A young child picked up a piece of gold that had been lost
Question We were at the sea-side and my son brought me something shiny that turned out to be a piece of gold. What should we do with it? Praise be to Allah. If a young child or a person who is insane finds something that has been lost, and picks it up, then his guardian…
Question
brought me something shiny that turned out to be a piece of gold. What should we do with
it?
Praise be to Allah.
If a young child or a person who is insane finds something
that has been lost, and picks it up, then his guardian should take on the responsibility
of identifying its owner in his place. The guardian should take it because they
are not qualified to be entrusted with it or to take care of it. If he leaves
it in their hands and it gets damaged, he will be held responsible because he
neglected it. If the guardian (of the child or insane person) announced it and
tried to identify the owner, and nobody comes forward to claim it, then it belongs
to the child or insane person, as is the case of the adult or sane person [who
finds lost property]. For more details on the rulings pertaining to lost property
see Question # 5049
