The ruling on spending the money of absent owners in the path of Allah
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : He says: Honorable Shaykh, I have a sum of money belonging to people from twenty years ago, and I do not know where they are now.
The Shaykh : Repeat.
The questioner : He says: I have a sum of money belonging to people from twenty years ago, and I do not know where they are now, nor their location. So what should I do with this money? Should I spend it in the path of Allah, or what should I do with it?
The Shaykh : Yes, spend it in the path of Allah, either as charity, or for building a mosque, or for buying books, or other good deeds, with the intention that it is for their owners, and Allah the Exalted knows their owners.[Ali 'Imran 3:5] But if it happens that their owners come later, inform them. Say: I gave it in charity, and you have the choice. If you wish, it is yours and you receive its reward; if you wish, I will guarantee it for you. Then they have the choice. Yes.
The Shaykh : Repeat.
The questioner : He says: I have a sum of money belonging to people from twenty years ago, and I do not know where they are now, nor their location. So what should I do with this money? Should I spend it in the path of Allah, or what should I do with it?
The Shaykh : Yes, spend it in the path of Allah, either as charity, or for building a mosque, or for buying books, or other good deeds, with the intention that it is for their owners, and Allah the Exalted knows their owners.
from Allah nothing is hidden in the earth nor in the heaven.
لَا يَخْفَىٰ عَلَيْهِ شَيْءٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَا فِي السَّمَاءِ
Source
اللقاءات الرمضانية لعام 1415هـ - 2 — binothaimeen.net (54:07)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.