Question:

What must one do in order to ascertain that property has been discarded before one takes possession of it? Specifically if one discovered an item in a condition in which most people would have discarded it, in a place in which garbage is discarded, does one have the right to assume that its owner no longer wants it (assuming there is no way of telling who the owner is, in order to confirm this) and to take it for oneself?

Answer:

The rule is that if that object is normally not thrown away in that state and it has value to it then it comes under the definition of lost property or Luqta, Rad al-Muhtar, p444, vol.6. The rule governing such lost property is that it remains the property of its owner and though it is not obligatory to pick it up, unless there is fear that it may get destroyed, if one were to pick it up, one must keep it and search for its owner. Until the owner is found he may use it himself, but if he destroys or damages it he will have to compensate the owner the value of its damage. As for objects that are found in a state in which normally people do throw them away, one can make use of it for oneself and become its new owner.

Mufti Mohammed Sajjad

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The answer to this question is the opinion of the scholar and does not reflect the opinion of other scholars of As-Suffa Institute and As-Suffa Institute as an organisation.