The ruling on one who takes money that fell from another person
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Shaykh. The questioner says: If money falls from someone, and a poor person comes and takes this money and buys with it, is there anything required of the man, or not?
Answer:
It is not permissible for him to take it and buy with it. Rather, if he sees its owner or knows him, he goes to him and gives it to him. If the owner permits him to keep it, there is no harm. As for if he does not know the owner, he tries to announce it or call out about it. If time passes and no one comes, he gives it in charity to those in need. And if he is in need, as mentioned, there is no harm in his consuming it, and the reward is for its owner. Yes. The important thing is that he must search for its owner as much as possible. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you
Shaykh. The questioner says: If money falls from someone, and a poor person comes and takes this money and buys with it, is there anything required of the man, or not?
Answer:
It is not permissible for him to take it and buy with it. Rather, if he sees its owner or knows him, he goes to him and gives it to him. If the owner permits him to keep it, there is no harm. As for if he does not know the owner, he tries to announce it or call out about it. If time passes and no one comes, he gives it in charity to those in need. And if he is in need, as mentioned, there is no harm in his consuming it, and the reward is for its owner. Yes. The important thing is that he must search for its owner as much as possible. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you
Source
شرح كتاب الكبائر للإمام محمد بن عبد الوهاب، تتمة باب ما جاء في الفتن — islamhouse.com (1:11:32)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.