Returning Mazalim

Q: What is 'Mazalim'? How can we pay it back?

A: 'Mazalim' is a term used to refer to money/property that one has taken from people through oppression and injustice and not returned it to them yet. Its shar‘i ruling is that if one knows its owner, one should return the very money/property to them, while if its owner is unknown, one has to pay it to a needy person as an alms on owner’s behalf. To do so, it is a caution that one gets the permission of the authorized religious authority.