My father found, one day, with his flock of sheep in the pasture, four heads of sheep, and he announced them for a period of one year.

The questioner : The honorable Shaykh says the question is about lost sheep. My father found, one day, with his flock of sheep in the pasture, four heads of sheep, and he announced them for a period of one year. Then he sold them for a sum of one thousand and four hundred riyals. What should he do now with this amount? Does he have a right to it? I ask for the answer, may Allah reward you.

The Shaykh : Yes, if he announced them for a year and did not find their owners, they are his, meaning if he kept them with his sheep and they increased, they are his. And if he has sold them now, the price is his, because if a year has passed for the lost item and its owner has not been found after the announcement, it belongs to the one who found it, except for one type of lost item, which is camels and what is similar to them among lost items, for it does not become owned by announcement, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when asked about a lost camel, said: . So it is not permissible for a person to keep a camel with him. If it comes among his camels, let him drive it away. It is not lawful for him to say: I will take it and announce it for a year, then own it. It cannot be owned; drive it away, and its owner will find it. The camel, as the Messenger (peace be upon him) said: . What is its water supply? Yes? Its belly drinks, it stays four days, five days, more, in the heat of summer. What is its shoe? The hoof. Yes.