The ruling on disposing of found money when it is impossible to announce it
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. A person found two hundred riyals on the beach, and he has no residence there nor anyone to announce the amount in that country. His question is: Should he give it in charity on behalf of its owner, or take it as charity on behalf of its owner, since he is poor and charity is permissible for him?
Answer:
It is obligatory for him that when he finds the amount, he call out for it, saying, “Has anyone lost something in this place?” He calls out, and if its owner comes and describes it, he gives it to him. As for not calling out, not announcing anything, but rather taking it and remaining silent, this is not permissible for him, and the amount is not lawful for him. However, if he knows its owner, he must pay it to him; and if he does not know him, he gives it in charity with the intention that the reward belongs to its owner.
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. A person found two hundred riyals on the beach, and he has no residence there nor anyone to announce the amount in that country. His question is: Should he give it in charity on behalf of its owner, or take it as charity on behalf of its owner, since he is poor and charity is permissible for him?
Answer:
It is obligatory for him that when he finds the amount, he call out for it, saying, “Has anyone lost something in this place?” He calls out, and if its owner comes and describes it, he gives it to him. As for not calling out, not announcing anything, but rather taking it and remaining silent, this is not permissible for him, and the amount is not lawful for him. However, if he knows its owner, he must pay it to him; and if he does not know him, he gives it in charity with the intention that the reward belongs to its owner.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [3436/1924] حكم التصرف في المال الملتقط عند تعذر التعريف به - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.
