Islamic Thoughts

"Rob Peter to pay Paul" is not for islam

49 : "ROB PETER TO PAY PAUL" IS NOT FOR ISLAM

The above proverb indicates that you may rob one person (say rich) for helping another (ex: poor person). This type of practice looks similar to the communist philosophy of Karl Marx that inspires forcible takeover (without compensation) of factories and lands from rich ownership for redistribution among the poor. Islam does not agree with this theory of 'end justifies the means' for obvious reasons. Helping a needy person named A is good. You better do that from your own resources. But you cannot harm another person B for doing that. Harming B for doing that is worse than simply not helping person A. In this case helping person A (if done through desirable way) is mostly an optional good action.

But harming person B by robbing him of his legally earned wealth is the worst category of prohibited sin that cannot be compensated by the above optional action. By way of example, if an eye doctor can restore vision to an eye without damaging a good one, then that makes medical sense, otherwise not. In Islam, bad means or action is not justified by a good end or intention as there is urging that both your end as well as means should be good in pursuit of divine pleasure.