Al-Ihtisaab with Regard to the Misuse of Public Money

Abstract

The Islamic Law threatens the misuse of money in general and of public money in particular with serious worldly and otherworldly punishments. The seriousness of the crime of  misusing public money which is a property of all Muslims, even if it is a small amount, is clear in the story of the  young man who took a cloak from the war-booty before its distribution, and which is , as prophet Muhammad stated,  burning  now over him in his grave. This issue is of great seriousness but some people ignore it, others belittle it, and still others neglect it, so I prayed to Allah for guidance to write on this subject.

I divided this subject into an introduction, a preface and four sections which deal with: first, the ruling of the crime of misusing public money and the legality of Al-Ihtisaab) on the misuse of money; second, the motives of the misuse of public money and ways of treating them; third, the types of the misuse of public money and  the ruling of each type; fourth, the precautionary measures and the degrees of Al-Ihtisaab)with regard to the crime of misusing public money.