Q:

I have deceived some people. At first, I told them that I will do the work with them (The knowledge of the work was new to me as I did not know it before but I told them that I would learn it). But as the time passed, I became scared that I will be unable to become skillful and help them. I became neglected and did not gain sufficient knowledge. I made very little to no efforts in the work. The people with which I worked with completed the work themselves. But for my sake, they gave me some credit for the little to no work that I did and included my name in the final contributors.

 This work will be submitted as a formal work and my name will also be present in it. The contributions in the it are different from the ones that I actually did. I did not care at the time that this was the worst form of deception that I was doing. I just thought of my benefit.

 Now, I am really remorseful of my thinking at the time, my way of thinking, disregard of the other people’s hard work and deceiving people. I do not know what to do and how to handle and approach this matter.

 Can you please guide me in this matter of deceiving others? What will happen if I go through with this and do not reveal the truth and vice versa?

A:

If you deceived people and made money unlawfully, you need to repent and make amends for your sins.

Valid repentance for such a sin entails the following conditions:

First, feeling deep remorse and sorrow for what you have done;

Second, refrain from such activity and severing all ties or leads associated with it;

Third, resolving firmly in your mind/heart that you would never do it again;

Forth, it would help if you purified your income of the unlawful earnings that you made through cheating.

It would be best if you promised yourself that you would never pretend to be eligible to accept a position of responsibility or which you are not qualified.

So, you should look for a job that you are qualified for, and earn your salary by doing the job as honestly and sincerely as you can.

You should continue to seek repentance and ask Allah to help you find a lawful source of living:

Here is a dua you can read

Allaahumma aghninee bi halaalika ‘an haraamika wa bi ta’atika ‘an ma’siyathika wabi fadhlika ‘amman siwaaka

(O Allah, make me sufficient with that which You have made halal for me so that I do not turn to that which is Haram; and make me content with Your obedience so that I do not disobey You; and make me content with Your favor so that I am not forced to turn to the favor of the mortals.)

Almighty Allah Knows best.