Chapter: Rulings Concerning the Foundling (laqīṭ)

The legal provisions governing a foundling are closely linked to those governing luqaṭa (lost property); luqaṭa pertains to misplaced wealth, whereas the laqīṭ is a misplaced human being.

This connection illustrates Islam’s all-encompassing legislation, its precedence in every beneficial field, and its superiority to the modern world’s practice of establishing nurseries and shelters for orphans, indigent children, and the elderly who lack caretakers.

Among the areas of such care is Islam’s concern for the laqīṭ, defined as a child who is discovered abandoned or who has strayed from his family and, in either case, whose lineage is unknown.

Whoever finds a child in this condition must take him in as a farḍ kifāyah (communal obligation). If a sufficient number of people undertake the duty, the remaining community members are absolved; but if everyone neglects the child while able to rescue him, they all incur sin. Allah the Exalted says, “And cooperate with one another in righteousness and piety” (Qur’an 5:2). The general wording of the verse makes it obligatory to take in the foundling, for doing so is an act of cooperation in righteousness and piety, and because it preserves a life. Consequently, the duty resembles feeding someone in dire need or saving a person from drowning.