gave up buying stolen goods, bought a truck (vehicle) and put it out on hire. Now the purpose of my letter is this: is theft from the railway permissible? Or is it permissible that the one who bought conducted his trade with it?

Answer

Theft from the railway too is impermissible; trading by stealing such property too (?) is impermissible; and amassing wealth through such impermissible trade and buying a truck with it is also impermissible. Now the way out is this: however much stolen property he bought, he should convey its value to the owner; if the owner is not known, he should give that much wealth to the…

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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