What is the ruling on one who finds a large amount of money, takes it, and keeps it with him for years?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
If a person finds a large amount of money and takes it. If you lived. He says: If a person finds a large amount of money and takes it, and it remains with him for years, is he required to give charity or not?
The Shaykh:
He owes zakah, meaning yes.
The presenter:
Yes, indeed, it seems so.
The Shaykh:
Yes, it is subject to zakah because it is in the possession of its owner, so it is subject to zakah when its owner finds it and it is given to him according to the years that have passed. No, this is considered lost money, and there is no zakah on it except in the year in which he took possession of it. For the years it was lost, there is no zakah on it because he does not know whether it will come back or not, so there is no zakah on it except in the year in which he takes possession of it. Yes.
If a person finds a large amount of money and takes it. If you lived. He says: If a person finds a large amount of money and takes it, and it remains with him for years, is he required to give charity or not?
The Shaykh:
He owes zakah, meaning yes.
The presenter:
Yes, indeed, it seems so.
The Shaykh:
Yes, it is subject to zakah because it is in the possession of its owner, so it is subject to zakah when its owner finds it and it is given to him according to the years that have passed. No, this is considered lost money, and there is no zakah on it except in the year in which he took possession of it. For the years it was lost, there is no zakah on it because he does not know whether it will come back or not, so there is no zakah on it except in the year in which he takes possession of it. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، ما حكم مَنْ وجد مالًا وفيرًا وأخذه وبقي معه سنين؟ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.