Some owners of laundries say that if more than two months have passed on the clothes, they are not responsible for them. Do they have the right to take them after this period?
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The questioner : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Noble Shaykh, there is a laundry with clothes that have been there for more than two months, and their owners are unknown, even though one of the conditions on the invoice is that the laundry is not responsible for clothes left by their owners for more than two months. The question is: Does the owner of the laundry have the right to take them, either for use, for sale, or to give them in charity? And if he takes them and disposes of them, and then their owner claims them, is he obligated to return their value or not?
The Shaykh : Yes, if it is a condition on the owner of the clothes that if he delays for a period of two months, he has no right to them, then it is he who delayed. And when the two months are completed, the owner of the laundry should either give them in charity if he finds someone who accepts them and wears them, or sell them and give their price in charity. But I think he should wait ten days or fifteen days after the two months, because perhaps their owner has come back but his car broke down or he fell ill, so it is better that he wait. Yes, meaning he should wait ten days or fifteen days, not always.
Noble Shaykh, there is a laundry with clothes that have been there for more than two months, and their owners are unknown, even though one of the conditions on the invoice is that the laundry is not responsible for clothes left by their owners for more than two months. The question is: Does the owner of the laundry have the right to take them, either for use, for sale, or to give them in charity? And if he takes them and disposes of them, and then their owner claims them, is he obligated to return their value or not?
The Shaykh : Yes, if it is a condition on the owner of the clothes that if he delays for a period of two months, he has no right to them, then it is he who delayed. And when the two months are completed, the owner of the laundry should either give them in charity if he finds someone who accepts them and wears them, or sell them and give their price in charity. But I think he should wait ten days or fifteen days after the two months, because perhaps their owner has come back but his car broke down or he fell ill, so it is better that he wait. Yes, meaning he should wait ten days or fifteen days, not always.