Receiving canned food from an unknown sender and for an unknown reason: how should one deal with it?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
May Allah reward you with good. A person whose name and address I do not know sent me some canned food through another person. I asked the carrier for his name and address, and whether these items were meant to be stored or sent to me as a gift. He told me that a person he met in such-and-such a city had asked him to deliver these items to me, but he did not mention any name or address. I kept these canned goods for about a year, and no one appeared to ask about them. I was afraid they would expire, so I dealt with them on the condition that I would return their value if the owner claimed them. Six years have passed since then, and this person has not appeared. Direct us, may Allah reward you.
The Shaykh:
You did well in your handling of this, avoiding the spoilage of these goods and the expiration of their shelf life, since you retained their value. Since you did not find the owner and the period was long, I suggest that you give it in charity with the intention that the reward belongs to the owner. If he comes and asks for it, you inform him. If he accepts the charity, praise be to Allah. If he does not accept it, the reward will be for you, and you pay him his money. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you with good. He says that a devil made him deal with them.
The Shaykh:
He dealt with them by selling them and keeping their value. He says. So the one who gives the value in charity.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you with good and do you good.
May Allah reward you with good. A person whose name and address I do not know sent me some canned food through another person. I asked the carrier for his name and address, and whether these items were meant to be stored or sent to me as a gift. He told me that a person he met in such-and-such a city had asked him to deliver these items to me, but he did not mention any name or address. I kept these canned goods for about a year, and no one appeared to ask about them. I was afraid they would expire, so I dealt with them on the condition that I would return their value if the owner claimed them. Six years have passed since then, and this person has not appeared. Direct us, may Allah reward you.
The Shaykh:
You did well in your handling of this, avoiding the spoilage of these goods and the expiration of their shelf life, since you retained their value. Since you did not find the owner and the period was long, I suggest that you give it in charity with the intention that the reward belongs to the owner. If he comes and asks for it, you inform him. If he accepts the charity, praise be to Allah. If he does not accept it, the reward will be for you, and you pay him his money. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you with good. He says that a devil made him deal with them.
The Shaykh:
He dealt with them by selling them and keeping their value. He says. So the one who gives the value in charity.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you with good and do you good.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 4837- استلم أطعمة معلبة لا يعلم مرسلها وسبب إرسالها فكيف يتصرف فيها؟ - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.