He is deemed a Muslim, and custody belongs to his trustworthy finder; the finder may spend on his upkeep without the judge’s permission. Whatever he later leaves as inheritance, and any blood money owed for him, go to the public treasury. In cases of deliberate homicide, his guardian is the ruler, who may choose1 between equal retaliation and blood money.

If a man, or2 a woman—even3 one who is married—whether Muslim or unbeliever, declares that the foundling is his or her child, the child is affiliated to that person, even after the foundling’s death. The child does not adopt the religion of a non-Muslim claimant unless evidence proves that he was born in that claimant’s lawful wedlock. Should the claimant state that the child is a slave after a previous conflicting claim, or assert that the child is an unbeliever, the claim is rejected.

When several people claim him, priority goes to the one who produces proof; otherwise he is attached to the claimant4 whom the experts in physical resemblance5 identify as his kin.