A man died in one of the hospitals and left a sum of money, and his heirs did not take it, so the hospital’s custodian of trusts gave it in charity on behalf of the deceased.
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Fatwa number ( 10463 )
Q: I present to your eminence that in the year 1391 AH, a man passed away in the hospital, and they found with him a sum of six hundred riyals and a wristwatch. They placed them with me in trust until one of his relatives arrived. This sum remained for a long time without any of his heirs appearing, and we asked some of his associates, and they said: We do not know anyone from his family. Finally, when the sum had been with me for more than ten years, I disposed of the money and the watch. After this period, I gave in charity on behalf of the deceased the amount of six hundred riyals, and I valued the watch at one hundred riyals; because its value at that time was not worth fifty riyals, so the amount became seven hundred riyals. At that point, I gave in charity the sum of seven hundred riyals to the needy poor on behalf of that deceased man. I hope your eminence will answer me on this matter so that I may clear my conscience. May Allah reward you a thousand times for us, and may Allah reward you with the best reward for everyone, and may Allah guide you, and peace be upon you.
A: If you do not know the one entitled to the aforementioned sum, then you give it in charity
on behalf of the one to whom it belongs. If its owner comes and asks for it, inform him of what you did. If he approves it, then that is fine; otherwise, hand the sum over to him, and the charity will be for you.
Q: I present to your eminence that in the year 1391 AH, a man passed away in the hospital, and they found with him a sum of six hundred riyals and a wristwatch. They placed them with me in trust until one of his relatives arrived. This sum remained for a long time without any of his heirs appearing, and we asked some of his associates, and they said: We do not know anyone from his family. Finally, when the sum had been with me for more than ten years, I disposed of the money and the watch. After this period, I gave in charity on behalf of the deceased the amount of six hundred riyals, and I valued the watch at one hundred riyals; because its value at that time was not worth fifty riyals, so the amount became seven hundred riyals. At that point, I gave in charity the sum of seven hundred riyals to the needy poor on behalf of that deceased man. I hope your eminence will answer me on this matter so that I may clear my conscience. May Allah reward you a thousand times for us, and may Allah reward you with the best reward for everyone, and may Allah guide you, and peace be upon you.
A: If you do not know the one entitled to the aforementioned sum, then you give it in charity
on behalf of the one to whom it belongs. If its owner comes and asks for it, inform him of what you did. If he approves it, then that is fine; otherwise, hand the sum over to him, and the charity will be for you.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.