Earning in Unlawful ways

9. A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from ibn Mahbub from abu Ayyub from Sama‘ah who has said the following: “This is concerning my question before abu ‘ Abd Allah عليه السلام, about the case of a man who had found a certain amount of property from banu ’Umayyah. He gives charity thereof, helps his relatives, performs al-Hajj therewith, so that Allah may forgive what he has earned and says, ’Good deeds remove bad deeds.’ Abu ‘Abd Allah عليه السلام, said, ’Sins do not expiate sins. Only good deeds remove sins.’ He (the Imam) then said, ’If he has mixed lawful with unlawful and is not able to distinguish, then it is not harmful.’”