Islamic Fiqh > Endowments (waqf) and property > Luqata: the lost item found
Finding a lost item: when picking it up is lawful, the duty to announce, using or not using the item, the case of the Sanctuary and that of the found child.
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Updated on 31 August 2026 at 3:55 AM
The lost item is a strayed wealth without guardian, distinct from wealth merely lost behind a lock. The Sunna rules it through the hadith of Zayd ibn Khalid al-Juhani: « Note its container and its tie, then announce it for a year; if its owner comes, return it, otherwise dispose of it as you please. And the straying beast: what has it to do with you? It has its water and its hoof: it drinks and grazes until its master meets it » (al-Bukhari 2297, Muslim 1722). Ubayy ibn Ka'b found a purse of a hundred dinars and was thrice ordered to announce it a full year (Muslim 1723). Overall consensus on its lawfulness stands, Ibn al-Mundhir noting that no strict ijma attaches to it.
Agreement of the four schools: whoever picks up intending ownership must announce, per « whoever shelters a strayed wealth is astray so long as he does not announce it » (Muslim 1725). The majority extends announcement to one who takes it to keep for its owner. The announcement's content stays general: Malikis and Shafiites forbid describing the kind, amount or shape, so that only the true owner describes; a value reaching ten dirhams or more imposes a full year.
During the year: with proof and true description, the item is returned by agreement. After the year: agreement likewise on returning the item if it survives, and on its value if consumed; Nawawi reads in the hadith « let it be a deposit with you » the continuation of deposit liability, and the scholars' consensus guarantees the loser his wealth, Dawud al-Zahiri remaining isolated.
The finder disposes of it and benefits from it, while remaining liable should the owner appear: Ibn Battal states the imams of fatwa agree on this liability, the wealth having been consumed without permission. Reported particular cases: a beast in peril, one takes and maintains it; a flock in safety, one leaves it; an unjust authority that would seize the raised object, one keeps it without announcement, the hand remaining a hand of trust.
Public announcement describing the container, a year of search, restitution upon proof, permanent liability: this common frame crosses the schools, which differ only on details of place (desert or inhabited town) and the object's kind.