The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Its fallen property is not lawful except for one who will publicly announce it.” (1) That is, except for someone who will keep announcing it for the rest of his life and bequeath this duty after his death, for he can never take possession of it. Everything within the Sacred Precinct is secure, even inanimate objects. Thus, if someone sees, for example, one thousand, two thousand, or ten thousand riyals in one of Mecca’s markets, then if he leaves it there—woe to it from the thieves!—and if he takes it, he will be burdened with it. So what should he do?

If there is an authority responsible for receiving lost property, then the matter is clear and easy—praise be to Allah. He should take it, and he will be rewarded for delivering it to that authority. But if there is no such authority, then I hold that the Islamic judge must receive it, because this falls among the matters entrusted to the judge: “The ruler is the guardian of whoever has no guardian.” (2) What, otherwise, are people to do? A person is not prepared to take this lost property from Mecca and keep announcing it indefinitely. Yet it is very easy for him to take it and deliver it, for example, to the court, if no authority has been designated for that purpose.

The point is that if the usurper does not know its owner—that is, its rightful possessor—the author says: “He should give it in charity on his behalf.” We have already mentioned two courses of action. The first is to hand it over to the judge. If he does not do so, then the author says: “He should give it in charity on his behalf,” meaning that he should distribute it to the poor. This is the second course of action.